I have always loved a heist story. It’s like catnip to me. Stick a heist into any kind of story and you have my immediate attention. Add magic and books, of course, and I am all in. The Book of Gold, my forthcoming book from Hodderscape, features a heist to steal a magical book, features some rather feral gods, and is set in the alternate history world of Amberes, a reimagining of 16th century Renaissance Antwerp.
One of my earliest memories is of my great uncle reading The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green to me. Another is listening to a recording of a radio version of Tolkien’s The Hobbit, which I listened to until the tape fell apart. (Yes, tape. It was that long ago. I won’t say what kind of tape. It will frighten you.) So my love of all the building blocks of a heist formed very early and stuck fast.
So what are the component parts? A hero, who is not entirely on the right side of the law; a found family gathered around them, each with different vital skills, and frequently in conflict with each other; a target which is both valuable, difficult to get to and often dangerous in its own right; and an adversary of far greater power than our main characters.
Every crew for a heist is a group of distinct characters with special skills, sometimes only a few and sometimes many, but at the basic level they are the mastermind, the fixer, the thief, the hacker and the muscle. There’s sometimes an expert as well. They are a found family, a group who cannot always get along, but somehow make it work. Sometimes. Barely. Their conflict is as much a part of the story as the heist itself. In the case of The Book of Gold, Lyta is both the mastermind and the thief, and her partner in crime Frida is the fixer. Between the two of them they are perfectly able to carry out most heists and do. But to steal the infamous Book of Gold, they need help, even if they don’t particularly want it. Sylvian, a royal bodyguard who is Lyta’s former lover is their muscle, and Kit, Lyta’s printer brother takes on the role of the hacker, the practical-minded man who can fix anything. Although in a sixteenth century way.
The heist often relies on a series of smaller heists to build up to it, and put all the pieces in play. In order to find their expert, Lyta and company have to perform another heist, deep into the heart of another enemy territory.
In any heist we also need a target – something rare and impossible to get to, valuable and closely guarded. Preferably with some booby traps. A heist is a series of obstacles to be overcome, with a prize waiting at the end. However, the plan for the heist itself was the last thing I wrote. In fiction, a heist always goes wrong. Always. The crew always have to think on their feet. Even though we know it will work out in the end, nothing is straightforward. So I wrote that first, where everything went wrong, then backtracked to figure out what should have happened, if everything had gone as planned. A sneaky trick. But it worked. I almost felt like Lyta.
Finally we needed our villains. Our heroes need someone to make their stand against. In this case they end up with more than one. But isn’t that always the way. The villains should be powerful and dangerous, with very little empathy for those they hold power over. Whether they are royalty, nobility or gods, they don’t think the law applies to them. Because it doesn’t.
And when the law can’t take down a villain we need our Robin Hood characters to step up and take care of it. There’s a reason that the Oceans films take on corrupt casino owners, or people who have wronged them or their friends.
Often the crew don’t personally benefit but pass the profits on to others – robbing the rich to feed the poor. Like good comedy, a good heist punches up, not down. It’s anti-establishment, anti-corruption, anti-bullying, one might even say anti-capitalism, and always on the side of the little guy. Our crew are David, standing against Goliath, and winning against the odds.
(c) Ruth Frances Long
The Book of Gold is coming out on the 28th November from Hodderscape. Sam Blake will be launching it in The Gutter Bookshop at 6.30pm. All welcome.
About The Book of Gold by Ruth Frances Long:
A desperate thief. A magical book. And a heist for the ages.
There’s only one thing notorious thief Lyta loves more than a big score; her little brother, Kit. But when Kit is arrested for producing seditious pamphlets, he stands to lose not only his printing press, but possibly his life.
In exchange for her brother’s freedom, Lyta strikes a daring bargain with the king -she will steal the infamous Book of Gold, a mysterious manuscript reputed to be hiding vast magical power within.
It’s just the kind of challenge Lyta relishes, but she didn’t bargain for a secretive scholar, her brother’s interference, or the return of handsome and brooding Captain Sylvian Chant, once her lover and partner in crime, now an incorruptible royal bodyguard . . .
Order your copy of The Book of Gold by Ruth Frances Long online here.
