Royal Flush

Rating:
Summary: A curiously mannered caper novel.
Review: Millionaire Edward de Jersey earned his money the hard way, by stealing it. Retiring from crime, he used his ill-gotten gains to recreate himself, becoming a respected fixture of English society. Rising from the streets, the former Edward Jersey has it all-wealth, an ex-model for a wife, a healthy, beautiful family, and a massive estate where he indulges his passion for breeding champion race horses.

That is, however, until the day he discovers he's lost it all, due to a bad investment he made on the advice of a trusted advisor, who, now penniless, has committed suicide. Reluctant to give up the good life, de Jersey conceives of a bold plan to restore his wealth-he and his ex-cronies will pull off the heist of the century, the theft of the Royal Crown Jewels.

A curiously mannered version of Ocean's Eleven, Royal Heist contains little of the immediacy and sly humor evident in that book. Unlike the unforgettable Danny Ocean, de Jersey is curiously lacking in charisma. Although such a failing in its central character could doom a book by a lesser writer than La Plante, it's not fatal to Royal Heist. Full of colorful supporting character who more than make up for de Jersey, the book slowly picks up steam as the caper is planned, then kicks into high gear as the job is actually executed. And, as in the case of Ocean's Eleven, circumstances arise which prove that not even the most gifted crook can plan for every contingency.