Customer Reviews

The Magpie Trap

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I think the title is brilliant, especially for people familiar with magpie traps, which I am not. (Never had magpies where I grew up.) The premise, too, is intriguing: one of this unlikely trio of Chris Parker, Mark Birch and Danny Morris discovers a technical loophole that will allow them to steal the world's most powerful bank-note printer and print all the money they will ever need. It's an answer to their dreams of money, riches and freedom from the demons that pursue them.

These three characters remind me of the characters in Alec Guinness's great movie "The Ladykillers" - they are three of the most befuddled set of losers anywhere in crime fiction. If anyone can foul up a robbery, these three geniuses are at the top of the list. So it's clear from the beginning that they will lose, and lose big. The trap is so obvious, I wanted to shout: "Stop, you bloody idiots! Never take bait a mysterious stranger offers you! Are you crazy?" But the three fall for it, and the trap is set. End of story? Not quite. You have to read the whole thing to find out.