Always a Thief »

Kay Hooper is the award-winning author of Blood Dreams, Sleeping with Fear, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Once a Thief, Always a Thief, the Shadows trilogy, and other novels. She lives in North Carolina, where she is at work on her next book.

In a deadly game of skill and deception...A master thief is just the first wild card

The priceless, rarely displayed Bannister collection is about to be exhibited--and the show's director, Morgan West, can't ignore her growing uneasiness. She's certain she hasn't seen the last of the infamous cat burglar Quinn.

Publishers Weekly

Before Hooper penned single-title paranormal romantic suspense novels, she wrote series romances for Bantam's Loveswept line. In this uninspired offering, she puts her out-of-print Men of Mysteries Past quartet through a sieve, filters out much of the sex and romance and mixes in elements of the paranormal. What's left is a gaggle of flat characters and a formulaic story line that mirrors Hooper's previous book, Once a Thief, the first entry in this "reimagined" series. When the renowned cat burglar simply known as Quinn comes to exhibition director Morgan West for help after being shot, Morgan promptly calls wealthy, no-nonsense Max Bannister, who's preparing to exhibit his family's collection of priceless jewels and art. Max inexplicably rushes to aid Quinn, who we later learn is working for Interpol in order to catch a murdering thief known as Nightshade. The light bantering between Morgan and Quinn adds a touch of romantic tension to this otherwise tame mystery, but the paranormal aspect-Morgan's weak psychic connection to Quinn-isn't likely to satisfy fans of Hooper's more recent novels. Apart from Quinn, Hooper's characters are sketchily drawn, and many readers may find it far too difficult to grasp the intricacies of their relationships without having read the original Loveswept series. (June 3) Forecast: Fans of Hooper's paranormal thrillers will turn out in droves for this slim offering, but romance readers, particularly those who were disappointed by the lack of sexual sparks in Once a Thief, may opt to borrow rather than buy. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.