The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep begins in medias res, in the middle of the action with Tanner shut up in a Turkish jail, a technique Block recommends in his column on fiction. The main line of action is a treasure hunt, a hunt for the American gold in Smyrna. Complicating the treasure hunt are Tanner's allegiances to lost causes, his reputation as an oddball, and the presumption of many that he must be a CIA operative or some other kind of spy.

Like earlier classic spy novels, when the amateur becomes enmeshed in spying, he has to see the adventure through.

At the end of the treasure hunt, Tanner gives himself up to the U.S.

Embassy and the CIA in order to go home. The result involves the serendipity that is also part of the Tanner adventures. When Tanner falls into good fortune, he knows enough to...