Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Midnight Heist
SERIES: Outlaws #1
AUTHOR: Katherine McIntyre
PUBLISHER: Hot Tree Publishing
LENGTH: 273 Pages
RELEASE DATE: Feb 27, 2021
BLURB:
Heist rule number one? Never fall for your mark.
Grif’s always followed the one rule in the high stakes business of heists: never fall for your mark. At least, until he meets Danilo Torres…
Grif Blackmore’s team of thieves, the Outlaws, take down wicked corporations and nab fantastic paydays. However, when their latest heist fails, they end up in debt to the mafia, which puts the pressure on for their next job targeting Torres Industries to go off without a hitch.
There’s one problem. The CEO of Torres Industries, Danilo Torres, happens to not only be dead sexy but unaware of his company’s corruption. When the sparks flare between Grif and Danilo, Grif can’t help but fall for his mark.
Grif is left with a decision to make. Is he willing to throw it all away for the man who’s caught his interest or is there a chance to play Robin Hood without losing it all?
REVIEW:
Grif Blackmore is out to destroy any company that is rich and corrupt. He leads a band of criminal misfits, called Outlaws, in his Robin Hood endeavors. Dan Torres took over from his father a couple of years ago. A man happier with numbers than anything, he noticed small irregularities that he intended to investigate. The Outlaws are after Torres Industries. However, when Grif meets Dan, there is a chemistry that makes carrying out his task much harder.
Set in Chicago, this is an engaging story full of sex, drama, investigations, and more from beginning to end. For those people familiar with the TV series Leverage, then this tale is of that ilk.
The adventure is told in the third person, but for me, the viewpoint occasionally got a little skewed. I believe perspective was intended to be that of Grif and Dan, but a narrator’s voice also came through. This fly on the wall view, some love, some frown upon, and some don’t give a rat. In these instances, autonomous body parts, become a bone of contention. I’ve been to several conferences that have highlighted this topic. Technically, the third person should still speak from a character’s viewpoint. In which case, the phrases, ‘his gaze did x,’ or ‘his hands did y,’ are a no-no. This is because, x did something with his hands, the hands did not work independently unless the author qualifies the phrase with the words, ‘as if with a mind of their own,’ or other appropriate expressions. The hands can be depicted as doing xyzzy when one is describing the actions of another person.
Other than the above, this was a story with games of cat and mouse played between the Outlaws, Torres Industries, and other elements of the Chicago underworld, with a side-order of personal issues. Grif is suitably tough with a soft center, and his crew is a wonderfully entertaining eclectic group of skilled people with equally diverse personalities. His people are calm in the face of mayhem and find fun where others would run screaming. Blend this with some excellent scene-setting, adorable CEO Dan, corporate shenanigans, and lives on the line, and we have a super story.
If talking storyline on its own – it is an edge of your seat rollercoaster whose characters I’d love to see more of in the future. Had it not been for the technicalities, it would have scored higher.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: