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Rune Sarasin #2
Ceylon Sapphires
In this thrilling follow-up to Blood Rubies, plucky gem thief Rune Sarasin finds herself racing across Europe in pursuit of precious sapphires that might buy her freedom from a dangerous crime lord.
At a private showing in the Louvre, Napoleon Bonaparte’s great-great-grand niece Margot Steiner admires the painting of her famous ancestor while wearing a precious Ceylon sapphire necklace commissioned by the emperor himself. After getting caught in a commotion on the crowded staircase, however, Mrs. Steiner discovers that her necklace is gone and the suspicious young woman who started the commotion has melted away into the throng…
Rune Sarasin is new to Paris, but not new to stealing priceless jewels. She has spent the last few years plying her trade in the fast-paced city of Bangkok, but after unwittingly stealing from the ruthless smuggler Charles Lemaire, she now must hunt down the gems that he requests until she repays what she owes. But when Lemaire demands that she now steal sapphire earrings to match the necklace, Rune realizes that he will never willingly let her go.
Taking down a man with near unlimited resources is not a job for a young woman on her own, who now must hide in the shadows. With the help of an old friend and some new and unlikely alliances, Rune finds herself in a cat and mouse game around all of Europe, from Paris to Mallorca, to Marseille, to Amsterdam, and Berlin. Caught up in the world of smuggling, drug dealing, and shady businessmen, Rune fights to stay one step ahead of both the police and Lemaire.
At a private showing in the Louvre, Napoleon Bonaparte’s great-great-grand niece Margot Steiner admires the painting of her famous ancestor while wearing a precious Ceylon sapphire necklace commissioned by the emperor himself. After getting caught in a commotion on the crowded staircase, however, Mrs. Steiner discovers that her necklace is gone and the suspicious young woman who started the commotion has melted away into the throng…
Rune Sarasin is new to Paris, but not new to stealing priceless jewels. She has spent the last few years plying her trade in the fast-paced city of Bangkok, but after unwittingly stealing from the ruthless smuggler Charles Lemaire, she now must hunt down the gems that he requests until she repays what she owes. But when Lemaire demands that she now steal sapphire earrings to match the necklace, Rune realizes that he will never willingly let her go.
Taking down a man with near unlimited resources is not a job for a young woman on her own, who now must hide in the shadows. With the help of an old friend and some new and unlikely alliances, Rune finds herself in a cat and mouse game around all of Europe, from Paris to Mallorca, to Marseille, to Amsterdam, and Berlin. Caught up in the world of smuggling, drug dealing, and shady businessmen, Rune fights to stay one step ahead of both the police and Lemaire.
312 pages, Hardcover
Published June 3, 2025
About the author
Mailan Doquang
3 books36 followersMailan Doquang is an academic turned novelist with a PhD in architectural history from the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Her debut thriller, Blood Rubies, is a Globe 100 Best Book of 2024, an Amazon Editor's Pick, and a Strand Pick of the Month. Mailan enjoys traveling, photography, and running. She is a Canadian transplant and longtime resident of New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 10, 2026
Gems of Ceylon
A review of the Mysterious Press hardcover (June 3, 2025) released simultaneously with the eBook, followed by the audiobook (July 7, 2025).
Ceylon Sapphires carries on the story of jewel thief / burglar Rune Sarasin from the first in the series Blood Rubies (2024). Rune is at the beck and call of crime lord Charles Lemaire in order to pay back her debt from the misadventure in the previous tale. Things kick off with a heist of a sapphire necklace at the Louvre in Paris and it becomes a whirlwind of hiding out and escapes through Mallorca, Marseille, Amsterdam, and Berlin with further capers.
The atmosphere and setting descriptions are well done throughout and more than live up to the immersion of the Bangkok setting in the first book. Rune is bit tiresome though in the way she is regularly calling on old friends whom she deserted in the past and who are still prepared to make allowances. Things take a turn in the end though when she actually helps the brutalized wife of the scion of a ruthless pharmaceutical family. It is for mutual benefit of course, and it may lead to her escape from the clutches of Lemaire.
I didn't warm to Rune as much as I did in the first book where her actions were more altruistic. The international sweep of events here still made for a compulsive read. Call it a 3.5 rounded up for a 4 star rating.
Trivia and Links
Thriller writer Mailan Doquang is also the architectural historian Mailan S. Doquang, author of The Lithic Garden: Nature and the Transformation of the Medieval Church (2018).
A review of the Mysterious Press hardcover (June 3, 2025) released simultaneously with the eBook, followed by the audiobook (July 7, 2025).
