ROOK by Stephen G. Eoannou
ROOK is based on the true story of Al Nussbaum. To his unsuspecting wife, Lolly, Al is a loving, chess playing, family man. To J. Edgar Hoover, he is the most cunning fugitive alive. Al is the mastermind behind a string of east coast robberies that has stumped law enforcement. After his partner, one-eyed Bobby Wilcoxson, kills a bank guard and wounds a New York City patrolman, Al is identified as one of the robbers and lands on top of the FBI's most wanted list. He is forced to flee his hometown of Buffalo, New York as the FBI closes in and Lolly learns of her husband's secret life.
While Al assumes another identity and attempts to elude the police, Lolly is left alone to care for their infant daughter and adjust to her new life as 'The Bank Robber's Wife'. Friends, family, and federal agents all pressure Lolly to betray Al. While Lolly struggles at home financially, with unrelenting FBI agents, and her conscious, Al and Bobby continue to rob banks, even as Bobby grows more mentally unstable and dangerous.
Al has only two goals: avoid capture and steal enough money to start a new life with his family. Returning to gather his wife and baby is suicidal, but as Al said, he'd only stick his neck in the Buffalo noose for Lolly.
Fiction/ 978-1-956692-04-4/ June, 28, 2022
ROOK is based on the true story of Al Nussbaum. To his unsuspecting wife, Lolly, Al is a loving, chess playing, family man. To J. Edgar Hoover, he is the most cunning fugitive alive. Al is the mastermind behind a string of east coast robberies that has stumped law enforcement. After his partner, one-eyed Bobby Wilcoxson, kills a bank guard and wounds a New York City patrolman, Al is identified as one of the robbers and lands on top of the FBI's most wanted list. He is forced to flee his hometown of Buffalo, New York as the FBI closes in and Lolly learns of her husband's secret life.
While Al assumes another identity and attempts to elude the police, Lolly is left alone to care for their infant daughter and adjust to her new life as 'The Bank Robber's Wife'. Friends, family, and federal agents all pressure Lolly to betray Al. While Lolly struggles at home financially, with unrelenting FBI agents, and her conscious, Al and Bobby continue to rob banks, even as Bobby grows more mentally unstable and dangerous.
Al has only two goals: avoid capture and steal enough money to start a new life with his family. Returning to gather his wife and baby is suicidal, but as Al said, he'd only stick his neck in the Buffalo noose for Lolly.
Fiction/ 978-1-956692-04-4/ June, 28, 2022
ROOK is based on the true story of Al Nussbaum. To his unsuspecting wife, Lolly, Al is a loving, chess playing, family man. To J. Edgar Hoover, he is the most cunning fugitive alive. Al is the mastermind behind a string of east coast robberies that has stumped law enforcement. After his partner, one-eyed Bobby Wilcoxson, kills a bank guard and wounds a New York City patrolman, Al is identified as one of the robbers and lands on top of the FBI's most wanted list. He is forced to flee his hometown of Buffalo, New York as the FBI closes in and Lolly learns of her husband's secret life.
While Al assumes another identity and attempts to elude the police, Lolly is left alone to care for their infant daughter and adjust to her new life as 'The Bank Robber's Wife'. Friends, family, and federal agents all pressure Lolly to betray Al. While Lolly struggles at home financially, with unrelenting FBI agents, and her conscious, Al and Bobby continue to rob banks, even as Bobby grows more mentally unstable and dangerous.
Al has only two goals: avoid capture and steal enough money to start a new life with his family. Returning to gather his wife and baby is suicidal, but as Al said, he'd only stick his neck in the Buffalo noose for Lolly.
Fiction/ 978-1-956692-04-4/ June, 28, 2022
Praise for ROOK
If Elmore Leonard wrote the Queen's Gambit, he'd have written Rook. Set aside some time when you start Eoannou's true tale of Tommy guns, small-time hoods, and high-stakes chess because you won't want to put it down until checkmate.
