Just Watch Me

A Novel

By: Jeff Lindsay

Narrated by: Jeff Lindsay

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.

©2019 Jeff Lindsay (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Another blockbuster from a can’t-miss master. Enjoy the ride." (David Baldacci, author of One Good Deed)

"A brashly retro escapist caper reminiscent of Topkapi and just as likely to be filmed." (Kirkus)

"A lot of fun.... Fans of Lindsay’s Dexter novels will not be disappointed. Where will Riley strike next?" (Booklist starred review)

"[A] terrific series launch.... Fans of the Ocean’s Eleven film franchise will be eager for more." (Publishers Weekly starred review)

Great Yarn Rooting for the Bad Guy

The impossible caper up against the best of the best.
Well written. and narrated by the author.. Great job !
Hard to put down as it puts our clever & likeable thief
against his ultimate challenge. The ending was a bit
less than fully satisfying but made sense. Otherwise a 5 Star read ! Brad Thor recommended it as a summer read pick. Good choice.

Jeff ups his game !

A must have for every Dexter fan. And really, folks, Mr Lindsay is the brain of Dexter. Now he is the brain of his new character , Riley Wolf. A great F&^%g story, no b00L sheet filler, 12 hours of fook-tastic listening. And Jeff is a proper sterling narrator. His style distinguishes the many fascinating characters. His British cockney accent is a scream. I am getting carried away. All there is left to say is " More, Mr Lindsay, MORE Riley Wolf ".

Excellent listening

I’ll admit this was a purchase I hoped would fill the void left by our Dear Dexter and, happily, it was a comforting balm. I don’t know how Mr. Lindsay makes bad guys I love to root for, but I do hope he continues to do so for many books to come. This was such a fun listen, and I highly recommend it for anyone who like it dark and fun. The narration was flawless. How rare for a person to be gifted in both writing and narrating. This was well worth the credit and I hope the story and characters continue soon.

Fun caper

Good story .Vivid characters. well read. felt sorry for Katerina.Interesting idea for a main character

new reader

Jeff Lindsey writes great novels, but he does not perform them all that well. They need to get a better reader. From the mispronouncing of words, to the annoying character voices, he's just not a good performer.

very twisty

lots of twists, some I saw coming, some i didn't. the ending (very very last part) was creepy. not in a 'I will be awake for the next 3 days wondering what happened' but 'I will be awake for the next 3 days wondering if that woman is safe from him for the rest of her life'. pretty well done otherwise though.

Decent But Needed More Editing

I adored the Dexter books so was interested to read Jeff Lindsay’s newest. It was okay. Not great, not terrible. Original in spots and incredibly long and plodding in others. The author would have benefited from an editor willing to say, “you made your point three pages ago; move on.” Every fan of Dexter will want to read this book, but I think most will be a little bit disappointed. It’s not terrible; it’s just not as good as the Dexter series was.

It Takes a Thief

I don't exactly picture Cary Grant or David Niven as Jeff Lindsay's new heist-meister Riley Wolfe, but I sure appreciate a throwback master thief who is more like a true cat burglar than the latter day technology driven examples like Tom Cruise in MI.

There's more to learn about Riley Wolfe in subsequent series entries, so no worries that the full back story is incomplete. There's the Darkness that overcome Riley that better turn out to be Dexter's Dark Passenger rather a recycled trope. And I feel like my suspension of disbelief was strained to the limit, though never broken.

So despite some qualms, including Lindsay's narration, which is not a problem but is also just OK, I bought into Riley Wolfe and his jewel heist -- a giant pink diamond, natch! A fun, quick, addictive car idler of a book.

Great story.

Jeff always tells a great story. A great author and does a great job reading the book as well.

Another Great Series

Just Watch Me: A Novel (Book 1:) by Jeff Lindsay (Narrated by Jeff Lindsay). Book Review (Reactionary).

REACTIONARY REVIEW: GRADE: A.

Lindsay is a highly skilled and artful storyteller who has the ability to weave and build rich and vivid characters. Lindsay constructs characters with such depth and attention to detail that he brings them to a life. Where you as THE READER can’t help, but to be totally engrossed in their development.

In this novel, Lindsey has crafted the ultimate thief who’s a “master of disguise and a brilliant con man.” Riley Wolfe assumes multiple different identities as he weaves a web of lies and deceit. At times, it can be “head spinning” as you try to figure out who’s who in this “whodunit” and how “will he do the impossible” storyline?

THE PLOT

Riley Wolfe will stop at nothing in his aim of getting and stealing what he wants, when he wants. There is no such thing as “impossible” when he wants to secure something he doesn’t own. In fact, the harder it is to obtain the more he desires to get it. After all, he’s the thief’s thief. He’s someone other thieves aspire to be.

And what Rikey wants are the Crown Jewels of Iran. For the first time in Iranian history the Crown Jewels worth a measly $15 billion are coming to America under military guard worthy of 10 World Leaders. No expense has been spared to protect such a valuable Iranian asset. There is no possible way anyone could ever attempt to steal the jewels in transport or while on display at the American museum. Or is there? Is there a weak link in this massive armor?

Riley believes there is and in order to achieve his goal, Riley murders three people, infiltrates a very wealthy family, marries the wife of one of his victims under an assumed identity and spins a web of manipulation and deceit. All the time, a relentless FBI agent is on his trail

Riley eventually steals the Iranian jewels and replaces it with a fake.

For me, the ending of this novel was weak and lacked continuity. For some reason it just did not make sense to me. I expected him to be caught by the FBI or Interpol. Because the story lead in that direction.