John Robie, proficient acrobat, and reformed jewel thief, wants to rekindle his relationship with Francie Stevens. Known as Le Chat, he was extremely handy at separating jewels from their wealthy owners. He paid his debt to society in prison, and by serving in the French Resistance, where his fighting skills teamed up with his acrobatic prowess to create a lean mean fighting machine. Last active proving he was no longer a thief by catching a copycat criminal, he was thrown off by Francie's rejection, and at least wanted a chance to talk things out with her.
Hoping to enlist his friend Paul as an ally in getting her back, they meet in a hotel in Cannes, but the subject never comes up. Instead, Paul, the director of French Counter Espionage, pointed out a man he wanted watched. But as soon as he was spotted, the mystery man ran back into his hotel with John scrambling up a building to stop him. They met on his balcony, and as they fought, the man purposely fell to his death, leaving a large duffel bag filled with cash. This detail John kept to himself. But he saw a path to speaking to Francie-she was going to be a fashion model at the prestigious Riviera Fashion Week in Cannes, and John could attend under the pretense of spying for Paul...what could possibly go wrong?
If this sounds familiar, it should, Oneill was given the nod by the Dodge estate to write the sequel to the novel-To Catch a Thief. Immortalized in the Hitchcock movie by the same name, the film featured Cary Grant as Robie and Grace Kelly as Francie. Because the original novel is so old (1952), it is best to watch the movie before reading this novel to catch up on the plot. The book is very referential to the movie, it even gives a nod to certain places used as settings, and to Hitchcock himself. It is difficult to picture the characters as anyone else other than the movie stars, even though the reader finds out that Francie and John are around the same age. In the movie he's about the age of her mother.
This is totally a plot-driven, action adventure novel and can be very absorbing and exciting. If you are in the mood for a fifties era convoluted plot filled with shady characters, slimy villains, and beautiful women, this just might be your next spy novel du jour.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
April 1, 2025
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