Scan barcode
lian_tanner's review
I can't give this a rating because I didn't finish it. It just didn't grip me - the characters seemed superficial and the story overly clumsy. I persevered for a while, because I liked the idea - but in the end it just irritated me too much.
magdon's review
3.0
I liked this one better than the first one. much more complicated mystery (at least i had no idea what was going on). but still didn't care terribly much what happened. took me a long while to read it because of that.
sethlynch's review
5.0
The Good Thief’s Guide to Paris is the second in the series. The first was Amsterdam. The three main characters from the first book are here in Paris – Charlie Howard (he is the narrator so I guess he has to be there), his literary agent Victoria, and his fence Pierre. Victoria’s voice was in the Amsterdam book – being on the end of the phone. She acts in both books as a sounding board for Charlie – and, maybe, a love interest? There is also an interesting new character – who may only appear in this book although I would like to see him come back – called Mr Farmer. Farmer is a fixer for a number of people. He reminded me of the Fat Man from the Maltese Falcon, although based on his description I think he is probably more Robert Morley. (And now I’d really like to watch a Robert Morley film.)
The humour form the first book is here again. It’s a nice accompaniment to the plot and is usually at Charlie’s own expense. The plot is confusing in a good way (a lot happens and we are as lost as Charlie is, almost anyway) – I’m not going to try to explain it because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn’t read it, and I doubt I could remember all the twists. I was quite pleased not to have gotten the final twist – if I’d stopped to think about it I probably could have worked it out, but I didn’t want to stop I wanted to carry on reading. The book ends with some useful French translations which made me laugh out loud.
I liked the feel of Paris in the story. In this book the Pompidou Centre is a central focus. I could picture it clearly. I have been there twice – once for the excellent Surrealist exhibition, then a year or so later for the not so excellent Dada exhibition. The Dada one had too much material and not enough space – one of André Breton’s notebooks was open in a display and people kept bumping into me as I was trying to read it. We did conceive my eldest daughter, Minty, on that trip so I can’t complain.
If you haven’t read any of these books yet then you should start now. There are three in the shops already. You can advance order the guide to Venice – which is out at the end of April.
The humour form the first book is here again. It’s a nice accompaniment to the plot and is usually at Charlie’s own expense. The plot is confusing in a good way (a lot happens and we are as lost as Charlie is, almost anyway) – I’m not going to try to explain it because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone who hasn’t read it, and I doubt I could remember all the twists. I was quite pleased not to have gotten the final twist – if I’d stopped to think about it I probably could have worked it out, but I didn’t want to stop I wanted to carry on reading. The book ends with some useful French translations which made me laugh out loud.
I liked the feel of Paris in the story. In this book the Pompidou Centre is a central focus. I could picture it clearly. I have been there twice – once for the excellent Surrealist exhibition, then a year or so later for the not so excellent Dada exhibition. The Dada one had too much material and not enough space – one of André Breton’s notebooks was open in a display and people kept bumping into me as I was trying to read it. We did conceive my eldest daughter, Minty, on that trip so I can’t complain.
If you haven’t read any of these books yet then you should start now. There are three in the shops already. You can advance order the guide to Venice – which is out at the end of April.
aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
theroamingleo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
2.75
Read the 1st book (Amsterdam) a few months ago and forgot about some of my annoyances with the author. Quick read. Not a biggest fan of the writing, especially when it comes to the female characters…cringy. Did enjoy this book a bit more than the last
debraisretired's review
2.0
I read the first book - The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam which was intriguing enough to read this second. I’m done. This thief is not Cary Grant. This author can’t write. On a single page “her eyes...threatened to caress my face” (ew) “her pupils crammed with question marks” (ow) and then “she searched behind my eyes” (yuck).
Everyone and everything is described in tedious detail except him. The tease is that we know what he doesn’t look like (his author photo). Tedious excruciating detail with no insight. Tedious excruciating confusing narrative. And don’t even get me started on the girl de jour who -oh gee- isn’t nice at all. (One might continue the series to see if his agent Victoria provides any improvement. But nah)
Everyone and everything is described in tedious detail except him. The tease is that we know what he doesn’t look like (his author photo). Tedious excruciating detail with no insight. Tedious excruciating confusing narrative. And don’t even get me started on the girl de jour who -oh gee- isn’t nice at all. (One might continue the series to see if his agent Victoria provides any improvement. But nah)
becca_j's review
3.0
Grade: B
Pleasant enough caper novel, but for most of the book, I kept thinking, "I could be reading a Burglar Who book." Luckily, the ending redeemed an otherwise mediocre book.
Pleasant enough caper novel, but for most of the book, I kept thinking, "I could be reading a Burglar Who book." Luckily, the ending redeemed an otherwise mediocre book.
madanburg's review against another edition
3.0
This is more like 3.5 stars, in my arbitrary system, but I really liked it. It's a fun series and I'm looking forward to Charlie's next adventures (Vegas! Venice! Somewhere else!) Ewan is a convincing framer of mysteries, lots of moving parts but cogs that fit together well, and Charlie is wry and a little sketchy but a lot smart and well worth rooting for.