Once a Thief 
asked by maxmill on November 28, 2006 7:04 PM
With a priceless collection at stake...Is everything for the taking?
It had taken centuries for Max Bannister’s family to acquire their treasures, and now he’s been asked to risk his collection as bait for a master criminal. For his own reasons, Max allows a public exhibition, and to protect the family fortune he must rely on the skills of his half brother--a world-class security expert--and his smart and savvy exhibit director, Morgan West.
But almost immediately, Morgan comes face-to-face with the mysterious Quinn, Interpol’s most wanted thief for the past decade--and a man who makes it very clear he has an eye on the Bannister collection. And if that’s not enough, Morgan begins to realize that she’s surrounded by secrets and lies, and that someone very close to Max is moving behind the scenes, intent on murder as well as robbery...someone whose ultimate plan threatens to ruin them all.
It had taken centuries for Max Bannister’s family to acquire their treasures, and now he’s been asked to risk his collection as bait for a master criminal. For his own reasons, Max allows a public exhibition, and to protect the family fortune he must rely on the skills of his half brother--a world-class security expert--and his smart and savvy exhibit director, Morgan West.
But almost immediately, Morgan comes face-to-face with the mysterious Quinn, Interpol’s most wanted thief for the past decade--and a man who makes it very clear he has an eye on the Bannister collection. And if that’s not enough, Morgan begins to realize that she’s surrounded by secrets and lies, and that someone very close to Max is moving behind the scenes, intent on murder as well as robbery...someone whose ultimate plan threatens to ruin them all.
Reviews
0%
0%
Great mystery. Ms Hooper keeps the book moving from beginning to end.
reviewed by bones on November 29, 2006 6:28 PM
0%
0%
While there was a pretty good build up of the characters and the story was peppered with some mystery, lies and bit of action, I knew with only 35 pages left that there was no way this book could end gracefully. There is no ending because this story has basically been split into two books. Once a Thief is the first half and book two titled Always a Thief is the second half. I have started Always a Thief and it picks right up were Once a Thief left off. If you plan to buy One a Thief you need to buy Always a Thief at the same time.
reviewed by oden on November 29, 2006 7:31 PM
0%
0%
There is no plot, just to clarify for the later readers of this review. Alas, this is the first of Hooper's books I've read and it might be the last the way was written.
Oh yeah, a plot summary: The main idea is that there's this woman who's a curator for a museum, and she has this nagging "feeling" that something is amiss. Call it intuition if you wish. She might be feeling spooked because she has this giant exhibit quickly approaching and that there is a lot at stake if something gets messed up. So about that "feeling"...She goes on a date w/ this guy who, coincidentally is also a curator for a museum (no!) and along the way, her date gets knocked out and she suddenly comes face-to-face with the very debonair superthief Quinn.
Now, I might be a party pooper or something around those lines, but the way the story was written it absolutely posivitely did not, in any way, shape, or form, follow the back of this book. When the book says: she meets a thief and finds secrets, everyone is like, alllllrighty then and moves on. But the plot doesn't even follow that. In short, she meets the thief and falls in love with him, which doesn't make sense because he IS a thief and he IS after her museum.
I guess that the Quinn thing was annoying because the dialouge did not follow a sense of realism. If you were racing down a darkened museum hallway running from someone w/ a gun and suddenly someone just grabbed you, chances are minutes later you would not be having a fine and festive and suggestive conversation. This book, says "Realism, what's that?" and goes about its unrealism anyway. It just didn't seem real that what was happening in this book was happening. I guess what I'm saying is that if my review is confusing (which it is, even I have trouble following it) than it is because this book is confusing. The plot drifts. It drags. It all but throws itself off a building to get your attention. And maybe it succeeds. I must admit, I did read this book in one day, but most of the time I'd stop on a page and skim forward to see if anything, anything at all, had a spark of action. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. However, this book just didn't add up.
It tried to be a mystery, but wound up being a poorly done romance, and I must say, that genre is something I despise... which might be why the grade is 2**, not even one, mind you.
So, if there are better Hooper books, then please, suggest them to me and spare me from this. This is one of her books that just does not add up and, as a result, leaves very befuddled readers in its wake.
Oh yeah, a plot summary: The main idea is that there's this woman who's a curator for a museum, and she has this nagging "feeling" that something is amiss. Call it intuition if you wish. She might be feeling spooked because she has this giant exhibit quickly approaching and that there is a lot at stake if something gets messed up. So about that "feeling"...She goes on a date w/ this guy who, coincidentally is also a curator for a museum (no!) and along the way, her date gets knocked out and she suddenly comes face-to-face with the very debonair superthief Quinn.
Now, I might be a party pooper or something around those lines, but the way the story was written it absolutely posivitely did not, in any way, shape, or form, follow the back of this book. When the book says: she meets a thief and finds secrets, everyone is like, alllllrighty then and moves on. But the plot doesn't even follow that. In short, she meets the thief and falls in love with him, which doesn't make sense because he IS a thief and he IS after her museum.
I guess that the Quinn thing was annoying because the dialouge did not follow a sense of realism. If you were racing down a darkened museum hallway running from someone w/ a gun and suddenly someone just grabbed you, chances are minutes later you would not be having a fine and festive and suggestive conversation. This book, says "Realism, what's that?" and goes about its unrealism anyway. It just didn't seem real that what was happening in this book was happening. I guess what I'm saying is that if my review is confusing (which it is, even I have trouble following it) than it is because this book is confusing. The plot drifts. It drags. It all but throws itself off a building to get your attention. And maybe it succeeds. I must admit, I did read this book in one day, but most of the time I'd stop on a page and skim forward to see if anything, anything at all, had a spark of action. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. However, this book just didn't add up.
It tried to be a mystery, but wound up being a poorly done romance, and I must say, that genre is something I despise... which might be why the grade is 2**, not even one, mind you.
So, if there are better Hooper books, then please, suggest them to me and spare me from this. This is one of her books that just does not add up and, as a result, leaves very befuddled readers in its wake.
reviewed by bigchad on November 29, 2006 7:34 PM