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Hi, This is a great thread. I am currently reading "Under the Streets of Nice" by Ken Follett. What prompted me to read it was the book that I just finished by the same author. "The Key to Rebecca". If you haven't read that one, I highly recommend it!! "Under The Streets of Nice" is a true story about the bank heist of the century. As the story unfolds, it is St. Arsene's Day in Nice, France. Two bank functionaries pass through the bank manager's door and down the stairs to open the twenty-ton door of the bank vault. This vault contains 4,000 safety deposit boxes of the richest people in Nice. Jewels, silver, gold, bundles of five hundred-franc notes, stock certificates and contracts, ..etc..
The bank functionaries went about the tedious task of opening the vault, step by step and the door would not budge.After several repeated attempts, the bank manager was called down to observe. He decided it was best to call a locksmith, who also could not open the vault door. Finally the locksmith decided it was best to cut a hole in the wall nearest the vault and crawl inside to see what the problem is. After back breaking labor and time, a crawl space was made and the locksmith found the vault door had been welded shut and the whole vault was in shambles. He addresses the bank manager with one sentence, "You've been robbed." Money, jewels, and stock certifcates everywhere.A cut out hole in the floor revealed how the thieves entered the bank. Through the sewers. It was interesting how the police investgated this case and how the whole history of the bank heist came to full fruition.
My favorite quote:"It was St. Arsene's Day, but there was no connection between Arsene--a perfectly respectable Catholic saint--and Arsene Lupin, the French Robin Hood, the patron saint of gentleman thieves."
What did I like about the book? I like the way Ken Follett writes. He describes the sweltering heat of this summer day, the "holiday makers" and their petit dejeuner on shaded balconies, the pavement cafes,and the motorists in their open convertibles. I like the way he goes into detail about the functions of the bank employees and how a typical day would progress. He is very precise in his writing and I was very interested in reading how the thief actually pulled off this heist. It goes into great detail.
Edited by kathyg (06/25/03 04:12 PM)
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