Heist Society

Heist Society is the first book in a new YA series by Ally Carter. From the inside cover flap.~

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.

I’ve loved Ally Carter’s books since I read the first book in her Gallagher Girl series. That being said, I really think I loved Heist Society just as much if not more. Kat, who found a way to leave the family “business” suddenly, is thrust back into it to save her dad. She must get a team together to return the stolen paintings to Arturo Taccone or he will make her father pay. The fact that her father didn’t steal the paintings matter as far as Taccone is concerned. Kat puts together a teen team of art thieves to retrieve the stolen artwork, which includes her cousin Gabrielle, her computer genius friend Simon; the Bagshaw bothers Hamish and Angus, the super cute Hale, and Kat’s new friend Nick.

I would love to see the friendship between Hale and Kat turn into more of a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship in the next Heist book. They have the very best chemistry and just seem to be perfect for each other. Seems like they always have each other's back no matter what is going on, or how mad they make each other.

Ally Carter is an auto-buy author for me. I’ve read pretty much everything she has ever written and can’t wait for her next book to be released.