The Devil’s Share

Stroby’s razor-sharp third Crissa Stone novel (after 2013’s Shoot the Woman First) takes the no-nonsense professional thief to L.A., to meet wealthy art collector Emile Cota. Cota has been asked to return priceless antiquities to their place of origin, but he has a buyer lined up and wants Crissa to “steal” them so that he can make the sale instead of returning them. In spite of careful planning, things go horrifically wrong, and Crissa finds herself on the run from Cota’s enforcer and even from her own team members. Crissa must go on the offensive to protect herself and a trusted friend from a sociopath who has no qualms about lethally tying up loose ends. We get small glimpses into Crissa’s fraught personal life, but she never lets it affect her work; she is a force to be reckoned with in this cinematic thriller, which wastes no words and packs a huge punch. [em]Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (July) [/em]