Heist Society (ARC)

Have you ever wanted out of the life you were given? Wanted to distance yourself from the the family, or occupation, you were born into? That's exactly how Kat feels about her family and their chosen occupation, being some of the greatest and most notorious art thieves in the world (or art distributors as Kat likes to put it). In order to leave her con artist life, Katarina Bishop plans a con of her own, wiggling her way into one of the most prestigious boarding schools on the planet, Colgan.

That is where Hale comes in. The super-spicy, super-rich, mysterious and mischievous thief who has been Kat's friend since Kat broke into his house to steal his Monet (unsuccessfully, I might add). Hale gets Kat kicked out of Colgan with a little stunt involving the Principal's car and a fountain as he has recently discovered that Kat's dad has been falsely accused of stealing the paintings of a rather dangerous man, Arturo Taccone. With a deadline of 2 weeks set by Taccone, Kat leaves with Hale and a few members of her family to accomplish an impossible task, find and steal back Taconne's paintings before Kat's dad gets hurt. Friendship, romance, betrayal, threats, and danger are always present as Kat and her friends set off on a whirlwind adventure around Europe.
Here is a synopsis from the book jacket...

When Katarina Bishops 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 Australia... to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own - scamming herself 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 a 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 her family's history- and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

From the bestselling author of I'd Tell you I Love You but Then I'd Have to Kill, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, and most recently Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover, Ally Carter, comes a thrilling story about art and the people who steal it.

Told from a 3rd person narration (verses the first person narration in the Gallagher Girl series), the plot and characters in Heist Society are ones that could undoubtedly be found in the same world that Ally created in the Gallagher Girl series. I wouldn't be surprised if one day Cammie and Zach were tracking down Kat and Hale. Both Kat and Cammie have training, language skills, and stealth that the average teenager does not have.

I loved this book as much, if not more than Ally's other books. I thought that the style of writing was much more mature so that teens my age felt comfortable reading it. I found that the characters were strong and realistic and that the plot was well thought out so that pieces of the story that you wouldn't think were important at the time are crucial to the resolution. In fact, I may have to read it again just so that I can pick up on all of the clues found in the beginning pages of the book. This book was really addicting and absorbing, so make sure that you have a long chunk of time where you can just sit down and read because you are not going to want to set this story down. If you liked the Gallagher Girl books, you will love Heist Society as well!

Thank you Ally for the AMAZING read!! I can't wait to see the official cover art! Also, thank you Molly over at Disney Hyperion for sending me this Advance Reader's Copy! It has been on my "I cannot wait until that book comes out, mark it on my calendar, countdown the days" book list since I first heard that Ally had another series coming out when I went to her book signing in Naperville.

Heist Society comes out February 2010. To learn more about Ally Carter and her books you can go to her author website, read her blog, or you can follow her on twitter!
More to come,

OfficiallyMRS