Thieves' Gambit

Thieves’ Gambit introduces the classic heist genre to a YA audience, combining multi-step heist planning with character-driven elements common in YA fiction. The heist narrative, a subgenre of crime fiction, traditionally centers on a team of specialists executing a complex theft. Key elements include meticulous planning, high-tech gadgets, and navigating formidable security systems. One famous real-world example is the 1976 Nice bank heist led by Albert Spaggiari—an inspiration referenced in the novel—where a team tunneled into a vault through the sewers over several months (66). Thieves‘ Gambit adopts these conventions through its titular competition, a series of international thefts designed to evaluate the contestants’ abilities.

The heist genre frequently takes place in notable or visually striking locations. Thieves’ Gambit uses its globetrotting plot to explore themes of cultural identity and representation across diverse international settings. The narrative takes readers from a private estate in Kenya to a museum in France and an auction in Egypt, grounding its heists in distinct cultural landscapes. This use of varied locales is a common feature in modern action and spy thrillers like the James Bond series (Casino Royale, From Russia with Love), the 39 Clues Series (The Maze of Bones, Vesper’s Rising) or Mission: Impossible franchises, which often use international settings to heighten a sense of adventure and global scale. In Thieves’ Gambit, these settings are integral to the plot, presenting unique challenges and opportunities for the thieves.

The novel further uses this global stage to center its protagonist, Ross Quest, a young Black woman from the Bahamas, navigating a clandestine world of dynastic thieves long depicted as Eurocentric. As a member of the powerful, Black-led Quest family, Ross’s presence challenges genre expectations. Her identity weaves into the narrative, from descriptions of her mother looking “absolutely Caribbean chic” to her own struggles and triumphs within a world dominated by European families like the Boscherts (20). By placing a character like Ross at the forefront, the novel not only provides representation but also introduces a viewpoint that expands the range of identities depicted in heist fiction, exploring how identity shapes experience even in a world of secrets and subterfuge.

However, the novel infuses these genre tropes with YA coming-of-age themes, such as identity formation and the tension between family obligation and personal desire. Ross is a master thief, yet she spends her free time scrolling through social media accounts about “dorm life” and secretly applying to summer camps, yearning for experiences outside her family’s criminal world (1). The narrative develops this internal conflict alongside the heist storyline. By placing a teenage protagonist at the heart of a criminal world, author Kayvion Lewis, like Ally Carter in the Heist Society series, explores not only the mechanics of a theft but also the moral and emotional compromises required to survive in it, making the genre accessible and resonant for a new generation of readers.