Rosalyn (Ross) Quest has been learning to be a thief ever since she was small. Her entire family are experts at it, stealing to order on contracts, or just to fund their lifestyle.
But now at seventeen, Ross is tired of this life. All she wants is to be normal, be around people her own age, who aren’t family, and maybe even go to College. But she has always been told by her mother to trust no-one – ever, and she learns this early and the hard way. Being betrayed by a friend has seared her mother’s mantra into her heart.
Even so, when she gets accepted to a gym program, she knows this is her chance. Sliding her own plan to escape inside a plan of her mother’s to rip off a yacht – Ross is ready to finally leave. But her secret sends her life spinning out of control. Ross escapes the yacht and the unexpected armed men, but her mother doesn’t.
Ross must face another invitation she has received. A place in the Gambit. Her aunt tells her this is a big deal. Only the best up-and-coming thieves around the world are invited. When her mum’s kidnappers realise she is from the Quest family – revered in the criminal world, they place an impossible bounty on her head. One billion dollars.
The only way to save her mother is to enter the Gambit, reach deep inside herself for everything she has ever learnt from her family and practised a thousand times – and try to win. There’s only one prize. A wish – even a billion dollars.
Ross is soon in a game with eight other young thieves from respected crime families. Some she knows of, some she’s met, and others she dislikes immediately. But she knows she’s up against the best.
These nine teens must steal, climb, run, leap, lie, cheat, or act their way to victory, through three challenges across the world. They are eliminated one by one leaving only one winner and their wish.
Can Ross trust any of them, or does her mother’s advice make more sense? Can she save her mother before the kidnappers fulfill their threat?
A full-on action-packed twisting, turning thriller where you don’t know the good guys from the bad. 17 year old main character (Rosalyn) Ross is likeable and riveting to read as she digs deep in her mission to save her mother. Riddled with guilt at her secret plan to run away which has put her mum’s life in danger, Ross must use all her honed underworld criminal skills and more to defeat her rivals, in the exclusive secret game called The Gambit.
Unravelling the truths and lies along the way, some which stretch back a decade, Ross finds strength in her own skills and self to become who she wants to be. A budding romance blooms, but is it to be trusted? Ross’ yearning for a normal life turns everything in the wrong direction and boy it’s a wild ride.
A sequel is to follow, and I can’t wait. There is so much going on in the Thieves’ Gambit, it would be a definite read-again.
Following a bidding war, Lionsgate has acquired the motion picture adaptation rights to Thieves’ Gambit, and I’ll be first in line for a ticket.
Author – Kayvion Lewis
Age – 13+
(2023, Harper Collins, Action, Adventure, Betrayal, Courage, Crime, Family, Greed, Mystery, Secret, Heist, Theft, Stealing, Professional Thieves, Rich, Money, Targets, Competition, Teams, Team mates, Rivals, Slight of hand, Jets, Money, Jewels, Lies, Truth, Romance, Duology, TikTok)
Thieves Gambit is a incredible book with unexpected twists and turns and incredibly detailed characters. The end to the book leaves for a great cliff hanger and leaves the reader wanting to know what happens next. I love how the author pulls the reader in with a enticing first chapter and then all the way through leaves us on the age of our seats. So in all I would highly recommend reading this if you have a love for thrill, mystery, romance, angst, and some wholesome scenes. But I warn you, be careful who you trust~
I really enjoyed the thieves’ gambit. At the beginning of the book I didn’t like Rosalyn, but the further I got into the book, the more the character evolved and she ended up being one of my favourite character. Rosalyn Quest’s mother is kidnapped so she joins the thieves’ gambit, a competition of thieves. Rosalyn teams up with three other thieves and they try to win the trophy.
The Thieves Gambit is a exciting and adventurous book, with lots of twists and turns leading up to a shocking plot twist that blew my mind. Rosalyn, the main character, is a clever girl who grew up around extremely well trained and talented thieves, until she became one herself. She would assist her mother in missions and almost every mission followed through successfully, until one day, her mother is caught in action, and Rosalyn must do everything in her power to save her. She enters a exclusive competition and she makes friends along the way. I found this a interesting and enthralling book which surprised me many times and the story itself is very well written.
I raced my way through this book – it was far too punchy for me to do anything else – and I kept waiting for some resolution as I watched my progress through the book, but it got to five pages to go and everything was still action packed. So much is going on in this book its wonderful, even if its not action but interpersonal relationships. I love Ross, and definately at the start the need to break away from family as a seventeen year old is a bit too relatable
Excellent! So glad it surprised and you liked it. You never know sometimes, unless you dive right in!
Thieves Gambit is not a book I would usually choose to read. This made me think I wouldn’t really be interested in it but I was pleasantly surprised when I finished it in two days. Rosalyn is the a stunning main character who is forced to join a game called Thieves Gambit to save her mother’s life. Through these games she makes friends with her competitors and even falls in love with one of them. This goes against a rule she’s been told all her life. Rosalyn believes she must win the games in order to get a wish to save her mother’s life. There is a twist at the end of book that I believe no one will see coming. This book had twists in all the right places to keep you engaged and guessing what would happen next. Thus making it tough to put it down.
Great review. I’m sure this will get minds wondering…
Thieves Gambit is Six of Crows meets the Hunger Games, because it is a fast-paced adventure without the friendships and relationships built in both of the books mentioned above. Rosalyn is an amazing character who wishes to save her mother meaning she must join the Thieves Gambit. Along the journey she makes unlikely friends with her competitors. Rosalyn must play to win if she is to ever see her mother ever again.