Title: Perfect Scoundrels
Author: Ally Carter
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Orchard Books
Publication Date: 5th February 2013
Goodreads Summary: Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it's that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting-or stealing-whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale's family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother's billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there's no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won't let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother's will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company's fortune. So instead of being the heir-this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she's willing to save her boyfriend's company if it means losing the boy.
{ Review }
Perfect Scoundrels is the third book in the Heist Society series by Ally Carter. This series is made up of standalone novels revolving around Kat Bishop and her crew of thieves - the good kind, not the bad. Kat returns stolen property to the rightful owners by stealing it back and at just sixteen years of age, she's already robbed the Henley (twice) but now in Perfect Scoundrels she takes on her most personal mission yet. Hale, Kat's best friend, now boyfriend, has just inherited the entirety of Hale Industries, a mulit-billion dollar corporation at the death of his grandmother Hazel, but something isn't quite right. Hale's chaffeur approaches Kat asking her to use her skills to try and find another will that Hazel might have written. Kat is now in a horribly awkward situation but, at the risk of her relationship with Hale, she takes the job. This time round things are even harder for Kat and her crew because they're got to work without one of their key players, Hale, and they're up against an unknown enemy who seems to know about all their tricks. The stakes are higher than ever in Perfect Scoundrels as things get real personal for Kat and she must work to save her boyfriend who's slipping away from her, as well as his family's company.
I absolutely love Ally Carter's books and Perfect Scoundrels is most definitely her best work. The only problem I had with the previous two books in the Heist Society series was that the jobs the crew were doing were so impersonal and there wasn't really that much in it for Kat and her family, but this time, it's different. By making this mission all about Hale and his family, Ally Carter made everything seem so much more intense and it also allowed us a greater look into Kat and Hale's relationship, which is what I had been waiting for all along. Although there were hints of the deeper relationship between these two in the other other novels, it was never fully explored, but in Perfect Scoundrels we see some more personal and private conversations between the pair.
All of Kat's extended family get involved in this mission which gave the plot so many different layers and their plans for carrying out this heist are so much cleverer as they're going against someone who's already prepared himself against them. There are even more plot twists and turns in this book as the people that you thought you knew, turn out to be people that are completely different. I felt much more involved in this book than I did with the other two and I actually felt fear, dread and happiness alongside all the characters. As this book is written in the third person, the reader is kept completely in the dark until the events unfold which makes things so much more exciting as you're never sure what's waiting for you around the corner. Just when I thought I had the crew's plan sussed, I was proved wrong, time and time again.
All in all Perfect Scoundrels was a brilliantly thrilling book that works great as part of the series or as a standalone. Ally Carter has created a detailed and intricate plot that will keep you turning page after page and you'll never know what's coming next. Even though this is a young adult book, I think it could appeal to adults just as well because there's nothing really 'juvenile' about it apart from the fact that the main characters are only teenagers.
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