To Catch a Spy

ONeill debuts with an affable if undercooked sequel to David Dodge’s To Catch a Thief. In 1955, retired jewel thief John Robie sneaks into a Cannes hotel room and steals information from a mysterious courier as a favor for a French counterespionage agency. The surprised courier jumps to his death to avoid being taken in for questioning, setting in motion a complex, borderline-incoherent plot that puts Robie in grave danger. What Robie really wants, however, is to rekindle his relationship with socialite and model Francie Stevens, who has returned to Cannes for a fashion show. Meanwhile, local police commissioner Lepic still hopes to arrest Robie after being outwitted in the previous novel. ONeill harbors a clear love for the source material, and he renders 1950s Cannes in painstaking detail, but the narrative’s uneasy mash-up of labyrinthine spy thriller and fizzy romance never really gels. Devoted fans of the original novel or its film adaptation might enjoy themselves, but others will lose interest long before the end. Agent: Kerry D’Agostino, Curtis Brown Ltd. (Apr.)