Readers' rating:
Publishes
Jun 25, 2024
448 pages
Genre: True Crime
Publication Information
in this captivating Jazz Age true crime about "the greatest jewel thief who ever lived" (Life Magazine), Arthur Barry, who charmed celebrities and millionaires while simultaneously planning and executing the most audacious and lucrative heists of the 1920s.
A skilled con artist and one of the most successful burglars in history, Arthur Barry was adept at slipping in and out of bedrooms undetected, even when his victims slept only inches away. He became a folk hero, a gentleman bandit touted in the press as the "Prince of Thieves" and an "Aristocrat of Crime." Think Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief. In a span of seven years, Barry stole pearls, diamonds, and other precious gems worth almost $60 million today. Among his many victims were a Rockefeller, an heiress to the Woolworth Department Store fortune, an oil magnate, Wall Street bigwigs, a top executive of automotive giant General Motors, and a famous polo player. He befriended the Prince of Wales, Harry Houdini, and other luminaries. The rollicking, caper-filled rise and dramatic downfall of this master thief is a high-speed ride told in stylish prose.
A Gentleman and a Thief is also a love story. Barry confessed to dozens of burglaries to protect his wife, Anna Blake (and was the prime suspect in scores of others on Long Island and across Westchester County). Sentenced to a twenty-five-year term, he staged a dramatic prison break—triggering a bloody inmates' riot—when Anna became seriously ill, so they could be together for a few more years as fugitives. Page-turning, escapist, and sparkling with insight into the allure of gemstones and our fascination with well-planned heists and the suave, clever criminals who pull them off, A Gentleman and a Thief is perfect for true crime fans who relish the exploits of con artists and high-class crooks.
"A top-shelf work of true crime… Jobb tells Barry's tale with both rigor and pathos, painting a tender portrait of a crook who was never fearsome. This is liable to steal readers' hearts." ―Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"An entertaining history of a criminal mastermind… A rousing tale of true crime that elicits sympathy for both victims and perpetrator." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Jobb brings [Arthur Barry] vividly to life in this topflight true crime narrative… What sets Jobb apart is the way he approaches his subjects with perception and compassion. This belongs in every library's true crime section for every reader of this ever-growing genre." ―Booklist
"This captivating tale will charm its way into your affections like the charismatic rogue at its heart. A Gentleman and a Thief is the glittering jewel of its genre. Once more, Dean Jobb proves he's a master storyteller." ―Lindsey Fitzharris, New York Times bestselling author of The Facemaker
"Dean Jobb gives us a real-life character like no other, an audacious jewel thief working the society parlors of Jazz Age New York. Here is a book to put alongside the other greats of narrative non-fiction, as cinematic and vivid as any in the catalog of true crime storytelling." ―Michael Cannell, author of A Brotherhood Betrayed and Incendiary
"An enthrallingly propulsive, unpredictably twisty biography of one of the most fascinating criminals of the 20th Century. Dean Jobb's immersive writing and in-depth research brings this startling true story to life. I was hooked from the very first heist." ―Michael Finkel, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Thief and The Stranger in the Woods
This information about A Gentleman and a Thief was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dean Jobb is the author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, winner of the inaugural CrimeCon Clue Award for true crime book of the year and longlisted for the American Library Association's Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. His previous books include Empire of Deception, which the New York Times Book Review called "intoxicating and impressively researched" and the Chicago Writers Association named the Nonfiction Book of the Year. Esquire magazine has hailed him as "a master of narrative nonfiction." Jobb has written for major newspapers and magazines, including the Chicago Tribune and Toronto's Globe and Mail and his monthly true crime column, "Stranger Than Fiction," appears in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. He is a professor at the University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program.
The Stolen Child
by Ann Hood
An unlikely duo ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate.
Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung
Eve J. Chung's debut novel recounts a family's flight to Taiwan during China's Communist revolution.
Only the Brave by Danielle Steel
A powerful, sweeping historical novel about a courageous woman in World War II Germany.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
