Christopher Reich worked at a Swiss bank for three years, which might be part of the reason why I originally thought his “insider info” would make for some really great storylines. But looking back, I only gave 3 stars to 2016’s Rules of Deception (#1 in the Ransom series) and also to 2018’s The Take (#1 in the Simon Riske series). For some reason, I thought Once A Thief (#4 in the Riske series) was going to be the thing for me, a grabber, terrific. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t – at least not for me). 

When the story opens, Smon is sitting in Napa Valley, having just sold a rare Ferrari to a French woman for a gazillion dollars. He thinks he is set, then the woman’s bodyguard storms in, claiming fraud (something about a missing gear box, whatever that is). 

At the same time, in Switzerland, a banker is killed by a car bomb just before he can give the authorities information and go into witness protection. His daughter (young and beautiful, of course) goes to investigate her father’s murder and guess what?She and Simon have a common enemy. The story goes through London, Corsica, Sardinia, etc. and everything gets resolved after lots of action and intrigue. 

Maybe I’m just not the target demographic for Simon and his adventures. In any case, this one was not a grabber for me, and didn’t call to me every time I put it down, so it’s not even as good (for me) as the previous Reich books I have read. I may try again in the future – or maybe not. Two stars.