Their eyes met across a crowded room. She was just a poor servant girl and he was the son of a rich industrialist. Er, no, this is a Christopher Brookmyre novel, although the eyes meeting across a crowded room part is true. Where it differs from the fairy tales is that the room in question was crowded with hostages and armed bank-robbers, and his eyes were the only part of him she could see behind the mask. He is an art-thief par excellence and she is a connoisseur of crooks. Her job is to hunt him to extinction; his is to avoid being caught and he also has a secret agenda more valuable than anything he might steal. There are risks he can take without jeopardising his plans. He can afford to play cat-and-mouse with the female cop who's on his tail; it might even arguably be necessary. What he can't afford is to let her get too close: he could could end up in jail or, even more scary, he could end up in love ...Visit the author's website at www.brookmyre.co.uk
The Sacred Art of Stealing
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'A thriller, love story, social satire and a warning against taking absurdism too seriously..' TIME OUT 'Chris Brookmyre is a genius.' DAILY MIRROR 'Brookmyre has no equal.' MAXIM 'Exhilarating linguistic fluency and keenly subversive intelligence' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'Brookmyre pulls out all the stops in this one. His talent for creating bizzare situations, unlikely relationships and complex characters has never been more in evidence. Illusion is paramount in this novel. And it is achieved with an impressive literary sleight of hand.' WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY 'Brilliant.' GLASGOW HERALD 'Home-grown thrillers as fun and funky as this come along all too rarely, so make the most of it.' SUNDAY TIMES 'If you enjoy intelligently written crime thrillers with a healthy dollop of satire, then this will be the answer to your prayers.' MORNING STAR 'Raw, obscene, irreverant, punchy and sarcastic, this is a clever, off-beat story-line handled with funky dexterity.' GOOD BOOK GUIDE 'Brookmyre finds a rich vein of satire when pondering whether cops and robbers (or even Celtic and Rangers fans) can ever really be friends.' DAILY MAIL 'All in all, it's a cracking read, and one that's likely to make you say 'Aaaahhhh' at the end. Result.' HEAT 'I found myself laughing my way through this exhileratingly funny tale, and found his intelligent observations refreshing.' ABERDEEN PRESS AND JOURNAL 'An entertaining read.' NEW WOMAN
About the Author
Chris Brookmyre was a journalist before becoming a full time novelist with the publication of QUITE UGLY ONE MORNING. Since the publication of A BIG BOY DID IT AND RAN AWAY he and his family decided to move away from Aberdeen and now live near Glasgow. Oh, yes.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Ingenious, amusing, entertaining. I've read all his books and the style and humour have always outweighed the diatribes against politically obvious targets. This time he gets the balance just right and the plot twists are brilliant, particualrly in the original bank robbery. His best, i think, although it's a tough fight against One Fine Day...
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Anqelique de Xavia (A Big Boy, etc.) returns in a book that shows a slight homage to Soderbergh's "Out of Touch" - only the film wasn't quite as funny and featured fewer invectives about Glaswegian Football fans.
The oddest bank robbery ever takes place in Buchanan St and de Xavia ends up as part of the show. Still not over the events in the previous book (a terrorist attack at a Scottish dam) she is feeling restless (it being her 30th birthday doesn't help). And her response to the robbers' leader clashes pretty seriously with her professional responsibilities.
The book has as much anger as you expect from Brookmyre, and while not as funny as "One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night" it can certainly cause you to embarrass yourself on crowded transport - several LOLs are a cert.
As usual there are the comparisons to Hiassen, but reading Brookmyre I get something I never get from Hiassen's books - I know where he is coming from. I recognise the backdrop and the politics, and it gives it so much more meaning. It was years before I knew about the provenance of some of Hiassen's characters (sugar - say no more) and it adds so much more. Brookmyre is a damn fine writer - but I can't help looking forward to each book even more because I recognise so much that is brilliantly transferred into print.
And the evil treatment of a right wing journalist should certainly warn anyone who intends to argue his politics of what the response may be!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By nic
Format:Paperback
Once again Christopher Brookmyre has excelled himself. The Sacred Art of Stealing is incredibly well-written - from the excellently observed characterisations, to the truly funny dialogue and a plot that twists and turns more times than a big bowl of spaghetti. It's just as tasty and satisfying too, while being much, much more witty and entertaining.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will probably read it again very soon, just to check out exactly how the plot was set and then unravelled so magnificently. If you're after a good read, and a few laughs along the way, this is your book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
CRACKING READ
I thoroughly enjoyed the book,I am a fan of Brookmyre,and this was one of his best,I rarely recommend,but this book warrants it.
Published 8 days ago by robert smith
4.0 out of 5 stars
Could be even better.
Although I did not enjoy this author's Parlabane series I really enjoyed the DI Angelique de Xavia series putting up with the author's
philosophising because the rest of the... Read more
philosophising because the rest of the... Read more
Published 14 days ago by J. Lumsden
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ingeniously plotted with a pitch black sense of humour
I'm not going to say anything directly about the plot as I really don't want to risk spoilers. This deliciously dark and twisted tale of deception is set in a Glasgow instantly... Read more
Published 1 month ago by K. Aitken
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joyous
A masterclass in writing. Great characterisation, dialogue, plot, And joyous fun with it.
Angelique De Xavia, we know from "a big boy did it and ran away". Read more
Angelique De Xavia, we know from "a big boy did it and ran away". Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jolyon M. Bain
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic Brookmyre Read
The first forty pages of the book can be hard going but are very necessary for your later pleasure. It made me laugh out loud.
I save Brookmyre for holiday reading.
I save Brookmyre for holiday reading.
Published 3 months ago by DC
5.0 out of 5 stars
book review
As usual Amazon deliver a fast and efficient download of another classic Christopher Brookmyre story, full of twists, turns and brilliant plotwork
Published 7 months ago by jimbo
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Sacred Art of Brookmyre
Brilliant. Perfect. Clever. Hysterical. Possibly (dangerous now) his finest, even considering One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night.
Published 7 months ago by Dillon the Villain
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding.
This was the very first Brookmyre book I read and I am now his biggest fan! Wonderfully written and satirical. Read more
Published 16 months ago by AmandaB
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real favourite
I love this book and have re-read it several times, each time discovering some new entertainment in the twists and contortions of this wonderful plot. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Debi
4.0 out of 5 stars
a great read
A really great read. Great plot, great characterisation and a great ending.
Not as funny as I was lead to believe, and the history lesson in Scottish football was... Read more
Not as funny as I was lead to believe, and the history lesson in Scottish football was... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2010 by P. J. Ramsay
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