Audiobook Review: Uncommon Criminals

Title: Uncommon Criminals

Author: Ally Carter

Narrator: Angela Dawe

Series: Heist Society #2

Release Date: June 21^st, 2011

Length: 6:44:28

Number of Pages: 298

Publisher: Brillance Audio (Hyperion)

Source: Bought

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners. 

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

My audiobook addiction continues as I bought a new book. After reading Heist Society a couple of weeks ago, I decided to give this audiobook a chance, as it is shorter than seven hours, which is honestly the length I prefer (around ten hours is still great, but fifteen is too much for me.

First, let’s talk about the narrator. Angela Dawe is the one telling you the story, and I have to say that I did enjoy listening to her. The one thing that annoyed me at first is that I had voices for the characters already created in my mind, as I had read the first book instead of listening to it. Still, after a couple of chapters, it was forgotten. Angela does a great job a keeping us captivated, creating voices for characters and adding enough life to the book that it doesn’t end up soporific (I have a tendency to fall asleep while watching TV, so this aspect is really important for me. As much as I did enjoy her character voices, I have to say that some of them ended up being so similar that I had trouble knowing for sure who was talking. (Usually, the context ended up telling me, but still.)

Overall, I really ended liking this audiobook. Yet, it made me realized how hard it could be to hear someone else voice doing the narration when you already have your own narrator picked in your mind.

Now, it’s time to talk about Ally Carter’s novel. I have to say that I liked it better than Heist Society. The pace was fast enough to keep us into the story, without being too fast. I also have to say that I love all their thief talk, which probably makes me sound strange. The other thing that really made me happy is the romance slowly building between Kat and Hale. This is simply a great rollercoaster of emotion for Kat, which made her even more interesting in my eyes.

That’s another thing I really liked about this book. Kat is maturing, even thought others have to use some drastic measure to get her to see their point. If Kat is one thing, it’s stubborn. Hale really made me like him even more in this book. He was at some point even too good to Kat.

Honestly, I would recommend this series to anyone looking for a fun, captivating and entertaining read. I really enjoyed it.