The authors devote half the book to the preparation for the heist, and most of the remainder to the event and investigation. Cracking the case hinged on a lucky break — or a stupid mistake, depending on your perspective. There’s also an interesting look at a different legal system than we’re used to: in Belgium criminal suspects can be tried in absentia, and some statements can be entered into evidence unsworn or uncorroborated. Then again, the penalty for a 500-million dollar theft is five to 10 years.

And is it the stuff of action films? Apparently well-known producer J.J. Abrams ("Star Trek," "Lost") thinks it’s worth a look; he reportedly bought the film rights to a Wired magazine interview with Notarbartolo (an interview this book debunks to some degree). It will be interesting to see if the security technology that was defeated is accurately presented in the film, or is modified for dramatic purposes. The former might be helpful to the industry; those who sign procurement cheques might be more likely to watch that movie than read this book, and an accurate portrayal could prompt some security-related introspection.

Action film someday or not, this book is a must-read for today’s security professionals, particularly those who can extract details and lessons from the abstract. It’s well written and often as exciting as fiction — quite a feat, when you remember that the theft took two years of very slow, very methodical, pedestrian and mundane planning.

A respectable chunk of the book develops and discusses the story’s background and reference sources — there are numbered endnotes for each chapter (although there are no corresponding numbers next to the appropriate text in the chapter itself, which is a bit confusing). There are many pop culture references throughout the book, a lot from "Ocean’s Eleven," and each chapter starts with a pithy quote from a movie or historical event. My favourite:

Obviously crime pays, or there’d be no crime. — G. Gordon Liddy

Because those diamonds are still out there somewhere.

Derek Knights