http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2016...

3.5 Stars *An amusing variation from classic mysteries staring a cheeky gentleman thief* Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief (or “Gentleman Burlgar” depending on the translation version) has a lot in common with many classic Mystery novels. This is a collection of short stories of various crimes committed and being investigated. The difference here is that the main character is the thief himself. Lupin is an intelligent thief and master of disguise who targets high dollar art and artifacts. It is easy to see why people have enjoyed Lupin’s character. He’s irreverent and audacious while he pulls off seemingly impossible heists and cons. Far from hiding in the shadows, he enjoys pulling off heists right under everyone’s noses as well as pulling stunts such as informing targets when he will rob them and leaving snarky notes when items turn out to be counterfeit. “So much the better if no one can ever say with absolute certainty: There is Arsene Lupin! The essential point is that the public may be able to refer to my work and say, without fear of mistake: Arsene Lupin did that!” And Leblanc was clearly thumbing his nose at the English. Not only is Lupin super intelligent, he is supposedly even smarter than Sherlock Holmes who makes an appearance in one of the stories. The French versus English feud was clearly evident in this book. I do wish there had been a bit more about heists and less about Lupin’s various cons and disguises. There was really only one story that stuck out in my mind as a clever heist. The rest more or less blended together: entertaining but not mind-blowing. The stories were extremely inconsistent in narrative style. Some were in third person; some were in first person from different characters’ perspectives. They also jumped around chronologically. I suppose it is important to remember that these stories were originally serialized in newspapers as was common at the time. I doubt the author thought through Lupin’s entire chronology before starting these stories. They have the feel of adding on story after story with only moderate continuity. The stories were interesting enough that I will probably check out the next book. They were enjoyable although not particularly memorable. RATING FACTORS: Ease of Reading: 4 Stars Writing Style: 3 Stars Characters and Character Development: 4 Stars Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars Level of Captivation: 3 Stars Originality: 4 Stars

This book takes us through some of the adventures of Arsène Lupin, a french gentleman and a burglar — from his arrest and prison escape, to his encounter with the notorious Sherlock Holmes. Smart, charming and very egocentric, Lupin is a character that hasn’t aged well. But if you remove the sexist remarks and the gloating of his own intellect, the book is quite entertaining. Just like it happens with Agatha Christie’s novels, many of the plots have now been overused in pop culture and you might see them coming. But if you have seen Lupin on Netflix (I recommend it!), you get a glimpse of the stories that inspired the show and see how they took the best of the character to be a core influence for the main protagonist. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Liked it