Review: "House of Thieves" by Charles Belfoure

I chose to read House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure because I had enjoyed The Paris Architect so much. Although not as intense as The Paris Architect, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. This is the story of John Cross, who is an architect in New York City. He and his family are members of high society and must live according to society’s rules. His wife is a beauty, his oldest son, George, has just graduated from Harvard and has a promising career as a mathematics teacher in his future and his younger daughter and son are being groomed to become part of society when they are old enough. But George is hiding a secret, a vice that plunges his father and family into the depths of one of the most dangerous criminal gangs of the area and John must fight to save them, to lose would mean to lose it all.

The author does a wonderful job of assembling all the characters of the story and enmeshing them together. He has given each member of the Cross family an identity and story of their own. He is masterful in weaving the tale where their worlds almost collide. My only complaint is that at times, the story is a tad unbelievable. His whole family is born of society but they manage to fit in to the underworld with great ease and never are discovered.

I do recommend this novel. It is very entertaining and a very quick, page turning read. Although the story doesn’t have the depth of The Paris Architect, it is very interesting and can be read and enjoyed by all ages. It’s a great cozy tale for these cold winter nights.