I have a soft-spot for heist reads, and I do enjoy a fun dive into history. Mix them, and I'm hooked. Today's read places a heist story into 1517 and involves the Medici family...which included the Pope(s) at that time. I'm hoping for a few historical facts, but I'll also be thrilled to simply take a more fantasy filled jump into the time frame. In other words, I hope this one is a good story.
Let's take a look and find out!
MEDICI HEIST
by Caitlin Schneiderhan
Feiwel & Friends
Young Adult Historical Fiction
421 pages
Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue, opulence, secrets, and murder. The Medici family rules the city from their seat of wealth, but the people of Florence remember the few decades they spent as a Republic, free from the Medicis and their puppet Pope, Leo X.
Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis - and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they've been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance's greatest robbery, she'll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.
Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis' noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction - if Rosa and company don't destroy each other first.
Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a 'mud' pie to the Pope's face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.
Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis - and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they've been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance's greatest robbery, she'll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.
Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis' noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction - if Rosa and company don't destroy each other first.
Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a 'mud' pie to the Pope's face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.
MY TIDBITS
Rosa arrives in Florence, Italy at the exact same time as the Pope, and it isn't a coincidence. The Medici family is anything but holy, and Rosa is determined to take her own form of revenge for what they've done. But she can't do it alone. It takes more than a little effort, but she manages to put together the greatest group of thieves and more with the intention of stealing the gold right from under the Pope's nose. Her plan is good. Her group is even better. But none of that can plan for all those little things that can and will go wrong.
This is set in 1517 Italy, and the author uses this setting wonderfully. The magic of Florence is ever present, while the problems of the normal people comes across clearly as well. The entire ordeal with the Pope and his greedy maneuvers, adds a nice touch, especially since some of it is based a bit on history. Then, there's the group of thieves, each carrying their own baggage and reasoning for joining the heist. The author allows four of them to rotate between the chapters, so that the perspective of each one gains a personal touch. It weaves an intriguing background with quite a bit of character depth, and that's before the action and tension even starts.
With all of this richness, the thrill of the heist doesn't back down, either. From the very first page, the tension and threat of the Pope grows clear. There is quite a bit of planning but this weaves with other dangerous situations and stunts to keep the pacing quick the entire way through. There's never a boring moment, and it isn't until the last pages that readers learn how everything truly works out...because these thieves have quite the web to weave to pull everything off.
This was one of the more enjoyable novels I've read this year, and I really enjoyed the mix of history and a well-laid heist. Of course, more than a few historical elements are pulled and stretched and inserted to make the fact end just a basic underlay, but that's completely okay. It's a fun tale, which makes several problems of the time clear, and keeps the reader in the pages until the very end.
And here she is...
Caitlin Schneiderhan, author of Medici Heist, is a genre-loving writer on the hit Netflix show STRANGER THINGS. Originally hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland, Caitlin hatched from a cocoon of Terry Pratchett novels when she was 13. She spent her teenage years scribbling stories during class instead of paying attention (you can’t prove she wasn’t just taking notes). Eventually, she decided to chase that storytelling bug all the way out to sunny Los Angeles, where she spent a few years scribbling scripts at assistant jobs instead of paying attention (you can’t prove she wasn’t just taking notes). She has been named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch, and has projects in development with multiple production companies around Hollywood.
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