by Ally Carter
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Of all the people who knew about the big house in the middle of Wyndham Woods, very few had ever been inside.”
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Others in the series: Heist Society, Uncommon Criminals

I have decided (only took me three books, too), that one of the things I like best about this series is that it’s not really a “series”. You don’t have to read the first two to get the third (though they’re fun and you should read them). Each one is a separate con/heist while building upon the characters we’ve come to know and love (and, in my case, swoon over).

This one is all about Hale. (*swoon* You should have seen me at the store when these came in. I was a complete fangirl. HALE!) The short version is that we learn a lot about his family, his past, and his life. Which, to tell the truth, doesn’t really bode well for Kat. Hale’s beloved grandma Hazel has just passed away,  and it turns out that Hale is the sole inheritor of the business, with the family lawyer named as trustee until Hale turns 25. And fortune. Except, Marcus (ever-trusty chauffeur/butler/guy) believes there’s something wrong: his sister, Marianne, who was Hazel’s companion and friend, was completely cut out. He asserts that the will read is fake, and hires Kat to find and steal the real one back.

Of course, that’s not the whole story. But to tell you it would be to ruin your fun. I will tell you this: out of the three, this one has the tightest con. I didn’t figure it out until it was nearly over, and then I just sat back, reveling in the brilliance of it all. And while Hale wasn’t perfectly charming the whole book, it was still Hale. I know I shouldn’t have crushes on 17-year-old fictional men, but honestly: *swoon*

Plus the whole gang is back, and there are some brilliantly funny moments as they set up the long con. We get to meet more of Kat’s family, with all their brilliance and weirdness. Though I have to say that my new favorite minor character is Silas. Please: more of him!

All the other fun elements that I’ve come to expect from these books are there: jetting around the world, rappelling down buildings, breaking into banks, and just a little bit of kissing (in closets). I hope Ally Carter has a few more of these up her sleeves, because, heaven knows I can always find time to read them.

If only because I *swoon* over Hale.