Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar

By: Maurice Leblanc

Narrated by: David Timson

The first of Maurice Leblanc's collections about his devilish, debonair rogue, Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar presents eight dazzling short stories that display some of Lupin's greatest thefts and escapes. Lupin robs from within prison, leaves its walls with ease, steals priceless diamonds from the rich and outwits the greatest detective of all: Sherlock Holmes. Witty, cunning, and taunting, Lupin is a genius on the wrong side of the law, although his noble code of ethics and Robin-Hood-like ways often see him use his talents for good.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2020 Naxos Audiobooks

Loved it!

Arsène Lupin is the Robin Hood of gentleman thieves. He is delightfully clever and as debonair as they come. The narrator did a superb job as well. This audiobook was a pleasure to listen to from start to finish. I cannot believe I had never heard it before. What a fantastic find! New fan right here.

Magnificent!

Such a quick read because of how gripping the story is told. Fully recommend to 12 yrs +.

Fantastique

A true classic, so marvelously acted and read. Great listen. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Great value

I have lived so much. This is a French-language classic. I have listened to it on Audible, and it was so fascinating that the narrator had a French accent. The narration was of good quality.
How did I found this book? The Lupin Netflix series inspired me to search for the original text. Both a very hilarious and adventurous.

delightful

My first Lupin novel prompted by the television series. Very clever and enjoyable read, especially its construction of a series of Lupin thefts starting from his origin. The writing sweeps you pleasantly into the late 19th century France.

Not as Good as I Expected

I prefer the adventures of Holmes and Max Carrados, the melodramas of Hugh Drummond and the puzzles of Poirot, Inspector Alleyn, Father Brown, and others, over more recent, more lurid productions. So, my expectations were high for Arsene Lupin. But somehow, he failed to grip.

Maybe familiarity with Raffles robbed them of their savor. Maybe the style or pacing fell short. At times, I would have appreciated greater detail (how a door is made to seem to latch but doesn’t, for example); it would have made Lupin’s ingenuity more ingenious.

Certainly, the psychology he employs is clever, the stories do get better as you proceed through the collection, and David Timson’s performance lacks none of his usual charm. But I wasn’t captivated.