Another year seems to mean another YA thriller from author Karen M. McManus. This time it is Such Charming Liars, set in a remote New England town where a jewelry heist plot goes terribly wrong, and two teenagers with a complicated past must work fast to solve the puzzle.
The Situation: Sixteen year-old Kat has always considered her and her mother Jamie to be a team. For as long as she can remember, it has been the two of them sticking together through everything. And after a career of being a jewelry thief, Jamie has decided that life is no longer for her. One more job, and the two of them can move on to some sort of normalcy. Liam has never considered himself and his serial con artist father Luke to be a team. And it is no surprise when Luke seems to have designs on the daughter of a wealthy man, whose birthday party they are attending at the family's compound. But what is a surprise is the appearance of Kat and Jamie, the latter of which was once married to Luke for 48 hours, 12 years ago, and whose latest jewelry heist assignment is at the same compound.
The Problem: The 48 hours that Jamie and Luke were married are full of memories that neither Kat nor Liam care to revisit, but they still manage to treat each other as something closer to step-siblings, even after all these years. And when a murder takes place on the compound, throwing everything and every plan into chaos, Kat and Liam must stick together. Even with security on high alert, it becomes clear that the threat of danger is still very real, and the newly reconnected stepsiblings may now be targets. Kat's past experience and street smarts will come in handy, and Liam is just charming and naive enough to be endearing, but it may not be enough to save them, or at least help them solve an ever-growing mystery.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult thriller novel set mostly in and around a small town in Maine. The majority of the action takes place on the Sutherland Compound, where billionaire Ross Sutherland's birthday party is to take place. There are two narrators, though Kat is allowed more chapters than her former stepbrother Liam. While Kat has essentially been raised by a jewel thief, who has worked for years for a woman who has used a cleaning business as a front for a theft ring, which meant having to move often, Liam was raised by his mother, before her death meant moving in with his scam artist father. The story is similar to McManus' other thrillers, but this time being centered more around a jewelry heist, and moving away from the usual setting of a high school or camp.
My Verdict: No matter how many twists and turns a McManus book takes, I always remain invested and interested in seeing where everything ends up. Each twist and bend in the story may be slightly more ridiculous than the last, but it is never quite enough where the believability goes completely out of the window...though I will say that this book got closer to that point than any of the seven McManus books that came before it. The story is exciting and intense, the setting is refreshing, and I think YA thriller lovers have another fun book to explore.
Favorite Moment: Kat's lockpicking skills are impressive, and they come in handy more often than they probably should.
Favorite Character: From the beginning, it is clear that Liam knows exactly the kind of man his father is, and even takes active steps to ruin many of his plans.
Recommended Reading: For a different sort of YA thriller, I recommend Holly Jackson's Five Survive.
No comments:
Post a Comment