The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam
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Product Description
Synopsis
Charlie Howard doesn't just write books about a career thief, he also happens to be one. In Amsterdam working on his latest novel, Charlie is approached by a mysterious American who asks him to steal two apparently worthless monkey figurines from two separate addresses on the same night. At first he says no. Then he changes his mind. Only later, kidnapped and bound to a chair, the American long dead and a spell in police custody behind him, does Charlie begin to realise just how costly a mistake he might have made. The Police think he killed the American. Others think he knows the whereabouts of the elusive third monkey. But for Charlie only three things matter: Can he clear his name? Can he get away with the haul of a lifetime? And, can he solve the briefcase-shaped plot-hole in his latest novel?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"I want you to steal something for me"
Good opening line don't you think? and just what has he got to steal? Let's carry on reading and find out. This request is asked of our hero Charlie Howard. He write caper novels about a career thief and he doesn't have to carry out any background research as he is one himself.
He is asked to steal two monkey figurines. On the face of it they are worthless. They are in two separate locations and he has to steal them both on the same night. Charlie is not sure about this and says no, but then he changes his mind. Of course, later on when the man who asked him so steal them turns up dead, he begins to wish he had stuck to his original refusal but by then he is well and truly up the creek or in the canal (we are in Amsterdam after all) and too late to get out of it.
While trying to find the killer and prove that he is innocent, and the police don't appear to be convinced, he also has to find a way of sorting out a plot hole in his latest novel. Needless to say, his mind is not really focused on this task and spends a lot of time discussing the fix he is in with his agent in London, Victoria, instead of sorting out the problem of getting an all important briefcase with a severed hand in it, to the right place at the right time in order to uncover the murderer without making it too easy for his readers to guess who it is too early in the book. There is a subtle hint here that Victoria rather likes him, she sounds a tad miffed when he gets involved with a glamorous, pot smoking blonde, and is a bit sarky about it all.
The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam is fast paced, imaginative and a cracking good read packed with sardonic humour:
".....I knew the moment we reached my apartment that someone else had been inside. Call it a burglar's intuition. Call it the small things I'd learned during my years of breaking and entering. Call it the fact that my door had been smashed clean off its hinges and was lying flat on my living room floor"
At the end of the book when all the twists and turns have been unravelled and the murderer has been identified, Charlie decides that he has had enough of Amsterdam and decamps to Paris and one assumes there will soon be a Good Thief's Guide to that city. Who knows where he will go to after that? I trust we are in for a good long series and this one has got it off to a great start. Chris Ewan is the 2007 winner of the First Novel Competition sponsored by Long Barn Books and on the strength of this debut, I don't think it will be his last.
Great stuff
Good opening line don't you think? and just what has he got to steal? Let's carry on reading and find out. This request is asked of our hero Charlie Howard. He write caper novels about a career thief and he doesn't have to carry out any background research as he is one himself.
He is asked to steal two monkey figurines. On the face of it they are worthless. They are in two separate locations and he has to steal them both on the same night. Charlie is not sure about this and says no, but then he changes his mind. Of course, later on when the man who asked him so steal them turns up dead, he begins to wish he had stuck to his original refusal but by then he is well and truly up the creek or in the canal (we are in Amsterdam after all) and too late to get out of it.
While trying to find the killer and prove that he is innocent, and the police don't appear to be convinced, he also has to find a way of sorting out a plot hole in his latest novel. Needless to say, his mind is not really focused on this task and spends a lot of time discussing the fix he is in with his agent in London, Victoria, instead of sorting out the problem of getting an all important briefcase with a severed hand in it, to the right place at the right time in order to uncover the murderer without making it too easy for his readers to guess who it is too early in the book. There is a subtle hint here that Victoria rather likes him, she sounds a tad miffed when he gets involved with a glamorous, pot smoking blonde, and is a bit sarky about it all.
