Review of Heist Society by Ally Carter

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip 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 has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled 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 history--or at least her family's (very crooked) history. (From Amazon.com)

The description says it all.  Raised from a young age into the criminal set, what Kat really wants is to be normal.  Unfortunately, her love for her family trumps that and pulls her back in.  We felt Kat’s struggle to be “good”, yet recognized her immense talent for the crooked life.  This book reminded me a lot of Ocean’s Twelve, except I related to these characters a lot more.  Kudos to Ally Carter for a great new heroine, and a great new series.  It had me laughing, cheering, and holding my breath all the way!

P.S. According to Variety Warner Brothers has picked up the movie rights for Heist Society.  Wahoo!  So far, they’re planning on having the characters be in their twenties instead of teens-I don’t know how I feel about that.

5 stars

304 pages

Published February 9, 2010 (Hardcover)