Had Rune been more self-aware, she might have noticed the patterns in her relationships and done the work she needed to do to address them. It was more complicated than daddy issues, but any therapist worth their salt would have started there.
Ceylon Sapphires carries on the story of jewel thief / burglar Rune Sarasin from the first in the series Blood Rubies (2024). Rune is at the beck and call of crime lord Charles Lemaire in order to pay back her debt from the misadventure in the previous tale. Things kick off with a heist of a sapphire necklace at the Louvre in Paris and it becomes a whirlwind of hiding out and escapes through Mallorca, Marseille, Amsterdam, and Berlin with further capers.
The atmosphere and setting descriptions are well done throughout and more than live up to the immersion of the Bangkok setting in the first book. Rune is bit tiresome though in the way she is regularly calling on old friends whom she deserted in the past and who are still prepared to make allowances. Things take a turn in the end though when she actually helps the brutalized wife of the scion of a ruthless pharmaceutical family. It is for mutual benefit of course, and it may lead to her escape from the clutches of Lemaire.
I didn't warm to Rune as much as I did in the first book where her actions were more altruistic. The international sweep of events here still made for a compulsive read. Call it a 3.5 rounded up for a 4 star rating.
Trivia and Links
Thriller writer Mailan Doquang is also the architectural historian Mailan S. Doquang, author of The Lithic Garden: Nature and the Transformation of the Medieval Church (2018).
June 11, 2025
ARC✶REVIEW
#ad much love for my advance copy @scarletsuspense #partner
🅲🅴🆈🅻🅾🅽 🆂🅰🅿🅿🅷🅸🆁🅴🆂 💎
ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ɴᴏᴡ
Fab. Fabulous. Loved it! There’s almost nothing I love more than a heist thriller and boy did this book deliver just that! Rune Sarasin is a jewel thief, but she stole from the wrong person. Now she can’t escape his grip.
He wants her to pay him back for all the jewels she stole from him. Every. Single. One. Until her debt is paid. But will he really let her go that easily?
Ceylon Sapphires by Mailan Doquang is a fast-paced suspense thriller that hooks you from the very first page. This was such a fun read! Literally loved every second of it. The writing flows so naturally and the plot is executed perfectly.
I didn’t know what to expect of this book, but it surpassed any preconceived notions I had. Highly recommend.
I’m def gonna have to buy the book before this one - Blood Rubies - as this is a follow-up to that book. I haven’t read that first one so I’m not sure if we miss anything or if this can be read as a standalone.
Fabulous
#ad much love for my advance copy @scarletsuspense #partner
🅲🅴🆈🅻🅾🅽 🆂🅰🅿🅿🅷🅸🆁🅴🆂 💎
ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ɴᴏᴡ
Fab. Fabulous. Loved it! There’s almost nothing I love more than a heist thriller and boy did this book deliver just that! Rune Sarasin is a jewel thief, but she stole from the wrong person. Now she can’t escape his grip.
He wants her to pay him back for all the jewels she stole from him. Every. Single. One. Until her debt is paid. But will he really let her go that easily?
Ceylon Sapphires by Mailan Doquang is a fast-paced suspense thriller that hooks you from the very first page. This was such a fun read! Literally loved every second of it. The writing flows so naturally and the plot is executed perfectly.
I didn’t know what to expect of this book, but it surpassed any preconceived notions I had. Highly recommend.
I’m def gonna have to buy the book before this one - Blood Rubies - as this is a follow-up to that book. I haven’t read that first one so I’m not sure if we miss anything or if this can be read as a standalone.
Fabulous
May 6, 2025
This was a great sequel to Blood Rubies. I enjoyed following Rune again in this book and getting to know her more as a character. I liked the overall storyline of this book as well as the European settings. There was a lot packed into this book making it a quick and fast-paced read.
Read this if you like:
📖 Thief FMC
📖 Cat and mouse storyline
📖 European settings
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted arc.
Read this if you like:
📖 Thief FMC
📖 Cat and mouse storyline
📖 European settings
Thank you to the publisher for the gifted arc.
June 7, 2025
The police are on her trail...
...and so is the man who has taken control of her life.
