Medici Heist
As the title suggests, this novel is a playful historical pastiche in the spirit of A Knight’s Tale. Set in 1517, the story centers on the return to Florence of the Medici pope, Leo X, and his plan to punish the city that exiled his family with crippling indulgences that will also enrich him. When seventeen-year-old con artist Rosa Cellini gets wind of the pope’s scheme, she decides to steal the fortune for herself.
The book is told from the multiple points of view of the gang of misfits Rosa assembles for the heist. The diverse voices include Sarra, who lives a double life as the virtuous sister of a master printer by day and a tinker who makes weapons for the underworld by night. Khalid, a brawler who has learned his trade on the rough docks of Genoa, is forced into an uneasy partnership with Giacomo san Giacomo, a grifter and master of disguise whom Khalid can’t trust. Rosa also enlists the help of two reluctant allies: Dominic, an artist’s apprentice with a useful knack for forgery, and Dominic’s ill-tempered master, Michelangelo, who is looking for his own revenge on the Medicis. Rosa’s plan is predictably complicated by both internal bickering among the gang members and the discovery that the stakes are much higher than they thought.
The book is an enjoyable caper for fans of heist novels, but a disappointment to any reader looking for a convincing portrait of Renaissance Florence under the Medicis. Young adult.
