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Jac Be Nimble
Jac Pencuri has been a busker, magician, and thief for most of his life. After growing up on the streets of Sydney, Australia, he’s made his way to Victoria, BC, living on his stolen tugboat, Scrimshaw. Jac performs regularly at the inner harbour with his apprentice, Chidi, and on the side, running cons and picking the pockets of rich tourists.
But his settled if somewhat shady existence is upended when an old patron-turned-nemesis, Australian billionaire Foster Roth, comes to Victoria in his magnificent mega-yacht Trio. Roth has come to the city to exhibit a collection of rare children’s books at Craigdarroch Castle, including a copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustrated by Salvador Dalí and signed by the artist. Jac steals the frontispiece of the book out of its supposedly impregnable display case from under an array of cameras and the noses of security personnel—an apparently impossible crime.
When Roth brings in another old nemesis of Jac’s, retired police investigator Albert Vargas, to hunt down the thief, Jac finds himself on the run. He's trying to stay one step ahead of Roth, Vargas, and the Victoria Police, and sadly unable to properly pursue his unexpected attraction to the pretty au pair of a wealthy couple he intended to rob.
But magic is the art of misdirection. All is not as it appears, and more than one kind of sleight of hand is at play . . .
But his settled if somewhat shady existence is upended when an old patron-turned-nemesis, Australian billionaire Foster Roth, comes to Victoria in his magnificent mega-yacht Trio. Roth has come to the city to exhibit a collection of rare children’s books at Craigdarroch Castle, including a copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustrated by Salvador Dalí and signed by the artist. Jac steals the frontispiece of the book out of its supposedly impregnable display case from under an array of cameras and the noses of security personnel—an apparently impossible crime.
When Roth brings in another old nemesis of Jac’s, retired police investigator Albert Vargas, to hunt down the thief, Jac finds himself on the run. He's trying to stay one step ahead of Roth, Vargas, and the Victoria Police, and sadly unable to properly pursue his unexpected attraction to the pretty au pair of a wealthy couple he intended to rob.
But magic is the art of misdirection. All is not as it appears, and more than one kind of sleight of hand is at play . . .
270 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2022
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 19, 2023
okay the last 40 pages alone were enough to bring this from a 3 star read to 4 stars. wow
it felt very info dumpy for a good while. and though the characters lacked a certain charm for me, i can never resist a good heist. and this is indeed that.
it felt very info dumpy for a good while. and though the characters lacked a certain charm for me, i can never resist a good heist. and this is indeed that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review