An enjoyable sequel, even if written seven decades later…
A week or so ago, I had a fun time reading a new e-reprint of an old classic: David Dodge’s To Catch a Thief, which was the basis for the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. I haven’t seen the movie, but enjoyed the book, which had a nice mix of action and suspense, with a hint of romance. Now, Mark ONeill has written an estate-approved sequel, To Catch a Spy, which came out a few days ago.
I was lucky enough to be able to read an advance review copy, and I found To Catch a Spy to be an almost seamless follow-on to its predecessor. John Robie has moved up in the world, in a way – he’s gotten himself roped in to doing a semi-legitimate favor for his old friend, Paul de Pre, who turns out to be rather high up in France’s counterespionage bureau. But John has also moved down in the world: all of the sudden, that favor means he’s being targeted by some pretty nasty folks. And if that weren’t enough, Francie has dumped him for another guy.
Eventually, of course, his unique skills help him sort things out, even if he’s not totally on the straight-and-narrow all the time. And along the way, there’s plenty of action and suspense, the characters feel like natural continuations of their earlier selves, and there’s always the gorgeous Riviera to (day)dream about. ONeill’s voice felt ever-so-slightly different, a bit more modern, which is hardly surprising given the seven decades between “Thief” and “Spy”. But since I had a pause of about a week between reading the two, it wasn’t jarring. In fact, the only minor issue I had with the book was my feeling that Francie’s breathtakingly fast ascent as a fashion model was a bit unbelievable. So long as I was willing to overlook that, though, To Catch a Spy was a great sequel, and I hope another is in the works – not least to see if Francie and John can manage to sort things out!
And finally, my thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the review copy.
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