ISBN: 0-525-94500-8 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com
This latest novel in the "Burglar" series is funny. literate, twisty and entertaining, if improbable.
Reviewed by David on October 10, 2000
Genre: Mystery (Humor, Amateur Sleuth)
Synopsis: Bernie Rhodenbarr, the antiquarian bookseller and cat burglar, is on a quest to protect the privacy of a reclusive author. As in many previous adventures, he stumbles upon more brutal sculduggery, and has to puzzle out the plots and crimes to clear his name—and accomplish his goal.
Full Review: In this addition to the fine and humorous series of adventures, Bernie's literate side once again involves him in complications. On a noble quest to protect a Salinger-like reclusive author's privacy from the avid, and frequently unethical curiosity, Bernie the burglar stumbles into a crime—not of his own making. Bernie's quest to fulfill his honorable goal—while avoiding jail and making a dishonest buck provide a rare pleasure and not a few outright laughs.
The literate references do not stop at the obvious ones to the The Catcher in the Rye. This is a comedy of manners, where the characters frequently misquote the books—sometimes intentionally, and sometimes not. Bernie is a wonderful character, with a sort of injured innocence of an ethical criminal, whose ethics are just are not all that different from the rest of us—his methods are just more direct.
As in many comedies, coincidence is a frequent companion, and the characters are slightly exaggerated. However, the combination works well, and the reader is left with the pleasant feeling as the plot is resolved in a Rhodenbarrian mixture of justice and harmless cupidity.
Overall: 6.5; Plot: 6; Characters: 6; Style: 6.5; World-building: 5; Originality: 5;
Penguin Group, July 1999, Cloth, 280 pages
ISBN: 0-525-94500-8 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com