The Palace (Simon Riske Series #3)

by Christopher Reich

Overview

In this third installment of a series lauded for its "nonstop action," an international spy must face a ring of ruthless masterminds and foil a plot with global implications as he becomes the world's most wanted man (Booklist).

Life is good for Rafael de Bourbon. The forty-year-old Spaniard recently married to a wealthy English beauty, and is days away from opening a luxury boutique hotel off the southern coast of Thailand. But when the Royal Thai Police storm the hotel and arrest him for blackmail and extortion, "Rafa" is thrown into Bangkok's most notorious jail. In desperation, he reaches out to the one man who can prove his innocence.

Simon Riske, ex-con and now "private spy," owes Rafa his life. Once he and De Bourbon were the closest of friends, until a woman came between them. Riske rushes to Bangkok to secure his friend's release and overnight, finds himself caught up in a web of intrigue larger and more dangerous than he could imagine. In hours, it is Riske who finds himself the wanted man.

On the run in a foreign country, pursued by powerful unseen forces who will stop at nothing until he is killed, Riske must stay alive long enough to uncover the truth behind an international conspiracy that threatens to wreak carnage across the glittering capitals of Europe. From Bangkok to Singapore and ultimately to Cannes, Riske enlists the help of a daring investigative reporter, a rogue Mossad agent, and his own band of home-grown specialists, to thwart the cabal behind the plot, only to learn its very origins are frighteningly close to his past.

Frighteningly timely, diabolically clever, and ever so stylish, The Palace is Christopher Reich's sharpest and most exciting book yet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316456012
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Series:	Simon Riske Series , #3
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	755,418
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Christopher Reich is the New York Times bestselling author of The Take, Numbered Account, Rules of Deception, Rules of Vengeance, Rules of Betrayal, and many other thrillers. His novel The Patriots Club won the International Thriller Writers award for Best Novel in 2006. He lives in Encinitas, California.

Editorial Reviews

05/04/2020

Thriller Award winner Reich’s entertaining third Simon Riske novel (after 2019’s Crown Jewel) finds professional problem solver Riske’s old friend Rafael “Rafa” de Bourbon, a Spanish entrepreneur who’s about to open a luxury hotel on the coast of Thailand, worried about illegal activities he’s witnessed while working with a company called PetroSaud. As Rafa is considering exposing PetroSaud’s crimes, the Thai police arrive at the hotel and arrest him for bribery and extortion. Rafa asks Simon for help. Simon, who has just completed a mission in Amsterdam to recover a stolen painting, comes to Rafa’s rescue because he owes his friend a big favor—and because Rafa has recently married an ex-lover he’s fond of. Simon has less success with this operation than with the one in Amsterdam, and he’s soon on the run. Appealing supporting characters ex-Mossad agent Danni Pine and top-notch financial reporter London Li come to his aid. An unexpected closing twist promises exciting developments to come. Clever, sophisticated Riske stands out in the crowded action hero field. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Smart, suspenseful, at times funny, and always full of clever twists."—The Big Thrill

"Simon Riske novels feature nonstop action in vividly rendered international locales, and this third in the series (following Crown Jewel, 2019) delivers on both counts. Stylish escapism."—Booklist

""Entertaining...An unexpected closing twist promises exciting developments to come. Clever, sophisticated Riske stands out in the crowded action hero field."—Publishers Weekly

Praise for CROWN JEWEL

"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

Praise for Christopher Reich

"An out-of-control joyride for those who like their heroes flawed, scarred, and on the edge. Reich has created an irresistible character that will leave readers both wincing and cheering with every page."

—— Kyle Mills, #1 bestselling author of Fade and Rising Phoenix

"Likable, rascally, and suave, Riske is as distinctive as Reich's other series lead, Jonathan Ransom."

—— Publishers Weekly



"It's To Catch a Thief meets Jason Bourne: a stylish, jet-propelled thriller full of intriguing characters and surprising twists. Simon Riske is a character I'll want to meet again."

—— Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Blame

From the Publisher

2020-06-03
Simon Riske returns for another high-octane ride.

Something of a modern Renaissance man, reformed thief and Marseilles gangster Riske blends a criminal youth with more socially acceptable adult activities and, in addition to his day job as a restorer of world-class sports cars, markets himself as a high-end fixer. When the novel opens, he is engaged in stealing back a Monet first stolen from the Rijksmuseum. Predictable complications arise, allowing Riske to show off his admirable driving skills, and the stage is set. In this somewhat murky installment, Riske is asked to mediate the release of Rafael de Bourbon, an old friend who is being held by Thai officials on questionable charges, but before he can secure the man's freedom, de Bourbon and several others are killed in a shootout. It turns out Rafa was privy to a large-scale swindle involving the sovereign wealth funds of several nations, and he was killed to preserve the secrets of the swindle. Riske naturally decides to pursue justice for Rafa and to uncover the swindle, partly to benefit Rafa's wife, who once had a thing with Riske. If all this seems a little contrived, fear not, there's more. Part of the loot amassed in the swindle has gone to a secret account, and in a parallel subplot it's revealed that this money is being used to subvert European efforts to accommodate and resettle refugees: Rich nationalistic racists are bankrolling a suicide-bomb mission that will once and for all destroy any humanitarian impulses European governments might have. As Riske uncovers the details of the wealth-fund thefts he also begins to unravel the connections to the rich nationalists, and eventually the two investigations become one. Riske is a likable character, a nice blending of quick wit, a misspent youth, and better impulses; he's not above picking a pocket or stealing a Ferrari, but he's on the side of the angels. In this adventure, however, he seems inappropriately pitted against social and economic forces of grave and genuine magnitude. Fascist forces are loose in the world, refugees perish horribly trying to secure a future, and there's Riske, tootling along in a borrowed (legitimately, this time) Ferrari, headed to Cannes to make it right. Riske can steal your Monet back, Riske can save your boy and secure your inheritance, but save the world? Simon Riske?

Some thrills, but in the end this asks too much of the hero, and of the reader.

Kirkus Reviews