Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief

March 8, 2004
Fans of classic caper films like Topkapi
and The Pink Panther
will be fascinated by the true-life adventures of jewel thief Mason, who had a long and successful career. Starting in his early 20s in the 1960s, Mason stole valuable jewels from the famous (Phyllis Diller, Robert Goulet, Armand Hammer) and the merely affluent, using his wits and athletic ability to take advantage of supposedly burglar-proof security. His crimes, recollected in engrossing detail, involved careful planning and research, but he never fails to credit luck and simple human carelessness (almost every heist seems to feature at least one unlocked door or window). Mason's chutzpah is best illustrated by his confession to an unsolved burglary that victimized the then-boss of the Cleveland Mafia. Despite the long list of thefts he admits to, Mason spent little time in jail, largely thanks to some clever lawyering. While he apologizes for the impact his addiction to a life of crime had on his devoted wife, Barbara, and their three kids, the reader will find him a little less charming and sympathetic when the price his loved ones paid for his misdeeds sinks in. Unlike Frank Abagnale (Catch Me if You Can
), who was a successful con artist during much of the same period, Mason hasn't taken steps to redeem himself by serving as a consultant to law-enforcement and sharing security vulnerabilities, and some may balk at further lining a crook's pockets by buying his book. Agent, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.