The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam is fast paced, imaginative and a cracking good read packed with sardonic humour:
".....I knew the moment we reached my apartment that someone else had been inside. Call it a burglar's intuition. Call it the small things I'd learned during my years of breaking and entering. Call it the fact that my door had been smashed clean off its hinges and was lying flat on my living room floor"
At the end of the book when all the twists and turns have been unravelled and the murderer has been identified, Charlie decides that he has had enough of Amsterdam and decamps to Paris and one assumes there will soon be a Good Thief's Guide to that city. Who knows where he will go to after that? I trust we are in for a good long series and this one has got it off to a great start. Chris Ewan is the 2007 winner of the First Novel Competition sponsored by Long Barn Books and on the strength of this debut, I don't think it will be his last.
Great stuff
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The cover drew my eye to this, and the tagline drew me in - "Charlie Howard writes novels about a career thief, he also happens to be one."
This proved to be a comedy crime thriller that lived up to the description. It made me laugh, kept me guessing.
Charlie, a crime writer that also happens to be a criminal, is an engaging and cheeky character. In Amsterdam to write his latest book he finds himself caught up with thieves, police, 3 plaster monkeys and a blonde. It really captures some of Amsterdam - the buildings, streets and the flavour of the city are all here, even the spatulas for beer!
An entertaining page turner with a literary flavour and some laugh out loud throwaway lines.
This proved to be a comedy crime thriller that lived up to the description. It made me laugh, kept me guessing.
Charlie, a crime writer that also happens to be a criminal, is an engaging and cheeky character. In Amsterdam to write his latest book he finds himself caught up with thieves, police, 3 plaster monkeys and a blonde. It really captures some of Amsterdam - the buildings, streets and the flavour of the city are all here, even the spatulas for beer!
An entertaining page turner with a literary flavour and some laugh out loud throwaway lines.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a fun, fast-moving and highly original crime novel.. caper crime, just like the books written by its protagonist, Charlie Howard. Inventing new main characters for crime novels is hard as they`ve all been done, but I`ve never met a hero like Charlie.. who writes novels about a career thief and also happens to be one.The book might well be the insider`s guide to the lovcely city of Amsterdam too, since the author is obviously very familiar with it - we don`t get the usual tourist route. I was very impressed by this debut and I read a lot of crime fiction. I look forward to more of the adventures of the Good Thief - apparently there are more to come. Good. We need a fresh new series like this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
screwball crime caper
The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam is all about the plot. It's a kind of screwball crime caper with thefts, double crosses, mistaken identities, confidence tricks, shifting... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Rob Kitchin
AKA The Beginners Guide to Burglary
This is a very tongue-in-cheek mystery about an author who has a secondary career calling as a burglar. Read more
Published 9 months ago by pigsmayfly
Did I read the same book?
I'm afraid I was very disappointed in "The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam". I started off being interested in the plot but it became far too complicated. Read more
Published 10 months ago by AnnieG
Impressive crime thriller debut from Mr Ewan!
Really enjoyed this yarn. The hero (or perhaps that should be `anti-hero`) of the book is an author who writes crime novels, whilst at the same time `doubling up` as a real-life... Read more
Published 10 months ago by john8pies
Not a bad little read.
Not a bad book at all. Only took a few nights to finish it as it's quite short. The writer holds your attention well with a decent character and plot. Read more
Published 22 months ago by James Carroll
Good book - far-fetched ending
The book itself makes for a nice read. The story is light but enjoyable and funny at times. However, I did not like the ending at all and for me, that's an integral part of a good... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Alguien
Highly original and fun debut novel
Chris Ewan has found a veritable seam of gold with his clever invention of an amiable titular character who is a writer of mysteries about a thief, but who really is one and is... Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2010 by Berengaria
Entertaining? Yes, but not wildly
This book has been much praised and I am not sure quite why. It did not strike me as literary - or pulp fiction, come to that. Read more
Published on 14 July 2009 by G. D. Busby
A clever, enjoyable book
First Sentence: "I want you to steal something for me."
Charlie Howard is a suspense writer. He is also a thief. Read more
Charlie Howard is a suspense writer. He is also a thief. Read more
Published on 9 July 2009 by L. J. Roberts
What a refreshing change....
At last, a crime novel that's everything it should be - entertaining, puzzling and original, all at the same time. Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2009 by Daisy Wang
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