I received this book from the publisher to review.

Will Chen is facing the final months of his education in Art History at Harvard. He is restless because he doesn’t see any clear future for himself. At work in an art gallery one day, he watches thieves who are stealing art in broad daylight. Taking an opportunity, he palms a small jade horse that they left as they moved to a different area. As the thieves leave, one of them sees him hiding, slips him a card with a phone number on it. He is intrigued and wants to find out why they gave him the card. He is being recruited by a private art collector who wants to finish her collection of Chinese zodiac medallions. If successful, Will receives $10 million dollars. Will knows that he can’t pull off this heist alone so he turns to some friends. His sister Irene is beautiful, smart, and talks her way out of anything. Her roommate is Lily, student by day and street racer by night. Will’s best friend, Daniel, has quick hands and nerves of steel. The final member of the group is Alex, a code writing whiz that works for Google.

As this group begins to scheme how to pull off this theft, Will feels he finally has a purpose. The art in question was stolen from China many years ago and Will’s group feels that they are righting a wrong. Can these students become masterminds and steal the medallions? The first theft will be unexpected but once the authorities identify their goal, the jobs will become much more difficult. Will they be able to steal all 5 medallions and avoid getting caught?

Grace Li created an entertaining book. It is reminiscent of an Ocean’s 11 movie with a touch of Fast and Furious thrown in. Beyond the entertainment, she highlights the frustration of Chinese-American people living in America. Through her characters, she shows the poor behavior and attitudes of other races toward them. It is educational to read about these frustrations and an excellent reminder to everyone to examine their prejudices. Some people are deliberate in their actions and other people don’t realize how they behave. Another theme in this enjoyable book is the prevailing attitude that museums and galleries have regarding art that they have acquired. Have you ever wondered how pieces of art from other countries are placed? There should be accountability for how any piece is acquired. This is not necessarily the case and some pieces are seized during wars or occupations with no thought as to returning them once conflict is over. Will Chen’s group feels very strongly about the art being returned to it’s home country. Grace Li does an excellent job of challenging many behaviors while encouraging everyone to do better. Start to finish, this is a book that will hold your interest and steal your imagination.

My Rating: 🌻🌻🌻🌻

Additional Thoughts: I had never given much thought to who art belonged to. I’ve been to museums and enjoyed the art not once thinking of whether it belonged to that country. Seizing art in war was a massive problem in WWII. How many pieces were lost forever? Art represents so many things, it would be wonderful if it returned to the country of origin and then loaned to places in return for some of their art. Idealistic, I know.