Alyson Stone's Reviews > A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue

Book: A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue
Author: Dean Jobb
Rating: 3 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to than the publisher, Algonquin Books, for sending me an ARC. This is a case where it’s the book’s fault. I just wasn’t into it. I thought I would be, but it just ended up not being the book for me.

In this one, we follow real life jewel thief, Athur Berry, as he lays siege to some of the wealthiest people of the Jazz Age. He is daring and ends up stealing millions of dollars in jewels. He can slip in and out before anyone can caught him. He does so even with the people he is stealing from watching him. He ends up getting caught and sent to prison. He ends up confessing to his crimes in order to protect his wife, who is very ill.

This age is not one that I have studied in detail. I love learning about new time periods and new characters. I have not heard of Arthur Berry before. I learn about him was very interesting. He is a thief, but the more you learn about his character, the more you come to realize that he is complex. You see the brilliance of his mind while seeing the human side. I think this is something that so many people forget whenever you are reading nonfiction. These people and events are real. Dean does a great job at giving him a human side. We see him at the height of his thief, but we also see him regretting all that he had done. We don’t see this side very often when it comes to someone like him. Again, I liked that Dean brought this side of him in. It, once again, brings out the human side of people.

I found the book to be easy to be very easy to get into. I found the narrative to be compelling and the amount of research put into this is amazing. However, I just found myself unable to really get into the story. I was just so disconnected from it that it stopped me from actually becoming fully invested in what was going on. I could see that this was a good book with solid research, but it just wasn’t for me.

Overall, I am glad that I read this book, but it just wasn’t the book for me.

This book comes out on June 25, 2024.