The Take

Simon Riske is one part James Bond and another Jack Reacher. A freelance industrial spy, he lives a mostly quiet life above his auto garage in central London. He is hired to perform the odd job for a bank, an insurance company, or the British Secret Service, when he isn't expertly stealing a million-dollar watch off the wrist of a crooked Russian oligarch.

Simon has maintained his quiet life by avoiding big, messy jobs; until now. A Corsican by the name of Tino Coluzzi has orchestrated the greatest street heist in Paris history: a visiting Saudi prince and his family had their pockets lightened of millions in cash, and something else. Hidden within a stolen briefcase is a letter that will upend the balance of power in the Western world. The Russians have already killed in an attempt to get it back when the CIA comes knocking at Simon's door.

Coluzzi was a former cohort of Simon's, in a past life on the narrow, wind-swept streets of Marseille. Their...