Rune Sarasin has made a career over the last few years of stealing gems, and she has been quite successful at it. Recently however she stole from the wrong man, the vicious and powerful smuggler Charles Lemaire, who has since co-opted her services for his own use. His threats to do harm to the two people for whom she has feelings, her boyfriend Kit and his younger sister Madee, both of whom she considers her family, force her to do his bidding. Kit may not want anything to do with Rune anymore, telling her she's a bad influence who has brought trouble to his and Madee's life, but that doesn't stop her from wanting to protect him (while hoping that she can change his mind about her place in his life). Lemaire's jobs are escalating in risk, and even as Rune plans how to accomplish her latest assignment of stealing the necklace and earrings of a sapphire parure originally commissioned by Napoleon and now in the possession of one of his descendants, she is scheming to find a way to break free of Lemaire's control once and for all. When her plan to grab the earrings goes sideways and she is seen without her disguise during the execution of the theft, it is only a matter of time before video surfaces that will have law enforcement worldwide searching for her. The Steiner family from whom she stole the jewels are the wealthy and powerful owners of a pharmaceutical company and they will not accept their loss quietly. From Deauville to Mallorca, Marseille to Amsterdam, and Berlin to Paris, Rune is on the run, evading the police who want to arrest her and Lemaire's goons whose intentions are potentially worse. She has burned through her old contacts, who wish her well but refuse to get arrested for helping her, but will find an unlikely ally in the abused wife of one of the Steiner men. Rune has amazing skills, but will they be enough to keep her alive and out of prison?
With its rapid-fire pace as the story careens across the globe, Ceylon Sapphires is an engaging sequel to the first thriller featuring Rune Sarasin, Blood Rubies. It is part espionage thriller and part heist caper, with a clever but flawed protagonist in Rune, who is putting her strategic skills to the test when she decides to go up against Lemaire. Having read the first book in the series, I had a better handle on Rune's backstory as I read Ceylon Sapphires than would a reader new to the series, but the book can certainly be read as a standalone regardless. Readers of Steve Berry, Alafair Burke and Lisa Unger should give this book/series a try; with its blend of exotic locales, bursts of humor and nonstop action, its a highly entertaining read. My thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers/Mysterious Press for allowing me access to this intriguing thriller in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to Rune's next adventure!
...and so is the man who has taken control of her life.
Rune Sarasin has made a career over the last few years of stealing gems, and she has been quite successful at it. Recently however she stole from the wrong man, the vicious and powerful smuggler Charles Lemaire, who has since co-opted her services for his own use. His threats to do harm to the two people for whom she has feelings, her boyfriend Kit and his younger sister Madee, both of whom she considers her family, force her to do his bidding. Kit may not want anything to do with Rune anymore, telling her she's a bad influence who has brought trouble to his and Madee's life, but that doesn't stop her from wanting to protect him (while hoping that she can change his mind about her place in his life). Lemaire's jobs are escalating in risk, and even as Rune plans how to accomplish her latest assignment of stealing the necklace and earrings of a sapphire parure originally commissioned by Napoleon and now in the possession of one of his descendants, she is scheming to find a way to break free of Lemaire's control once and for all. When her plan to grab the earrings goes sideways and she is seen without her disguise during the execution of the theft, it is only a matter of time before video surfaces that will have law enforcement worldwide searching for her. The Steiner family from whom she stole the jewels are the wealthy and powerful owners of a pharmaceutical company and they will not accept their loss quietly. From Deauville to Mallorca, Marseille to Amsterdam, and Berlin to Paris, Rune is on the run, evading the police who want to arrest her and Lemaire's goons whose intentions are potentially worse. She has burned through her old contacts, who wish her well but refuse to get arrested for helping her, but will find an unlikely ally in the abused wife of one of the Steiner men. Rune has amazing skills, but will they be enough to keep her alive and out of prison?
With its rapid-fire pace as the story careens across the globe, Ceylon Sapphires is an engaging sequel to the first thriller featuring Rune Sarasin, Blood Rubies. It is part espionage thriller and part heist caper, with a clever but flawed protagonist in Rune, who is putting her strategic skills to the test when she decides to go up against Lemaire. Having read the first book in the series, I had a better handle on Rune's backstory as I read Ceylon Sapphires than would a reader new to the series, but the book can certainly be read as a standalone regardless. Readers of Steve Berry, Alafair Burke and Lisa Unger should give this book/series a try; with its blend of exotic locales, bursts of humor and nonstop action, its a highly entertaining read. My thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publishers/Mysterious Press for allowing me access to this intriguing thriller in exchange for my honest review. I look forward to Rune's next adventure!
January 28, 2025
I realized that this was book 2 after I started reading it, but no matter, because you get enough here to know what was in Book 1. And unlike other series I have read, I really don't want to read Book 1 ! Or Book 3, whenever that comes out. This is entertaining brain candy, but just too far over the top to really suspend my disbelief.
Amused note:usually authors throw in too many current pop culture references, contributing to how rapidly their books date. Doquang doesn't do that, but there is a throwaway line about a character looking like a "young Peggy Lipton." Now personally I do remember her--and The Mod Squad--but most readers probably are far too young to remember that show. What's up with that?
