I am a Kay Hooper fan and have read and enjoyed most of her books. I was looking forward to reading "Once A Thief," and now that I completed it, I find myself disappointed with both the novel and the author. Ms. Hooper writes, in an Author's Note, that ten years ago she wrote various short novels for Bantam's Loveswept Romance series. She became attached to one of her Loveswept heroes, Quinn, a Cary Grant-like cat burglar, right out of "To Catch A Thief," and felt that she would like to work with him again. This book is a rewrite, and supposedly an improvement over the first attempt, where the author felt limited by the series' restrictions.
There is very little about Quinn in this novel. Neither he, nor his love interest, figure prominitely here - in fact, neither do his capers. He appears briefly, to meet and rescue Morgan, the exhibit director of a priceless collection scheduled to be featured as the "Mysteries Past" exhibit at a prestigious San Francisco museum. Morgan stayed after hours to catch up on work, and, as she was leaving she interrupted a robbery in progress. Quinn, who had been casing the premises, was also present to observe the robbery. He saved her from being discovered and they discover there is strong mutual attraction. They meet again on a few minor occasions, where he kisses her and steals her favorite necklace. Another time she rescues him from a kidnapping. That's it, that's about all for Morgan and Quinn, in this book that supposedly features him. The characters are just dropped, as are the readers, and told to wait for book two, the sequel. I do not mind sequels. I do mind buying a book to read about a character, and then being told that I have to buy another to get what I originally paid for. I take exception when a book does not stand on its own merit. I do not believe that "Once A Thief" is a complete novel. It is more like Part #1...to be continued.
The main story revolves around Wolfe Nickerson, the collection owner's half-brother. He is a security expert at Lloyd's of London, and responsible for supervising the security of "Mysteries Past." He is not even featured in the book's synopsis on the back cover. He gets involved with Storm Tremaine, (Who thinks up these names? And how can a character with a name like this be believable?), a computer expert from Ace Security, installing a super-system for the super exhibit. She is really working for Interpol, however, and attempting to bait Quinn to rob the collection so that he can finally be captured.
A ho-hum, predictable plot, cardboard characters, except for Quinn...but we don't have too much of him to sink our teeth into ...metaphorically, of course. So what we get with "Once A Thief" is one-half of a book...and not the right half to boot. I refuse to buy the next installment, on principle alone. It is a shame that Ms. Hooper did not accomplish what she stated in her Author's Note. Quinn is fascinating, and I do understand why she wanted to write more about him.
JANA