Chris Ewan's The Good Thief's Guide to Vegas is the next caper in a series that’s being called “impressive... comic...fresh” (Publishers Weekly--starred review).Charlie Howard isn’t only a part-time crime writer and part-time thief; he’s also a magician. For his next trick, he’ll relieve Josh Masters, the famous illusionist vying for the affections of Charlie’s friend Victoria, of $60,000 in casino chips stashed in his hotel safe. Revenge would be sweet—if there weren’t a dead redhead floating in Masters’ bathtub and if Masters hadn’t just disappeared in a puff of smoke after cheating at roulette. Convinced that Charlie was in on the scam, the casino’s owners give him an impossible mission: either pull off an elaborate heist to reimburse the house for every dollar his “accomplice” made off with, or enjoy a one-way trip into the desert.From Publishers WeeklyCharlie Howard, the self-mocking narrator of Ewan's Good Thief Guide series who's both a mystery writer and smallscale thief, once again shows he's not terribly good at either in his diverting third outing (after 2008's The Good Thief's Guide to Paris). Set largely in the fictional Fifty-Fifty hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nev., the book opens with Howard picking the pocket of Josh Masters, the casino's resident magician. Armed with Masters's wallet, Howard visits Masters's suite (with a nice bit on breaking into the magician's personal safe) only to discover what appears to be a dead body floating in the bath. The stakes rise when Masters disappears during his own magic show-- during a trick using Howard's literary agent, Victoria, as a volunteer--and the casino's security men detain the pair. Those looking for suspense or intricate plotting will be disappointed, but fans of light comic capers will be rewarded. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistEwan, whose earlier Good Thief guides have visited Paris and Amsterdam, continues on his merry way. Charlie Howard, the crime writer who moonlights as a thief (or maybe it's the other way around), is in Sin City, planning to make off with healthy cache of casino chips belonging to a third-rate illusionist. But the dead body in the magician's bathtub ain't no illusion, and now Charlie has to pull off the toughest robbery of his career or face the consequences. The comic caper novel isn't exactly something new (Donald Westlake was doing them 40 years ago, and he didn't invent them, either), but Ewan, through a combination of engaging characterizations, suspenseful stories, and sharp writing, makes the Good Thief novels feel fresh and exciting. The comparison to Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series, also full of comedy and also starring a good-hearted thief, is entirely appropriate, though Ewan is no mere Block imitator. This novel will definitely appeal to fans of comic mysteries and caper novels. --David Pitt
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