If you like heist movies, you will like Thief, a 2006 TV series from FX. Andre Braugher stars as Nick Atwater, a smart, empathetic thief who contracts jobs such as cleaning out deposit boxes in a bank vault and "redirecting" new $100-dollar bills being moved by the Treasury Department. 

In addition to a star performance by Braugher, the show offers a motley crew of specialists, a complicated personal life for Atwater, and it doesn't hurt that the legitimate business that fronts the criminal operation is a used car dealership for classic Detroit muscle cars.  

Thief lasted only six episodes. At the time, the LA Times called this "puzzling." There was speculation that scripted drama may not have a future on cable networks, which were relatively new then. Not true, as it turned out.

Thanks to streaming, it's a six-hour mini-series that is smart, funny, scary and tense. It reminds me that heist movies have some something in common with noir suspense: the perfect plan that inevitably goes wrong. We buy in when the boss tells the crew how it will go down. We hold our breath as loose ends start to unravel. We groan as it all comes apart. 

​Martin Krieger discovers someone is stealing from the company he bought for his investors. He vows to find out who is involved and make them pay.

But the thieves have set a trap, and Krieger must do things he’s never done before to protect his career, his reputation, and his family.

How far will he go?

In The Con Man’s Son, a chilling game of hide and seek plays out on the foggy streets of San Francisco.

The Con Man’s Son will be published September 31, 2020 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

The story begins with a husband throwing a surprise anniversary party for his wife. As the evening proceeds, little things don't make sense. The wife is appalled at the amount of money spent. The husband tries a little too hard to seem happy. Odd looks and gestures pass between guests. One of the caterers seems more than curious about the couple. 

When the evening is over, there's  body on the floor and we hear complicated explanations of what happened. As the story proceeds, we wonder who did what and whom to believe. 

Alibi plays out in three, 45-minute episodes. The action is remarkable not only for elaborate schemes, but also for the range of feeling from noir to farce. The acting is superb with Michael Kitchen, Phyllis Logan, and Sophie Okonedo in the principal roles.