Book Blitz: HEIST by Laura Pauling

Book & Author Details:

 

Heist by Laura Pauling
Genre: YA Psychological Thriller

No release date yet (will be in 2013)

 

Synopsis:

 

Can one decision change the past?
Jack Brodie has a sixth sense that someone has been watching him. Following him.

One night he travels back in time to one of the world’s largest art thefts, known as the Gardner Heist. Why that one moment in time? And what does it mean for Jack?

When he returns, his world is different. His best friend is rougher, meaner. His dad hasn’t been around in years. And then there’s Jetta. The girl who took over his heart the moment she stepped into his life. No one is safe.

Each time Jack goes back to the heist to fix his mistakes, he returns to face the fallout. Disaster strikes in the present until Jack must make a choice. His family and his own happiness. Or the girl he loves. Except, he learns that his sixth sense was right.

Someone has been watching him and wants him dead.

Goodreads:

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17931006-heist 

Laura Pauling on Choosing the Gardner Heist

 

I love heists - any and all kinds: art theft, diamonds, bank robberies, con stories…etc. Some of my favorite movies and books involve a heist of some sort. So a few years back, I decided to write about one. But which one?

 

I turned to my best friend in times like this - Google. I plugged in the words, famous art heist. And on the very first page I found the Gardner Heist. I still didn’t think much of it, but I clicked on it, and the word, Boston, flashed on the screen. What? There was a famous heist in a museum in a city near me? The decision was made.

 

Of course, I knew absolutely nothing about the museum or the heist.

 

So, the research started. I read nonfiction books and learned the ins and outs of the crime. It truly was fascinating. At that point in time, the heist was coming on twenty years - and it had never been solved! That hooked me even more.

 

This was an amazing opportunity for me. My books have been set in Paris, Greece, Prague, and the ruins of the ancient Maya. I had to learn what I could of those settings from blogs, books, Youtube videos…etc. It was incredible to go to Boston, walk through the museum, stroll through the Public Garden, ride the T - all settings in my story. Of course, soaking in the atmosphere and scribbling down details I’d be sure to forget otherwise.

 

You’ll find all those details in Heist. Plus, you’ll walk through details of one of the most famous art heists.

 

Laura Pauling on The science behind time travel.

 

I’ve always loved stories or movies that involve time travel. Not so much the science fiction aspect behind it, but how it affects the characters and the storyline. But, that didn’t mean I could ignore the science in my time travel novel.

 

At first, when Heist was going to be a humorous upper middle grade novel, there was going to be a science lab, a failed experiment, an explosion - and voila - time travel. That didn’t quite fit with the story that was coming out on the page. After the first draft, while doing more in-depth research, I stumbled upon a sickness called, the Stendhal Syndrome. This is a psychosomatic disorder causing dizziness, fainting, confusion, and even hallucinations, when exposed to a large amount of art, and more particularly, beautiful art.

 

I had my answer. In Heist, Jack Brodie, the main character, has this experience. Copies of the stolen art from the Gardner Museum Heist, bring him back to the night of the crime, March 17, 1990. Also, this fit better with my realistic, gritty time travel, then trying to have an actual futuristic time travel machine.

 A Look Inside

 



Excerpt

At the bottom step, I hesitate. Moonlight reflects off a metal napkin holder and a half-finished puzzle left out for customers. It’s a small shop, and the faded smell of cinnamon clings to everything. Even our upstairs apartment.

I breathe in the scent, drawing courage from all that is familiar. Times like this I wish for Dad. He’d know what to do.

The floor creaks from the other side of the room. 

My heart crawls into my throat, choking me. My knees weaken and my sweaty hands slip on the handle of the bat.

Step up and be a man. Those were Dad’s words, spoken into a telephone on the other side of the glass partition.

I think back to that day, the visit Mom knows nothing about. The smeared glass, the stubble on Dad’s chin and the fierce look in his eye that said he’d be outta there next week. But the next week turned into months and then years.

As my eyes adjust, the vague outline of a man appears in front of a painting on the wall. He reaches out and traces his finger down the gilded frame.

My pulse pounds so loud against the inside of my head, I can’t think. I stumble forward and raise the bat above my head. “Who’s there?” My voice shakes.

With his back to me, the intruder hesitates, his finger at the bottom of the frame. He doesn’t turn or flinch or seem to care who’s behind him. His black suit is tailored to fit his body and much too fancy for this time of night.

Sweat beads on my forehead and it feels like hours before the man clears his throat to speak. My arms shake. I debate whether to whack the guy in the legs with the bat and then take him out with one good punch.

“You been behaving yourself, kid?”

I freeze. The bat drops with a thud.

The words, the tone of voice, remind me of lazy spring afternoons when Stick and I would find my dad and uncle under the hood of their latest piece-of-shit car. I can taste the cold iced-tea and homemade cookies. I can feel the warm air against my face and smell the gasoline and grease. That was when I was thirteen and thought my dad was perfect. At sixteen, I know better.
 

Dad turns and steps forward, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his tuxedo. All suave and elegant, he looks like a star from the old black and white movies Aunt Fiona watches. His parole is tomorrow. Did they let him out early? Or did he break out?
 

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