Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar (version 3)

In Edwardian Paris, a thief is pulling off impossibilities. He steals from the impenetrable, leaves calling cards signed with flourish, and vanishes into the night wearing a thousand faces. The police are baffled. The aristocracy is terrified. And readers have been delighting in his exploits for over a century. Arsène Lupin is no common criminal. He's a philosopher of mischief, a poet of pilferage, who steals only from those who deserve it and always, always escapes. These early tales find Leblanc unleashing his creation at full throttle: jewel heists, elaborate schemes, run-ins with the ineffable Inspector Ganimard, and more than one reluctant admirer. The stories sparkle with wit and invention, each caper more audacious than the last, as Lupin dances rings around everyone around him. This is escapist adventure at its finest: Paris rendered in glittering detail, danger that thrills rather than terrifies, and a rogue so magnetic he makes theft look like art.