any good "Heist" books?

[ould]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone recommend any good "Heist" or thief type books. I found I have always enjoyed these types of movies i.e. The Score, The Ocean Eleven movies(but would like something more on the serious side), Heist, Entrapment etc. i have always enjoyed the planning that is discussed and the technologies used to pull of these crimes and think I would enjoy a good book with a similar storyline. Not sure if anything exists but looking for any suggestions.

Thanks everyone,

Kevin

[BenG]

One of the best is Eric Ambler's Light of Day which was filmed as "Topkapi" with Melina Mercouri.
Also Gerald A. Browne wrote a couple of heist novels, 11 Harrowhouse and Green Ice.
And then there's Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery and Donald Westlake's The Hot Rock (and his other Dortmunder novels).
The Score by Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) is a great story also.
And finally there's W.R. Burnett's Asphalt Jungle .
Unfortunately, I don't think many of these are available to purchase as ebooks.

[ould]

Originally Posted by BenG

One of the best is Eric Ambler's Light of Day which was filmed as "Topkapi" with Melina Mercouri.
Also Gerald A. Browne wrote a couple of heist novels, 11 Harrowhouse and Green Ice.
And then there's Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery and Donald Westlake's The Hot Rock (and his other Dortmunder novels).
The Score by Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake) is a great story also.
And finally there's W.R. Burnett's Asphalt Jungle .
Unfortunately, I don't think many of these are available to purchase as ebooks.

Thanks for the recommendations!! I will see if I can source any in ebook form. Any other recommendations which are available in ebook would be great! I don't read any pbook's any more. My sony has spoiled me.

[Doitsu]

I just finished The Heist by Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg. Even though it wasn't that imaginative and contained pretty much all of the traditional heist tropes, I nevertheless enjoyed reading it and I'm looking for recommendations for similar books.

[smiththemighty]

Check out Heist Society. It starts slow, but picks up speed.

[steven522]

Originally Posted by smiththemighty

Check out Heist Society. It starts slow, but picks up speed.

Although placed as "young adult" lit, the Ally Carter books covering both Heist Society and the Gallagher Girls series are both good reads.

The Heist Society series is your basic "caper" story lines:
Heist Society
Uncommon Criminals
Perfect Scoundrels

The Gallagher Girls series is quite similar, but leaning toward espionage:
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover
Only the Good Spy Young
Out of Sight, Out of Time
United We Spy

[dickloraine]

If you are open to read a fantasy heist story, I would recommend "The lies of Locke Lamorra" by Scott Lynch.But this one is much more brutal than the usual heist stories and gets darker and darker as the story progresses.

[WillAdams]

If you like science fiction, Walter Jon Williams' Drake Majistral books are a hoot:

The Crown Jewels
House of Shards
Rock of Ages

[Mike L]

The Asphalt Jungle, by W.R. Burnett, is generally considered the first modern "heist" book - that is, the first crime story to be told entirely from the point of view of the criminals. Rosetta Books publish an e-book version.

Ben G also mentioned Eric Ambler's Light of Day (aka "Topkapi"). This is an excellent novel, but I'm not sure it counts as a heist. It's true that it's set against the background of a major robbery, but it's really the story of the decline in fortunes of a petty criminal who gets sucked into a situation that's above his head. Definitely a good read.

Mike

[Doitsu]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Keep them coming.

[Angst]

Originally Posted by dickloraine

If you are open to read a fantasy heist story, I would recommend "The lies of Locke Lamorra" by Scott Lynch.But this one is much more brutal than the usual heist stories and gets darker and darker as the story progresses.

ditto.

If you like this book, there are two other novels in the "Gentleman Bastard" series, (so far). All involve some type of heist. Expect an unexpected ending.

If you don't mind fantasy:
Among Thieves (Tale of the Kin 1) by Douglas Hulick
The Name Of The Wind (Kingkiller Chonicles) by Patrick Rothfuss.

These aren't about a heist per se, but the main characters are thieves. Still very good books.

[bfisher]

BenG mentioned The Score by Richard Stark (Donald Westlake)

The Parker character is all about planning and executing a heist (and more often than not, dealing with unexpected events following the heist, such as a double-cross) - some of the later Parker novels
Slayground
Butcher's Moon
Flashfire
Comeback
Backflash
Nobody Runs Forever

[tompe]

Westlake's Dortmunder book are both heist books and very funny books.

[4691mls]

I recently read Ghostman by Roger Hobbs. The main character is a professional thief trying to sort out the aftermath of a present-day heist; the present-day story is interspersed with the story of a bank robbery that went wrong years earlier.

[bfisher]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I recently read Ghostman by Roger Hobbs. The main character is a professional thief trying to sort out the aftermath of a present-day heist; the present-day story is interspersed with the story of a bank robbery that went wrong years earlier.

Thanks for the Ghostman recommendation. It's going on my TBR list.