STEAL BIG

Inspired by the real-life $7 million Bank of America robbery in Mayfair, this cheeky little London thriller is narrated by an American bestselling author coyly named Max Patrick. Max, who's also an ex-CIA type with 0connections to crime bosses and the movies (Mann's Dog Day Afternoon was filmed) is between books when he suspects that something's afoot with crime kings Moe Gordon and Jean-Luc Dorani. So it's off to London--for bedplay with movie star Roz Rue (Gordon's girlfriend) and for some sleuthing around the safe-deposit room of the Manhattan Bank and Trust Branch on Grosvenor Square. Max does discover, in fact, that Mafia henchmen are busily stealing stashes of cash--Mafia cash--from the safe deposit room. Is Dorani stealing Gordon's money? Or is Gordon (on the outs with the Mafia just now) engineering the robbery? Assorted kidnappings then ensue-of both Max and beloved Roz--and after convoluted explanations (involving JFK and the Bay of Pigs), Max himself winds up with the loot. Silly, triple-cross caperings--but Max's smart-alecky narration may help to hold the attention of those with a taste for cartoony suspense.