—Daren Wang, Author of The Hidden Light of Northern Fires
A terrific Technicolor Noir that lives and breathes in the period. If I hadn't been told, I would've thought I was reading a lost paperback classic from sixty years ago. Clever, literate, and fun, Rook is right down my dark alley.
—Ace Atkins, New York Times Bestselling author of The Revelators and The Heathens
Stephen Eoannou has performed a remarkable feat with his novel Rook. First, he has detailed the little-known story of an ingenious bank robber, Al Nussbaum, who FBI director J. Edgar Hoover once called "the most cunning fugitive in the country." Second, Eoannou has dramatized how Nussbaum's obsession with bank robbery as an art form trapped him and his family in a downward spiral of shame and frustrated hope. Brilliant.
—Charles Kelly, author of Gunshots in Another Room: The Forgotten Life of Dan J. Marlowe
What a magnetic story in Rook by Stephen Eoannou. This is the first book of this authors that I've read, and his debut novel. Eoannou writes this fictionalized story of a real man Al Nussbaum. In his day, Al Nussbaum, was a thorn in J. Edgar Hoover's side. Nussbaum was a mastermind. He planned and enforced east coast bank robberies. Nussbaum is a legend in his hometown of Buffalo, NY. It's a very interesting story, and I can tell a lot of research went into this story, to share it with the world. I live in upstate NY and never heard of Nussbaum, and I find while it's not a True Crime tale, it is intense and compelling, all the way to the end, especially when Nussbaum needs to go in hiding, and retrieve his family, still in Buffalo. This author brings the story to life. It’s definitely un-put-downable! The story brings the reader on a superb journey. This is a magnificent story that kept this reader turning the pages. A definite attention grabber, so much I couldn't put it down. Both thrilling and intriguing, all the way to the end. The characterizations are engrossing and dynamic. Very impressive story telling. I hope to read more books by this author. Rook is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.
— Amy's Bookshelf Reviews
I came to Eoannou's work by way of his terrific story collection, Muscle Cars. As a western New Yorker, I was immediately drawn into his stories, all set in Buffalo. Like Muscle Cars, Rook (his first novel) takes place largely in Buffalo. What makes it super interesting is that the main character, Al Nussbaum, was a historical figure who became famous for robbing banks (and later as a crime writer). Eoannou does a nice job of weaving historical facts with fictional inventions to create a swift narrative, while also being respectful of his characters. Since Nussbaum was a historical figure, there was doubtless a lot of information to parse through with him. And it's an achievement to see how flesh and blood Nussbaum feels.
But I am especially captured by Eoannou's depiction of Nussbaum's wife, Lolly, about whom little is historically known. Just imagine what it must've been liked to discover that your husband was one of America's most wanted men. Eoannou does a great job of building her character out of the barest rinds of history. The novel also builds to an exciting climax. Rook is both a realist novel AND a noir-ish riff on old pulp fictions. Cleverly done.
—K.E. Semmel
In the vein of Elmore Leonard, bank-robbing Al, while a crook, is a likeable, conflicted character. His glass-eyed, unhinged accomplice, Bobby, however, is the guy you'll hate while cheering on Al, the brains behind this duo bank-robbing team. Based on the true story of Al Nussbaum, in the years of J. Edgar Hoover, our Al is the most cunning fugitive alive. When things start to unravel for Al and Bobby, Al only wants to get back to his wife, Lolly, and their new baby, but as Al says, he'd only stick his neck in the Buffalo noose for Lolly
— Yvonne Osborne
About STEPHEN G. EOANNOU
Stephen G. Eoannou is the author of the award-winning short story collection Muscle Cars and the novels After Pearl, Yesteryear, and Rook. He holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte and an MA from Miami University. He has been awarded an Honor Certificate from The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the Best Short Screenplay Award at the 36th Denver Film Festival. His novel, Yesteryear, was awarded the 2021 International Eyelands Award for Best Historical Novel, The Firebird Book Award for Biographical Fiction, and Shelf Unbound’s Notable Indy Books of 2023. He lives and writes in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, the setting and inspiration for much of his work.
