The Crystal Stopper: Arsène Lupin #5

Another will written thriller mystery adventure novel by Maurice LeBlanc book five in the Arsene Lupin Series about a robbery gone wrong with murder. Arsene ends up ☝in the investigation posing as police and various officials to get a young 👦 lad released by corrupt officials. I would highly recommend this novel and series to readers of mysteries thrillers. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or 🎶 listening to novels 🔰🏡🏰🗼😅 2022

The story opens with Arsene Lupin and two associates breaking into a home but the crime ends a complete disaster and Lupin is forced to flee alone, his only prize a mysterious Crystal Stopper. The problem is the stopper is almost immediately stolen from his possession and Lupin is obsessed with regaining an item that would normally appear to be utterly worthless.I had issues with the two previous books. In the Hollow Needle, Lupin essentially became godlike in his ability to control every situation and steal any item. LeBlanc toned him way down for 813 but the story was nearly impossible to follow with way too many characters and twists. The Crystal Stopper improves by keeping the story simple and having a very human Arsene Lupin. It is possibly the most intriguing Lupin story with Lupin becoming very engaged in helping free one of his henchmen who faces execution because of his involvement with Lupin. Lupin eventually becomes involved (not romantically) with his henchmen's own mother who explains that her boy fell in with the wrong crowd because of the influence of a man bent on revenge against her. The irony being that Lupin himself would be the wrong crowd although that's never explicitly stated.As with most of the Lupin stories the Gentleman Thief is pitted against an adversary, in this case an entirely corrupt police deputy. About halfway through the story Lupin goes head to head with Deputy Daubrecq and finds himself entirely outmaneuvered. Having Lupin as a real, fallible human is so much better than incomparable, omniscient Lupin from The Hollow Needle. Daubrecq is probably Lupin's best foe since Herlock Sholmes and this is probably my favorite Lupin story yet.

A nice little book, with a cunning, mouthy, entertaining hero (Arsene Lupin, in his guise as a master criminal, before he becomes chief of detectives).Old fashioned, dastardly villains on both sides of the law, A smart and savvy heroine (an older one, for a delightful change, and even better, one who tries to take matters into her own hands) in distress, a great chase scene, just a lot of fun.It is such a pleasure to find these old books. Thanks to the transcriber who made it available. And, for free!!!! Boo-yah!

Crystal Stopper is one of the most entertaining Arsene Lupin adventures. Lupin is put on the defensive from the opening and has to fight his way out of the hole in which he finds himself. I highly recommend the book and prefer it to other versions where Lupin basically plays the superman.This particular Kindle version, however, is problematic. It is missing entire paragraphs from the book. Specifically, any time the original book paraphrases a letter or newspaper article, this version simply omits it. So frequently you get texts like the following (directly quoted):Among the late news he found the following pargraphs:In between other newspapers and prospectuses lay a letter. Lupin jumped when he say it. It was addressed:"Oh," he gasped, "a letter from Gilbert!" It contained these few words:Once again, Lupin spent a night alternating between sleeplessness and nightmares.This is extremely frustrating and takes away a great deal from book. Again, I highly recommend the book but there must be a better e-version of the book than this one.

I thought it was well written. It was not a run-of-the-mill plot. Showed what lengths a parent's love for their child can go to.

It's really a pity (almost a shame) that Amazon.com doesen't have a complete list of Leblanc's work. Anyway, if you're intersted, in Brazil contact Editora Nova Fronteira. I really don't know if they are still publishing the books, but you should try. Leblanc's hero and at the same time, villain, is Arsène Lupin, a frenchman talented for arts, literature, wining young ladies' hearts, and, oddly, robbery. He is the portrait of the frenchman, hilarious, independent, clever, and human. Leblanc hit the bull's eye creating this kind of character to go against the other mistery characters of his time, like Agatha Christie's Poirot, or Father Brown, or Inspetor Maigret and, most of all, the All-Time Brittanic Sherlock Holmes. As a matter of fact, there is a book called "Arsène Lupin meets Herlock Sholmes", figure out why! "Crystal Stopper" is one of the three Leblanc's books one must read, it's the first one. The other two are called "The hollow Needle" and "813". In these books, Lupin is involved with treasures, has to decipher complicated plots, has to save his life and lives of people he cares about. The most funny chapters are the ones he has to deal with the french police force. He even disguises himself as a well-known and respected inspector for years, and no one is able to discover him. If you're sick and tired of Miss Jane Marple and such characters, take your time and find Leblanc's books. Another good guess is "The teeth of the tiger", showing an older and tired, yet very alive, Arsène Lupin.Follow him and discover his secrets, his passions, and his treasures.

Besides this book I have also read :"IN PURSUIT OF ARSENE LUPIN" ,"ARSENE LUPIN vs HERLOCK SHOLMES","EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ARSENE LUPIN" in the early '90's translated into greek. I was totally taken by the portrail of the character and by how well-written the book was!!! I've managed to convince my husband to read :"The Extraordinary Adventures... " (the only title we could get from the library) and he absolutely loved it!We have decided to buy all the titles we could find because they are worth having. All lovers of SHERLOCK HOLMES should give Arsene Lupin a try!

Maurice LeBlanc makes a habit out of stringing the reader along until a satisfying conclusion, usually with a twist ending of some sort. The twists are mostly predictable, but it feels as though they're meant to be (or an artifact of the translation from French), and the Lupin books themselves are well written and interesting. The Hollow Needle and The Crystal Stopper have been my favorite Lupin books so far, and if you like the idea of a story in the same vein of Sherlock Holmes, but from the other side, as it were, then you should enjoy these. They're light fiction though, so they're not very long, and not very complex in terms of language, so easy for anyone to read.

I had no read any books by this author before now. On the recommendation of my daughter I read this one andEnjoyed it very much and will read further books in the future

So I have read one Lupin novel before and didi not enjoy much. This one was much better. Got a bit convoluted towards the end but kept me entertained. Worth a look.

i knew the writer n character from some years ago, if u dont know Arsene Lupin, u gotta "meet" him. great book

This copy is very cheaply made and, consequently, of low quality. It is not reader-friendly because the prints are very small in order to pack as many words as possible in one line and save material and production costs as low as possible. Not recommended.