Crown Jewel

By: Christopher Reich

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Stolen sports cars, brilliant casino heists, and the brazen kidnapping of a prince: only the shadowy spy-for-hire Simon Riske can stop the mastermind behind it all.

Monte Carlo's lavish casinos have become the target of a sophisticated and brutal team of professional gamblers; a casino dealer has been beaten to death; a German heiress' son has been kidnapped. Who better to connect the crimes and foil a daringly brilliant plot than Simon Riske, freelance industrial spy?

Riske - part Bond, part Reacher - knows Monte Carlo well: It's where he was once a thrill-seeking thief himself, robbing armored trucks and leading police on dangerous car chases across the Côte d'Azur, until he was double-crossed, served his time, and graduated as an investment genius from the Sorbonne.

Now, Riske is a man who solves problems, the bigger and "riskier" the better. From the baccarat tables of Europe's finest casinos to the superyachts moored in Monaco's Port Hercule to a secluded chalet deep in the Swiss Alps, Riske will do what he does best: get in over his head, throw himself into danger, and find a way to outthink and outmaneuver villains of every stripe.

In one of the most clever, enjoyable, and entertaining new series to come along in years, this sequel to The Take gives listeners what they want most: a hero we can root for, locales we wish we were in, and a plot that never lets up.

©2019 Christopher Reich (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"A stylish international thriller . . . Reich's solid tradecraft and nonstop action are humanized by the hint of a relationship of the heart."—Booklist

"[An] entertaining sequel . . . Reich infuses his narrative with numerous plot threads that seem separate but end up satisfyingly intersecting for a suspenseful ending. Readers will want to see a lot more of Riske."—Publishers Weekly

"Simon Riske returns for another car-studded adventure. . . . Monaco, fast cars, rich women, bad Bosnians--what more is there?"—Kirkus Reviews

man that was good!

I can't wait for the next one in the series. the narrator another fantastic job. Thank you for the author for keeping me on the edge of my seat.

Christopher Reichs Best Since the FIrst Billion

Excellent story and plot, wonderful performance, great character development. The ending was a bit short on detail and I hope this is not the end of the Simon Riske story.

Alvin's review

Very good story but too much foul language and the explicit sex was not necessary.

Entertaining

Riske is the best, someone we can all dream of being. Someone you can count on always

If murder and mayhem can be fun... this is it.

This one is an easy review. It was just plain good. You wouldn't read it for the depth of the plot or the accuracy of the history (although both are very well done). This is a book for the beach or the pool. One to get lost in. Fast cars, European globe trotting, Bad bad guys and Good good guys (and boy and women). No crazy twists and turns created to get the author out of a corner he painted himself in to. Good guy is hired to find out who is ripping off a casino and in the process meets a real life princess who has a 12-year-old son in a Swiss boarding school. Good guy gets side tracked from his primary purpose for being in Monte Carlo to quite literally rescue the princess who isn't even aware at that point that she needs rescuing. The narration is brilliant and makes a great adventure story (no real deep mystery here) even better with good voices, mild acting, and good quality reading. All around it is just fun. I actually hope there are more.

I enjoy this series

I enjoy his series and was not disappointed this go around- can’t wait to listen to next book!
Thanks

MORE Simon Riske PLEASE!

I listen to 100+ Audible titles/year... mostly fiction "thrillers". Crown Jewel moves into my Top Ten of the past year or so. Seems like an excellent movie possibility with the right actor for Simon Riske.

I read The Take first and it was good enough to lure me to Crown Jewel which I enjoyed much more. Not sure the title is appropriate but the high adventure of Monte Carlo and European wealthy plus Riske's character combined for a fine dozen hours of listening. Lots of plot twists and turns !!!

MORE Simon Riske adventures PLEASE...

Always bet on Riske

“What about you?”
Simon Riske: “Me? I’m going after the girl.”
This had me feeling all the shades of Bond … minus the Queen, country and gadgets schticks.

“He was navigating to that part of the map where borders lay undefined and lands undiscovered,
to the dangerous and beckoning area labeled ‘where dragons lie.’ Simon Riske headed into the night.”
Yup, same shades of over-the-top menace, complete with dropping his full name. The Bond similarities worked well for me. I loved the Casino Royale vibe, dry humor, stylish princess, and high speed chases.

Simon: “I want a cavity check of X’s economic livelihood.”
“I’ll put on the rubber glove myself.”
There were minor eye-rolls. There’s a lot of injuries that should have folks (Simon included) unable to utter coherent sentences, much less take their licking and keep on kicking. The princess is a non-stop damsel, generally caused by her cluelessness and constantly going off alone.
I lost track of how many times she got accosted. Some of the bad guys are ridiculously evil,
including one whose depravity is given far too much attention in comparison to the rest of the story.
(⛔️ warning for those squeamish about bone snapping, war crimes and sexual assault)

Simon: “Give me an idea how serious this is- one to ten.”
“Eleven.”
Simon: “I knew you were going to say that.”
In the end, I embraced the eye-rolls.
After all, that’s one of the things that makes these types of stories such pulpy good times.

An Interesting Story

I enjoyed the first installment so I had high hopes for this book. While I thought the first book a bit more to my liking, I enjoyed this story too. Characters are interesting, the story moves along at a good pace and narration is first rate. I think if you give it a try you will like it.

Oustanding

Another outstanding book and performance. Simon Riske is a fabulous character and the narration was spot on throughout the book. On to the next Riske adventure