Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows
Leigh Bardugo
4/5 stars

In the fictional town of Ketterdam, a team of misfit miscreants is hired to do an impossible heist.  These five teenagers, under the leadership of the equally young "DirtyHands" Kaz Brekker set out to make a fortune, if they can keep from killing each other in the meantime.

Six of Crows, the first of a duology,  is an adventure novel with a bit of fantasy thrown in.  It has an exciting, bold plot that reminds me of a Mission: Impossible story line.  The outrageous plans Kaz makes sometimes work, and sometimes have to improvised while lives are on the line, leaving the reader wondering just what could possibly happen next.  Several times I gasped, seeing no way out of the situation.

The writing is solid and vivid, flowing quickly from one escapade to the next.  The chapters are told in first-person from the point of view of one of the characters.  Kaz's team of a magician, a demo expert, a sharpshooter, a Wraith, a prisoner forced to work against his country, and himself, an expert pickpocket, have distinctive personalities and voices, making this work excellently.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; enough so that I immediately purchased the finale.  I'll admit that I did find the ages of the characters to be too young for their experiences, but that didn't diminish the pleasure of the book.  Overall, it is a great yarn, and I recommend it to any reader looking for an epic undertaking against the odds.