Heist Society: Book 1

Heist Society is a past-paced caper about Kat Bishop having to return to a life of art theft, to pull off her greatest con yet, in order to save her father. Kat wanted a slice of normal life, and she managed to con herself into a prestigious boarding school, but barely 3 months in, her friend from her former life, Hale gets her expelled so that he can get her help to save her father from a notorious, uh, bad man (?). Anyway, she has to steal back some stolen art, but the original theft was committed by a master adopting a famous pseudonym. So, she and her squad of Hale, her cousin Gabrielle, and other family friends have to figure out how the theft was done, trace the steps and guess where the art could be hidden now - all before the deadline of 2 weeks set by the person holding a sword over her father's head. This book is a fast read - they are jumping from city to city, tracing clues. It is a mystery wrapped with a heist - and it is exciting. There are some elements that defy belief, however, like the fact that even in disguise, they are still teenagers (Kat is only 15!) and still don't get called out, and that even under surveillance, the Interpol couldn't put a name to her face when she meets her father. There is a nice cast of secondary characters - the geek, the weapons specialist, the goofy siblings, the cool collected bad boy - which seems cliche, but hey, it was still fun. The story arc of the paintings also calls on the Nazis stealing art from families, and how they were used in shady deals. The ending, open-ended though it may be, brings out excitement for what the next adventure will be.

I thought this book was very well written but that it could use more description of things such as the security and what that all do and some more explanation on the different strategies (smoky the bear?)

This book is unique and should definitely be put into an Oscar winning movie! The storyline is very gripping and I mostly recommond this book to girls