The Capitalist

Steiner’s disappointing fifth Louis Morgon thriller (after 2012’s The Resistance) finds the 70-plus ex-CIA operative living in a small town in France’s Loire Valley with his lover and companion, Pauline. When Pauline’s money manager brother, Jean-Baptiste, who works in New York City, commits suicide after realizing that he lost all of his clients’ money after being duped by St. John Larrimer, an unethical investment banker described as “Madoff on a slightly smaller scale,” Morgon attempts to locate Larrimer and the $3 billion that the crook stole. Morgon realizes that some of Larrimer’s victims are relentlessly tracking him, including a Russian mobster who will stop at nothing to get his money back. Though previous installments have been subdued, this entry offers little action, minimal tension, and none of the narrative richness that readers have come to expect in this series. Hopefully, Steiner will return to form next time. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Literary Agency. (Feb.)