Riley Wolfe is pissed off at Russia. This is based purely on what he has been hearing on the street and in the bars, barbershops, etc. He uses this stance to fuel his next heist, which is to confiscate the famed Rothschild Faberge egg directly from under the Russians' noses. He does this by disguising himself as one of his usual alter-egos, a Frenchman named Hervé Thierry, and swipes the priceless item directly from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Thus begins Jeff Lindsay’s second novel featuring master thief Riley Wolfe. The author of eight books in the popular Dexter Morgan series, Lindsay clearly loves his antiheroes, and you can’t help but find yourself pulling for both characters.

Riley is all about turning a profit and moving on to the next heist. He is wanted by everyone from the FBI to Interpol and remains slippery enough to avoid apprehension by them. Once he has the Faberge egg, he is looking to quickly sell it and go back home to plan his next move. He has worked with the buyer before, a Swede named Arvid. When he gets on a private boat, he is surprised when Arvid pulls what looks like a gun on him and fires, hitting him in the chest.

"As much as I want Jeff Lindsay to resurrect Dexter Morgan, I just love Riley Wolfe and cannot wait to spend more time with him. For those readers who are about to pick up FOOL ME TWICE, I envy the thrill ride you will be going on!"

When Riley wakes up, he realizes that he was struck with some sort of tranquilizer dart. He now finds himself a captive, chained up and heading toward an unknown destination. His captors appear to be French, and he is taken to what might be an island somewhere off the coast of France. He is locked up inside a stone maximum-security cell and is there for a handful of days before a frightening and strong-looking woman breaks his finger in a creative way. Eventually, his captor reveals himself to be Patrick Boniface, who is possibly the most dangerous arms dealer in the world.

Boniface has a heart-to-heart with Riley and explains that he is well aware of his special skills. He has a proposition, and if Riley does not accept, he will turn him over to that scarred-looking woman whose name he now knows is Bernadette. However, the job that Boniface proposes would be nearly impossible to pull off. He shares with Riley his love of classic artwork and has much on display within his island keep. His favorite piece is Raphael's The Liberation of St. Peter, the original of which is in Vatican City, Rome. The issue, as Riley kindly points out to Boniface, is that it is a fresco, which means that part of it is actually painted onto the wall where it hangs.

Riley now has to come up with a scheme to pull off the impossible --- steal a wall with a legendary fresco on it, get it out of Vatican City and deliver it to his buyer. He doesn't have any true friends, and the closest he has to a partner is Monique, a young black woman for whom he also has a serious thing. She is a well-known underground art forger, so, of course, they often run in the same circles. Disguised as Canadian tourists, they visit Vatican City to take a look at this potential job --- and leave realizing it cannot be done.

Before going back to Boniface and throwing in the towel, a move that will certainly result in Riley being handed over to Bernadette, he does some research and finds out about a process involving a type of gel that might be able to detach the fresco from the wall. He meets again with Boniface, lays out his impossible plan, and asks for a large sum of money to pull it off. Even though Boniface and his people do not trust Riley, he complies and gives him what he wants.

The remainder of FOOL ME TWICE is a nearly breathless rush involving perhaps the most ingenious heist ever conceived, a rival mega-thief trying to jump in on the scheme, as well as assassinate Boniface, and a team of FBI agents who have been after both Riley and Boniface for many years. All I can say is that the end result makes for some of the most fun I had reading this entire year.

As much as I want Jeff Lindsay to resurrect Dexter Morgan, I just love Riley Wolfe and cannot wait to spend more time with him. For those readers who are about to pick up FOOL ME TWICE, I envy the thrill ride you will be going on!