- Hardcover: 420 pages
- Publisher: Abacus (3 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0349115540
- ISBN-13: 978-0349115542
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 514,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Sacred Art of Stealing
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Product Description
Review
'Sharply satirical and poignantly funny, this is a gripping and highly entertaining read.' Time Out 'Chris Brookmyre is a genius.' Mirror 'Brookmyre has no equal.' Maxim 'Brookmyre is a brilliant satirist.an absolute must read' Punch 'Exhilerating linguistic fluency and keenly subversive intelligence' Scotland on Sunday
Product Description
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 .
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
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...
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've got every Christopher Brookmyre book having been introduced to him by a friend who was a fan a good while ago. My first book i read was A Big Boy Did It, i then went back and purchased and read (in order of publication) The previous 5 books. I am now onto his 7th book (this one) and having met the man himself (he's from a town 2 miles from me) i can say that you really get a feel for what Brookmyre is about in this book. Although i haven't read his latest 3 novels(Be My Enemy, All Fun And Games, A Tale Etched In Blood) this in my opinion is his second best novel (his best is One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night)
Some of them (Boiling A Frog, Not The End Of The World) are a bit of a struggle to get to the end but this is fantastic. To read it you really need to have read it's predecessor A Big Boy... as it introduces Angelique to you and there are references to events in the previous book. As a work on it's own merits it does stand out. In my opinion the closer Brookmyre sticks to home (Boiling A Frog being an exception) the more likely he is to hit the mark also the more elaborate the setting or plot the more easily distracted he becomes.
I won't spoil the plot but this is based upon a daring bank raid carried out by American crooks in Buchanan St in Glasgow and concerns a game of cat and mouse between the cop (Angelique) and the lead robber. There are Glasgow gangsters and American hardmen thrown in as well but the plot never gets too carried away. It really is riveting but does fall away a bit in the final third but the first half of the book more than makes up for that.
If you are to own some if not all Brookmyre books then this along with Quite Ugly One Morning, A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away and also One Fine Day... are the ones to have. The rest
though quite good in their own right never seem as good as this or One Fine Day.
A very Worthwhile Read.
Some of them (Boiling A Frog, Not The End Of The World) are a bit of a struggle to get to the end but this is fantastic. To read it you really need to have read it's predecessor A Big Boy... as it introduces Angelique to you and there are references to events in the previous book. As a work on it's own merits it does stand out. In my opinion the closer Brookmyre sticks to home (Boiling A Frog being an exception) the more likely he is to hit the mark also the more elaborate the setting or plot the more easily distracted he becomes.
I won't spoil the plot but this is based upon a daring bank raid carried out by American crooks in Buchanan St in Glasgow and concerns a game of cat and mouse between the cop (Angelique) and the lead robber. There are Glasgow gangsters and American hardmen thrown in as well but the plot never gets too carried away. It really is riveting but does fall away a bit in the final third but the first half of the book more than makes up for that.
If you are to own some if not all Brookmyre books then this along with Quite Ugly One Morning, A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away and also One Fine Day... are the ones to have. The rest
though quite good in their own right never seem as good as this or One Fine Day.
A very Worthwhile Read.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
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!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Outstanding.
This was the very first Brookmyre book I read and I am now his biggest fan! Wonderfully written and satirical. Read more
Published 4 months ago by AmandaB
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 11 months ago by Debi
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 17 months ago by P. J. Ramsay
A fantastic relationship amid crime and strong language
Brookmyre's seventh novel is a sequel to 'A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away', although the focus is now on police officer Angelique de Xavier, who was only the lead supporting... Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
The Sacred Art of Stealing
Without doubt Mr Brookmyre's best novel. Very good. Helps to have read the previous novel but a cracking story.
Published 18 months ago by JCEH
It just gets better and better
I have now read quite a number of Chris Brookmyres books, and each one seems better than the one before. The Sacred Art of Stealing is no exception. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Sandra Forrester
I bought everything else he ever wrote on the strength of this book.
This is one of the least serious of Brookmyre's books. As what he writes is humour I should clarify. Many of his books are hilarious with a serious theme. Read more
Published on 19 April 2010 by R. Evison
My best read of 2009
This book is such a cracker. Great plot. Excellent characters. Funny, funny, funny. Edge of the seat thrilling. Very rude. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2010 by James H
What a joyous read
This is a 5 star read, make no mistake. All the usual Brookmyre elements are there, plus an are they/aren't they couple. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2009 by M. Watson
pure dead brilliant
this is the first brookmyre book, finnished it in 4 days. i have now read 5.
lived in glasgow, knew all the sreets and areas, loved his local dialect. Read more
lived in glasgow, knew all the sreets and areas, loved his local dialect. Read more
Published on 9 July 2009 by Craig N. Mcgougan
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