The men wear masks. Their guns are drawn on the bank manager. She nervously recites the alarm code, and the tumblers within the huge vault fall. The timing and execution are brilliant. It could be the perfect heist. But as the huge sum of cash is stolen, so too is one man's heart -- and that man is the Prince of Thieves...

Charlestown, a blue-collar Boston neighborhood, produces more bank robbers and armored car thieves than any square mile in the world. In this gripping, intricately plotted thriller, Claire Keesey, the branch manager for a Boston bank and one of an influx of young professionals chipping away at the neighborhood's insularity, is taken hostage during a robbery. She is released, but Doug MacRay, the brains behind the tough, tight-knit crew of thieves, can't get her out of his mind. Tracking her down without his mask and gun, Doug introduces himself, and as soon as he and Claire meet, their mutual attraction is undeniable -- as are the risks of a relationship.

Meanwhile, Doug's crew pulls off another audacious, meticulously planned job. Frustrated by their ingenuity and brazen ambition, FBI Agent Adam Frawley begins to zero in on Doug and his pals -- and against his own better judgment, he, too, develops more than a professional interest in Claire.

Under pressure from Frawley's ever-closer investigation, Doug imagines a life for himself away from bank robberies and Charlestown. But before that can happen, the crew learns that there may be a way to rob Boston's venerable baseball stadium, Fenway Park. It's a magnificently dangerous and utterly irresistible opportunity -- yet for Doug, pursuing his former hostage may be the most dangerous act of all...

Chuck Hogan's brash tale of four men -- thieves, rivals, friends -- being hunted through the streets of Boston by a tenacious FBI agent, and the woman who may destroy them all, is a spectacular, stylish, heart-pounding thriller.

NY Times Bestselling Author Chuck Hogan’s “Prince of Thieves” Hits the Big Screen with Widespread Oscar Chatter for Ben Affleck

Tualatin, Oregon, September 27, 2010 – VJ Books (http://www.vjbooks.com) presents signed editions of the “Prince of Thieves” (2004 NY: Scribner) -- the basis for Ben Affleck’s movie “The Town”.

Ben Affleck's "The Town" got a terrific response when screened for Oscar voters over the weekend.  Affleck wrote, directs, and stars in a thriller that brilliantly winds its way into the criminal mind.

Academy turnout for the screening was larger than normal and the response at the end very enthusiastic with loud applause at the end credits -- something rarely seen at the Academy.  Greg Kilday of the Hollywood Reporter said “The film, based on Chuck Hogan’s ‘Prince of Thieves’, is easily one of the best films to emerge in 2010.  Affleck's direction and the acting ensemble’s performance were superb.”

Chuck Hogan's brash tale of four men -- thieves, rivals, and friends being hunted through the streets of Boston by a tenacious FBI agent and the woman who may destroy them all -- is a spectacular, stylish, heart-pounding thriller.  "Prince of Thieves” won the Hammett Award for excellence in crime writing and was called one of the ten best novels of the year by Stephen King.

“The men wear masks. Their guns are drawn on the bank manager. She nervously recites the combination and the tumblers within the huge vault fall. The timing and execution are brilliant. It could be the perfect heist. But as the huge sum of cash is stolen, so too is one man's heart -- and that man is the “Prince of Thieves”.

Just as “Prince of Thieves” hits the big screen, Chuck Hogan along with co-author Guillermo del Toro -- the visionary creator of the Academy Award-winning Pan’s Labyrinth -- sees the release of their second novel in the knuckle-bleaching Strain Trilogy, “The Fall”.  This bold, epic novel series is about a horrifying battle between man and vampire that threatens all humanity.  With the future of the world in the balance, a team of fighters must use all their skills and knowledge of the enemy to combat a terror whose ultimate plan is more terrible than the humans at first imagined -- a fate worse than annihilation.

VJ Books is offering first editions of the “Prince of Thieves” signed by Chuck Hogan, as well as first editions of “The Fall” signed by authors Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro.