Title: Heist Society(Great title huh?)Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Crime fiction (I'm not sure if this is the right genre, but it's the closest I could get.)
Reading Level: 11 and up
Summary: When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre . . . to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria . . . to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own — scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.
Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster’s priceless art collection has been stolen and he wants it returned. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and, hopefully, just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s (very crooked) history — and with any luck, steal her life back along the way.
My Review: I am now an Ally Carter fan. Her first YA novels in the Ghallagher Girl's series we're cute, but Heist Society was smart, it was fun, it was a new genre you don't see running around YA that much. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it. The characters we're clever, and quirky, I liked Katarina's character, and her devotion to her friends and family brought depth to her character which otherwise would have made her very run of the mill(the typical run away from my calling hero.). All the usual suspect's are back in this heist romp, the witty love interest, the tech prodigies, the boy who's not what he seems, there's even a villanious mafia art collector, but Ally write's them in with pizzazz and humor, so you don't mind meeting them again. There's a lot of hopping back and forth through romantic foreign countries, and all the gadget's and planning for stealing from a famous musuem that send chill's of anticipation and excitment down your spine.
I also feel that Ally Carter write's better in the 3rd person. The style was snappy and witty, and you got to see more of the whole picture of what was going on in the novel instead of seeing everything from one character's eye's which can be quite restricting at times. It is especially good in this novel since so many different thing's are going on and there are so many character's that it can get confusing at times, but other than that it's fine.
It's very ocean's eleven at time's only with teen's. It's been optioned for a movie, which I think is a great idea, although I don't think they should up the characters age to 20 for the fact that it's like ocean's eleven. I wonder why so many book to movie adaptations are straying away from the original source particularly YA adaptations? Oh well, I'll still probably go see it.
Content: Just some silly comment's about a girl's figure.
Rating: 4 star's out of 5
Recommend: For fan's of lightweight crime fiction.
