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

Author Focus: Ally Carter!

Let's talk authors.

In particular, let's talk Ally Carter!!

Ally Carter is the New York Times bestselling author of the Gallagher Girls series: "I'd Tell You I Love You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You," "Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy" and her most recent book "Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover." All of these books are great and I strongly recommend them.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Ally Carter at a signing in Anderson's Bookstore in Naperville, where Ally had a tour stop for her new book "Don't Judge a Girl By Her Cover.

Cover via Amazon

" (I just realized while reading the book today that "cover" not only means her appearance but the false identities that spies assume.) In total, I traveled three hundred miles and about six hours in one day to go see Ally. Although this is a bit dramatic, author signings are a lot of fun and this one was definately worth it!

Ally really gets that teenagers are smart. Her stories, not only her books but her personal stories on how the books came to be, are incredible. Although there is much, much more to her story, Ally told us about how we should always have someone in our lives who gives us the honest answer, even and most especially when that answer is not the one we want to hear, as this is what Ally's publisher did for her. For me, those people are my friends, Em, Kat and Ryan as well as many others. Thank you guys! If you want to here more about Ally's story to becoming a NYT bestselling author as well as a video of a book signing very similar to the one I attended, click here.

There were a lot of different questions answered by Ally during the Q&A section of the signing. I was lucky enough to get called on, so I asked "If the two boys (Zack and Josh) were real, which one would you choose for yourself?" This got quite a big laugh, followed by an unexpected answer.
"Joe Soloman. He's my man." As well as something along the lines of "He is a hottie."


This made me smile and laugh, along with all of the other girls at the signing. Ally then went on to talk about a character in her book that is coming out in February about teen age thieves. I believe his name was Hale, and even though we have not met him yet, I have been assured that he is a babe and we will love him, so that is something to look forward to for all of you Ally Carter fans out there.





The photo above is of me and Ally after she signed my books. Ally is really, really nice and the way she talks about being a young adult writer gives you no doubt that she really loves her job. She says that the three things that writers do for a living is:

Image by Jess ::as cute as ever:: via Flickr

1) Work in their pajamas


2) Lie


3) Screw with people's lives (in this case, her characters)

Here is the synopsis from Ally's website (and I believe that it is on the back of the book as well...)

When Cammie “The Chameleon” Morgan visits her roommate Macey in Boston, she thinks she’s in for an exciting end to her summer break. After all, she’s there to watch Macey’s father accept the nomination for vice president of the United States. But when you go to the world’s best school (for spies), “exciting” and “deadly” are never far apart. Cammie and Macey soon find themselves trapped in a kidnappers’ plot, with only their espionage skills to save them.
As her junior year begins, Cammie can’t shake the memory of what happened in Boston, and even the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women doesn’t feel like the safe haven it once did. Shocking secrets and old flames seem to lurk around every one of the mansion’s corners as Cammie and her friends struggle to answer the questions Who is after Macey? And how can the Gallagher Girls keep her safe?
Soon Cammie is joining Bex and Liz as Macey’s private security team on the campaign trail. The girls must use their spy training at every turn as the stakes are raised, and Cammie gets closer and closer to the shocking truth…

Ally was the first author I have ever met personally, although I know many, many through twitter and facebook (oh the wonders of technology). You can find Ally on twitter and myspace as well her personal page.

If you have not read the Gallagher Girls series, I would highly recommend it! These stories are well written, well thought out, and really great, fun reads!!!
If you have never been to a "meet the author" or book signing, keep your eyes open as it is a great opportunity to really connect with authors and the books that they write. Check author websites and call your local bookstores to see if any authors are headed your way.
Thank you so much to Anderson's bookshop for hosting the event! We had an amazing time. Also, thank you Ally! You are so talented and an all around really nice, fun person. It was awesome meeting you!

More to come,

OfficiallyMRS

P.S. Here is a cool video I found with Ally Carter talking about the series. It is very sleek and "spylike" and I enjoyed watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pFLtBSrRak