Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

To the elite circle of art thieves, Kat Bishop is known as the girl who pulled off the greatest art heist of the century when she robbed the Henley Art Museum. So it comes as no surprise when a desperate woman begs her to steal the famous Cleopatra Emerald and return it to her, the rightful owner. Determined to right a past wrong, Kat, along with her gorgeous best friend Hale, promise to help the woman.

Although the emerald is rumored to be cursed, this doesn't stop Kat, as she masterminds a flawless heist and returns the emerald. And that's when everything goes wrong ...

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter is the second book in the Heist Society series, although you don’t have to read the first book (also named "Heist Society") to know what's going on. Fans of Carter's Gallagher Girls series ("Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover," etc) should try this new series.

What I liked: the characters (especially Hale) who supports Kat even when she doesn’t deserve it. I also like the spectacular plans they execute to steal the emerald (not once, but twice). The final heist is so clever and so obvious!! I can't believe I didn’t figure it out earlier.

What I didn’t like: the secondary characters who were so funny and interesting in "Heist Society," play a very small part in this book. Also, Kat has a lot of internal anguish that gets a bit tiresome.

It is also pretty unrealistic to believe that a band of teenagers could outsmart the world’s greatest security systems, but perhaps watching them outwit the adults is what makes this such a fun series.