Bill Pronzini. The Crimes of Jordan
Wise (2006) 256 pp.
Publisher’s description: “Jordan Wise is a mild-mannered accountant
with a large San Francisco engineering firm in the late 1970s. By his own
admission, the first thirty-four years of his life were dull, empty. But
that all changes when he meets and falls in love with Annalise Bonner,
an ambitious young woman who craves excitement, a life on the edge. With
her as the catalyst, Wise concocts and executes a meticulous plan to steal
more than half a million dollars from his firm. They escape to the Virgin
Islands, but their plans to live a life of quiet luxury are beset by unexpected
pitfalls—and Wise is forced to carry out two more ingenious schemes as
a result. All three of his crimes are perfect—or are they?”