Thieves’ Gambit
Kayvion Lewis
Nancy Paulsen Books
Published September 26, 2023
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Thieves’ Gambit
The Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother’s life.
At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life hanging in the balance.
In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world–a wish that could save her mom. When she learns two of her competitors include her childhood nemesis and a handsome, smooth-talking guy who might also want to steal her heart, winning the Gambit becomes trickier than she imagined.
Ross tries her best to stick to the family creed: trust no one whose last name isn’t Quest. But with the stakes this high, Ross will have to decide who to con and who to trust before time runs out. After all, only one of them can win.
My Review
This book deserves more buzz than it got. The beginning started a little slow, and I kept forgetting it was young adult because Ross seemed so young. Though the seventeen-year-old lives this wild, heist-filled life, she is really young because she is so secluded from others. As I got to know her more as a character, that young-sounding voice made a lot of sense.
By the time she enters the Gambit, she already sounds older than the girl in the opening pages. As she reaches the final phase of the game, she sounds older still. I’m pretty impressed with the author’s ability to seamlessly shift the writing with Ross’s maturity while the story careens around hairpin turns with the stakes climbing all the time.
I also really liked the characters, especially the team Ross works with during the middle of the book: Kyung-soon, Mylo, and Devroe. They each add something different to the team, and the experience of working with them changes Ross in ways she wasn’t prepared for. I loved that.
I think readers looking for an Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s 11 story will not be disappointed in this wild ride of a tale. I’m eager to read the sequel.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Ross is Bahamian and Black. The other players in the Gambit are a diverse, inclusive group.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Swearing scattered throughout. No F-bombs.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Situations of peril. Ross works as a thief, stealing items for clients who’ve hired her and her mom. She enters a high-stakes game in which she must race against other players to steal things. One character gets shot. Another threatens people with a firearm. The plot involves kidnapping and ransom.
Drug Content
Some characters use a drug to make people too intoxicated to perform specific assigned tasks. A character pours a glass of champagne for another.
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I don’t always love stories where the main character is a thief, but this sounds like it has a lot of drama with the race to beat others to the prize they’re stealing. And it’s an added bonus that Ross really grows as a character throughout the story. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yeah, a thief narrator can pose a challenge for readers, it’s true. I liked that she wrestled with the morality of some of the things she was asked to do and that she grew so much, as you mentioned. Thanks, Natalie!