Book Review: Crown Jewel by Christopher Reich
By Guy Bergstrom
March 25, 2019
Crown Jewel by Christopher Reich is the second thriller featuring spy-for-hire Simon Riske featuring stolen sports cars, brilliant casino heists, and the brazen kidnapping of a prince.
Christopher Reich’s new hero, Simon Riske, is pitched as part Bond, part Reacher.
Crown Jewel, the second book to feature Riske, leans more on the Bond side, with the ex-thief hired to discover who’s stealing from a high-end casino in Monte Carlo.
Reich knows this part of the world, having lived and worked in the Swiss finance industry. The scenes depicting the villain’s team of thieves operating in the casino are fleshed out and interesting:
At ten p.m., after the last of the team had entered, each member moved to a predetermined workstation in the high rollers’ rooms on the casino’s second floor, where the game of baccarat was played. Each player began with a bankroll of ten thousand euros. They played quietly and conservatively. They did not drink. They did not seek the attention of the beautiful women drifting in and out of the rooms. They did not on any occasion speak to the dealer. And never ever did they place wild or outrageous wagers. Nothing was remarkable about the players except one thing: they won.
And they won.
There are expensive super-cars involved in deadly chases, wealthy villains with yachts and Swiss bank accounts, along with a series of beautiful women with whom Riske gets involved. This part of the story feels more like the old ‘60s and ‘70s Bond movies, with most of the female characters showing up only once, never to be seen again.
The major exception to this is the female lead who does stick through to the end of the story.
As for the Reacher comparison, that’s a bit more tenuous. Reacher is methodical and clever, a former military policeman with the brain of Sherlock Holmes stuffed into the body of a tank, and the Lee Child novels with Reacher are gritty and dark, spiced with his hero’s sarcastic wit.
Riske isn’t allergic to violence. He just doesn’t come across like a Reacher-style unstoppable force, with different villains and thugs getting the better of him a few times.
This doesn’t mean the story isn’t fast-paced and fun. Riske certainly goes on a wild adventure as he tries to catch a team of casino thieves:
“I’ll give you five percent of anything you find. Mr. Riske, this has got to stop.”
Simon looked from one man to the other. He wondered how much Lord Toby Stonewood had offered the expert who’d washed up in a fishing net. Success fees were nice, but you had to be alive to collect them. A million dollars was no good to a dead man.
“Well?” said D’Art.
Simon had already made his decision. “Deal,” he said.
He was a gambling man. He never turned town a bet on himself.
Solving that puzzle is the fun of the book.
While the heart of mysteries is more in the whydunit than the whodunit, thrillers are about betrayal—and there is a big, fine betrayal in the climax of Crown Jewel.
The Latest
Comments
Comments are closed.
very interesting
Booking an in-house hotel in Moje Zamzam is easier and faster than ever. Online booking of an in-house hotel in Moje Zamzam relieves you of the hassle of booking a hotel in person and allows you to book your hotel with just a few simple clicks and using acceleration cards in the shortest possible time. To book domestic hotels in Iran, you no longer need to go to different agencies in person or to the hotel itself. All you have to do is search for your hotel or city online on Moje Zamzam’s website to find a wide variety of hotels. The variety of domestic hotels in Moje Zamzam allows you to easily compare the prices, services and facilities of different hotels and finally have the best choice. At Moje Zamzam, after searching for the hotels of your choice, you will have access to a variety of domestic star hotels, apartment hotels, boutique hotels, eco-lodges, tent hotels and inns. Therefore, you have the opportunity to book an in-house hotel with any budget and receive your hotel voucher online. Also in Moje Zamzam, it is possible for you to make a hotel reservation online if you cancel your trip and book a hotel. For your domestic trips, you can find hotels in Mashhad, Tehran, Kish, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Qeshm, Yazd, Bandar Abbas, Ahvaz or other hotels in any of the cities of Iran in just a few minutes and with the cheapest price and without intermediaries. Make a reservation
Thanks for this post, I am a big fan of this web site would like to proceed updated.
I really like your take on the issue. I now have a clear idea on what this matter is all about.
This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses.
Thanks for sharing such a valuable information which is very hard to find normally.
Interesting post. I Have Been wondering about this issue, so thanks for posting. Pretty cool post.It ‘s really very nice and Useful post.Thanks
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera. In severe cases, the disease can kill within hours if left untreated.
I think every parent should provide these books to their children for better learning.
In roulette, as an example, there’s a difference in the knowledge of clicking the Spin key in an online roulette game and the knowledge of seeing the croupier rotate a genuine roulette basketball about a genuine roulette wheel. But beside that various, the overall game may be the same. Whenever you enjoy roulette online.
토토 안녕 토토. 블로그에 대한 귀하의 의견을 소유한 것으로 인정됩니다. 그러므로 그것에 대해 대단히 감사합니다.
Julius Caesar famously proclaimed, on crossing the Rubicon River, ‘the die is cast’ ;.Claudius getting a special dining table on which to throw chop while touring in his carriage. Caligula was the known for being a bad loss.Nero famously guess his people’s treasury money on a couple of sheets of the dice.
Ace your Online Class Takers with our expert help and Get the best grades possible with our online class assistance.