The Vatican Rip [Paperback]

Jonathan Gash (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Arrow (1986)
• ASIN: B000G9ULEA
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Theft & Intrigue in Rome, March 8, 2000

By 

F. Becker (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Vatican Rip (Lovejoy Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a great example of the wonderful anti-hero Lovejoy mystery novels. Always at the mercy of whatever female he is "making smiles" with at the moment, he take Italian lessons and goes to Rome to steal an antiquarian piece of furniture from the Vatican. Quintessential Lovejoy, with gangsters, lovers and lots and lots of the lore and lure of antiques. Not to mention great Italian characters and descriptions of Rome as well, in Lovejoy's particularly acerbic style. I'll admit the British slang takes a bit to get used to, but it is a lot of fun.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Next Lovejoy?, October 6, 2004

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Vatican Rip (Lovejoy Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

We learn to expect anything with our favourite scoundral, Lovejoy. In this book he visits Rome at the very pointed bequest of what appears to be an English gangster. He's supposed to go there to perpetrate a "one of a kind" rip (or steal) of a priceless antique. Lovejoy, as usual runs into all kinds of local trouble - both male and female. Even in Rome he can't stay out of trouble for very long. And as usual, he's broke, and trying to live from hand to mouth (or on the charity of some worthy female). There's a lot of action and a lot of antiques in this book, and I loved it because it's a great caper book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Test of skill, December 21, 2007

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Vatican Rip (Paperback)

Lovable rogue and antiques expert, Lovejoy, is forced into participating in a huge scam which involves stealing an antique table from the Vatican museum and replacing it with one of his own making. He is forced into the deal by a "heavy" from Italy who threatens to maim and kill Lovejoy's friends if he doesn't go along with the scheme. This initially involves Lovejoy taking a cram course in conversational Italian, taught on a one to one basis with a beautiful young Italian woman. Lovejoy's adventures in Rome proceed as one would expect and, even if the skill with which Lovejoy knocks up a masterpiece of fake furniture is a bit of a stretch of the imagination, it's still an exciting and fast paced story, full of actual tips on how to mock up fakes and get away with it. For Jonathan Gash fans, it's another wonderful Lovejoy(and friends) read.