ARC Review: Just Watch Me by Jeff Lindsay

Just Watch Me
Author: Jeff Lindsay
Publication: Dutton (December 3, 2019)

Description: A masterful thief plots an impossible crime—stealing the Iranian Crown Jewels.

From the author of the wildly successful Dexter series comes a new, mesmerizing bad guy we can root for: Riley Wolfe. He’s a master thief, expert at disguise, and not averse to violence when it’s needed. It’s no accident, though, that Riley targets the wealthiest 0.1 percent and is willing to kill them when they’re in his way: he despises the degenerate and immoral rich and loves stealing their undeserved and unearned valuables.

In this series launch, Riley aims for an extraordinary target in a heist that will make history. Riley will try to steal the Crown Jewels of Iran. Yes, these jewels are worth billions, but the true attraction for grabbing them comes down to one simple fact: it can’t be done. Stealing these jewels is absolutely impossible. The collection is guarded by space-age electronics and two teams of heavily armed mercenaries. No one could even think of getting past the airtight security and hope to get away alive, let alone with even a single diamond from the Imperial Collection.

No one but Riley Wolfe. He’s always liked a challenge.

But this challenge may be more than even he can handle. Aside from the impenetrable security, Riley is also pursued by a brilliant and relentless cop who is barely a step behind him.

With the aid of his sometime ally, a beautiful woman who is a master art forger, Riley Wolfe goes for the prize that will either make him a legend—or, more likely, leave him dead.

My Thoughts: This was an entertaining heist story which introduces a new thief to the world of fiction. Riley Wolfe is a master thief, and master of disguises, and a man who has always liked a challenge. The story begins with him stealing a twelve ton statue from right in front of a group of people and killing the billionaire who donated it to the city.

That sets the tone for the story that follows. Riley needs a challenge and he isn't unwilling to kill people - especially if they are rich - if they happen to get in his way. When he learns that the Crown Jewels of Iran are going to be on display at a museum in New York City, he decides that stealing the most famous piece of that collection is a challenge worthy of his talents. They are going to be protected by state of the art security and two different and very competent teams of mercenaries.

After he tests many possible access points to get him to the jewels without success, he needs to come up with an alternate plan that only a many as brilliant as he is could possibly devise. He calls on a sometime colleague who is a brilliant forger of art and who is someone he wants to have a relationship with. Monique is intrigued at the challenge also and begins by forging two different pieces of art for him. But that is just the beginning of her role in Riley's greatest heist - so far.

It was intriguing to watch all the personas Riley donned and all the schemes he devised in his ultimate goal of gaining access to, and stealing, the most valuable of the Crown Jewels of Iran. It was also intriguing to watch FBI Agent Frank Delgado try to find out the background story for Riley Wolfe in his almost obsessive quest to bring him to justice.

I enjoyed this story despite the collateral damage Riley left in his wake. I felt really sorry for Katrina who fell in love with and married one of Riley's personas and was a victim of his schemes. I liked that Katrina's story was enough for Monique to keep her distance from Riley although Riley thinks he'll be able to change her mind. We'll see...

Favorite Quote:

Early on in working with Riley, she had discovered they had something important in common: Neither of them was truly driven by money. Oh, it was lovely stuff, and wonderful to have too much of it, and neither one of them was an ascetic of any kind But it was not what motivated either one of them. For both of them, it was the challenge, the feeling of stepping all the way out there on the thinnest branch of the tree and plucking the ripest apple, the one nobody else could get. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from .Edelweiss You can buy your copy here.