On a wet winter night in Paris, a boy is abandoned at the restaurant Troyon's. Without even having a name, the boy makes a new life for himself under the stern eye of the restaurant's owners, when through one of its guests he's introduced to the criminal underworld. Years later, the boy—now named Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf —is a seasoned jewel thief, learned in mathematics, mechanics, and the ways of elegant society. He finds himself on the run, and returns to Paris where he must choose between the lonely life of a criminal, and the possibility of newfound love. The Lone Wolf is the first of many novels and movies featuring Michael Lanyard the jewel thief. Louis Joseph Vance (died 1933) was a major literary figure of the early 20th century. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. Adventure literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries captured the imagination of a reading public hungry for tales of exploration, danger, and heroism. The Lone Wolf belongs to this tradition of gripping narratives that transported readers beyond the boundaries of their everyday lives.
