Stories about heists are always a hit, just look at movies like Oceans 11 or The Sting… and books about heists are no exception. I LOVE a good heist story, so let’s look at some of the heist books I’ve read and enjoyed.

Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)

Having this many POV can sometimes be a bit messy, but I think this was really well done. It added such incredible drama to the story, I love to jump in and out of people’s perspectives, plus when everybody in a heist is in a different spot as part of the team layout like this is necessary. I liked everyone. All the characters in their own ways were fantastic, they interacted with each other really well, and the plot moved forward with these character dynamics in mind. The actual heist/prison break itself was really well done. I enjoyed the setup, the planning, the execution, and everything in between.
The magic system was quite good, it was a bit of a spin on the normal type of abilities you can see in people. I like the way that this particular system spun things, and I would love to see more.

Final Empire: Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)

I’ll start this off by saying I liked this book. Not loved, but liked. I think the first half was my favourite and after looking up spoilers I don’t think I will continue the series.
However, it was still a good story and interesting characters.

Here are my little observations:
It was really hard to keep track of all the characters and who they all were (particularly with an audiobook format). I think there were just a bit too many for my personal preferences.

I’m not used to books that take place over such long periods of time but that are still interesting and flow well. I appreciated that from this book (it was also my first “high fantasy” that I made all the way through and I liked it quite a bit actually).

There was a huge amount of info dumping at times, but something about it didn’t feel that annoying like it can with other books. I was fully aware of it, and yet I didn’t mind.

The theme of discussing religion throughout was an unusual choice. While it doesn’t favour any one in particular, and seemingly makes some up (although who knows because more keep being made all the time), it was kind of….. odd. It felt strange that these people are talking about that in the middle of everything. I love a good Christian fiction book, so religion in books is not something I don’t like, it was more so that this seemed to acknowledge that religion exists but also that it doesn’t much matter which one you believe… and that’s something I disagree with so perhaps that’s why it felt so disjointed for me.

I love Brandon’s writing, and have enjoyed another series of his but I think the continuing of this one will not be something I’m interested in.

The Picasso Heist (James Patterson & Howard Roughan)

There were a lot of turns, once you thought you knew what was going on, it all changed again. I thought I was in for a painting heist, but what I got was a lot more than that.
The way things flowed, fit together and unfolded was great. I was convinced of one thing, only to be proven wrong about others. Then again, some things I guessed and when I was proven right, it was really nice.
There were a lot of moving parts, and it seems like everyone is a lot smarter than people in real life. Elaborate and intricate plans are not the norm with most people in the lives we all live in the real world. However, for a fictional story like this one, I don’t mind.
The characters were pretty good, but I found it difficult to really connect properly what with all the twists and turns of the way things happened.

Everyone in This Bank is a Thief (Benjamin Stevenson)

I really enjoyed the slow reveal of how everybody in the bank was a thief. They were multiple plot lines, things were happening slowly but also with the usual Ernest Cunningham way.
It did get quite complex at points, and some things were a little bit far-fetched until they weren’t. We managed to have a meaning for everything, but because there was so much happening it was difficult at times to follow the thread. Having said that, it was wrapped up quite nicely. Everything made sense, and some things were surprising, some things weren’t. Ultimately it was funny, interesting, and very scientific… That was unexpected.

The Spider Heist (Jason Kasper)

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really liked this story.
The element of being caught up in a heist, having an ex FBI agent, and how everything unfolds was great.
High stakes, fast paced and corruption all within the span of a day. Nicely done, a good read.

Tokyo Heist (Diana Renn)

I am not the target audience so keep that in mind for the review below.

Classic adults aren’t as smart as teenagers, they missed important details and we can not only be taken seriously but also help solve the crime whilst being in mortal danger kind of a story.

Cultural additions were really nice. I like a good art heist story and having a budding artist come at it was also an interesting twist. I did have to speed read a lot of it though because it didn’t seem to hold my attention well.

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See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace