Synopsis

Frustrated novelist Danny is resigned to writing material for trade shows, promoting garage doors and non-stick cookware. His ex-wife threatens legal action for non-payment of alimony. Danny never dreamed the answer to his troubles could be larceny.
But then wealthy, charming Packard Hale III reenters his life. He was Danny’s college roommate, and like Lupin and Raffles, he now fancies himself a gentleman thief. Packard hires Danny to write about his capers.

Danny follows Packard as they break into a mansion and steal, among other things, a priceless Chinese vase and a curiously valuable souvenir blanket from Branson, Missouri. However, it’s not Packard who is pursued by the police, but Danny.

Simultaneously, he struggles to please his client, a lawn-and-garden CEO with an erotic attraction to lawnmowers. Danny also endures abuse from Soren, a boozy has-been Vegas magician. He tolerates the mistreatment because of Crystal, the magician’s assistant. He’s falling for her.
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When he learns Soren screwed Crystal out of rights to magic tricks she’s created — and in spite of the cops on his tail — Danny plots revenge. He and Packard attempt the daring theft of a state-of-the-art lawnmower—during a live performance in front of 400 people.

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Review

If you enjoyed the older movies, The Pink Panther, this novel may be right up your alley. It is filled with bumbling characters, slapstick action, and situations that might have you shaking your head.

Danny is down on his luck until his old classmate, Pack, approaches him. Pack is a quintessential wealthy playboy who needs something to do and wants to stick it to his old man. Pack decides he is going to be a Gentleman Thief, like the story they concocted years ago. And he needs someone to take all of his adventures and turn them into a novel. Pack is more concerned with the appearance than with what he will steal. Of course, he steals from his father as a form of revenge.

I kept shaking my head throughout this novel with the antics of all of the characters – Danny, Pack, Crystal, and even Mimi. There are a few detectives, with one insisting on playing “bad cop” during an interrogation. I can see this made into a movie along the lines of The Pink Panther.

This was a different read for me, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. We give it 4 paws up.

About the Author

MARK NUTTER grew up in a motel near Joliet, Illinois, which is not as glamorous as it sounds. He’s the author of the humorous heist novel The Gentleman Thief Steals a Blanket. He wrote three collections of comedic short stories: Giant Banana Over Texas, Dancer on the Ceiling, and Sunset Cruise on the River Styx. He won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and the LA Weekly Theater Award for the music & lyrics for Reanimator the Musical. Mark also wrote for television (SNL, 3rd Rock from the Sun) and feature film (Almost Heroes).

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Author-signed copy of The Gentleman Thief Steals a Blanket (one winner) (USA and Canada) (ends Oct 6)

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