Amused note:usually authors throw in too many current pop culture references, contributing to how rapidly their books date. Doquang doesn't do that, but there is a throwaway line about a character looking like a "young Peggy Lipton." Now personally I do remember her--and The Mod Squad--but most readers probably are far too young to remember that show. What's up with that?
June 25, 2025
A Thrilling, Glittering Adventure Through Paris. “Ceylon Sapphires” is a fast-paced, richly atmospheric gem of a novel. Mailan Doquang’s sharp and stylish prose brings both the underworld of jewel smuggling and the glittering streets of Paris vividly to life.
Rune, the smart and resourceful protagonist, had me hooked from page one. Caught between the police and dangerous criminals, she navigates the high-stakes world of jewel heists with cunning, courage, and grit. I couldn’t stop turning the pages as she raced through iconic Paris locations—from shadowy back alleys to the grandeur of the Louvre.
If you love clever heroines, international intrigue, and stories with both brains and adrenaline, Ceylon Sapphires is not to be missed
Rune, the smart and resourceful protagonist, had me hooked from page one. Caught between the police and dangerous criminals, she navigates the high-stakes world of jewel heists with cunning, courage, and grit. I couldn’t stop turning the pages as she raced through iconic Paris locations—from shadowy back alleys to the grandeur of the Louvre.
If you love clever heroines, international intrigue, and stories with both brains and adrenaline, Ceylon Sapphires is not to be missed
April 1, 2025
I chose to read this book because I love cat burglar stories but…for most of the story Rune was a two-dimensional character who did not elicit any feelings from me. More explanation of her backstory would be gone a long way in giving the character more warmth. Only at every end when she joins forces with Romy does the comradeship bring forth more of Rune’s personality and feelings. With some tweaking, this could become an interesting thriller with a great female protagonist. I received an ARC from NetGalley, and the opinions expressed are my own.
July 28, 2025
Mailan did it again! This sequel lives up to my expectations. It's a fast-paced thriller that kept me hooked since the beginning. The writing style is sharp, stylish and easy to read. The vivid descriptions of the European cities bring the story to life. If you enjoy strong female characters, heist thrillers and espionage novels this is the book for you.
Favorite phrases from the book:
"Escape a tiger, meet a crocodile"
"There is nothing in the world as invisible as a monument"
Favorite phrases from the book:
"Escape a tiger, meet a crocodile"
"There is nothing in the world as invisible as a monument"
February 27, 2025
I had such a blast reading this book! Ceylon Sapphires has a little of everything. It’s funny, fast paced, and packed with history from around the world. It also has a lot of heart. Mailan Doquang’s series has landed a place on my must-read list!
May 19, 2025
The cover tells you this is a thriller, and from the opening pages you know it's going to live up to its promise with the wit and attention to detail that you'd expect if you read Blood Rubies, the first in the series. You'll have fun reading this book.
July 7, 2025
This writer's powers of pacing and description are exceptional, I think, but I was disappointed in this one - the centre did not hold. Too many linear, dropped threads that didn't quite weave together.
I don't think it's honest to say that this is a novel about domestic violence.
I don't think it's honest to say that this is a novel about domestic violence.
November 7, 2025
I picked this up after the Louvre heist mostly because of the gorgeous cover. It opens at the museum with the theft of Napoleonic jewels, then follows the MC (Rune) all over Europe as she tries to evade the police and a really bad gemstone trafficker. It was a super fast, super fun read!
November 7, 2025
This book was such a blast! Rune's sass and selfish streak are perfectly balanced by her genuine desire to help someone in need (no spoilers). The capers were fun, the settings vivid, and the writing flowed effortlessly. I was rooting for Rune from start to finish!
January 14, 2026
Ceylon Sapphires is the second book in the series. I never read the first book. and never felt that I was missing part of the story. It is crime story with some redemption. I was entertained and a bit surprised at times. This book makes me want to seek the first book in the series.
February 18, 2025
A whirlwind cat-and-mouse, a female thief MC, plus amazing European settings. I finished it in one sitting!
July 5, 2025
Love the main character of Rune, but the heist/payback element is underwhelming and, in the end, just too far-fetched.
August 25, 2025
Loved this jewelry murder mystery!
Loved it was set in Paris!
Loved it was set in Paris!
November 6, 2025
Couldn’t put it down!
August 18, 2025
This is an exciting and well-written sequel to Blood Rubies. It is full of action and further develops the character of the protagonist, Rune. I loved every page.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews