Sting

Loot #2

by Jude Watson

Never do a favor for a friend.

Twelve-year-old March McQuin forgot rule number one for cat burglars, which is how he and his twin sister, Jules, found themselves dangling upside down twenty feet above a stone floor at three in the morning. Their target was a set of stunning diamonds and it should have been an easy job, in and out. Except another thief got there first. March and Jules were lucky to escape with their lives, and one measly stone.

Now the botched heist has created a world of trouble. The stone they grabbed was the Morning Star, one of a trio of famous sapphires, and it's cursed. The theft put the twins and their friends in the crosshairs of Interpol, the FBI, and a vicious adult gang of international criminals. And worst of all, the only way to break the curse and set everything to rights is by somehow managing to steal the other two sapphires in the set.

Break out the black gloves. Lay out the masks. There's a full moon coming, and jewels to steal...

Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery, Adventure, Fiction, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2016

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished the previous book Loot, I thought that there was more to the story that needed to be told, and really hoped the author would write a sequel to let us know what happened to the four kids and the huge fortune they ended up with. I guess she heard me because here it is. Lots of action in this one, some of it hard to follow at times, but still a great conclusion to a terrific series. I think middle school students will really enjoy this one.

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kind of just reuses the plot of the first book with more cursed gems and also some villains making a return appearance but it's just so much fun that I can't help but enjoy it. Again you need to suspend a bit of disbelief to accept some of the things these kids pull off, but they play off each other so well and it's nice to read a heist story that is entertaining and fun but not necessarily overly complicated. I also think it was good that she wrote this book because it teaches the kids an important lesson and also ties up some loose ends that weren't really resolved in the first one. And I would still read another one if she wanted to write more lol ;)

[Myra Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Bailey Canham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "Sting" by Jude Watson is a wonderfully written book about two kids who go on a crime spree to break a curse and to win back their fortune that they lost from the previous book "Loot" which I also highly recommend. I really enjoyed this novel for three main reasons. The first reason why I couldn't put down this book is that you can really relate to all the characters, mainly because they are living the kid dream/paradise. I began to see how similar I was to all the characters in the book. The second reason why I really enjoyed this book was because the author really described the characters motives so well, I felt like I could see inside their brain. The final reason why I think this is one of the best books ever is because of all the plot twists. After the first book, you think you know everything about every character, but this is all a illusion. My perception of every character changed dramatically. I recommend this book to any one who likes crime, suspense, and kids who don't always play by the rules. I hope you enjoy reading this book just as much as me!

[Lonna Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

The same "family" of young, misfit thieves from the first book, "Loot" is lured back into their criminal life when it is discovered that the fortune left them by March & Jules's cat burglar father, Alfie McQuin, is gone. What they thought was a safe investment of their millions turned out to be an elaborate swindle and con. Homeless and desperate, Darius, Izzy, Jules, and March (Marcello) try to steal a trio of cursed sapphires. Even better than "Loot," this heist is chock-full of suspense, double-crosses, and chase scenes. A real page-turner, this is both clever and satisfying as we root for the ingenious schemes of the four kids who were abandoned by every adult they encountered .

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this action-packed sequel as much as the first one, and I will definitely recommend it to my students in the fall!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book! It was confusing at times, but I'll deal.
Nice book, I'll say...

[mytaakeonit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love it as much as the first one, but this book was still a really fun read.

[Kelly (BookWtch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not typically the genre of book you catch me reading independently, I'll admit to rather enjoying this quirky little story.

I selected this book to read aloud in a middle school setting, after the first installment, Loot, was read last year with our sixth grade group.

Dealing with at-risk students a lot of the issues addressed such as abandonment, homelessness, and poverty are relatable and make for empowering discussion.

"People get broken. Sometimes they take that and make themselves strong."

The vocabulary is a bit tricky for middle grade students, but manageable if prepped with a vocabulary bank beforehand.

Unlike Loot which had a slow start, Sting takes you straight into the action from the beginning and only builds.

[Literary Chanteuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Rohma! · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love them!!!! raaaaah re read this like it’s first many times.

[amanda luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically the same plot as the first book, but it’s fun. First book is better.

[maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sequel to loot tho not as good- very confusing

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good follow-up to Loot. Not sure if more books are planned after this one.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Loot series by Jude Watson. The story is just as far-fetched as the first book, but it is a lot of fun and very dramatic.

I really enjoyed listening to Michael Crouch narrate the story on audiobook. He is a very talented narrator and was very adept at changing his voice to match the myriad characters.

Overall, it's an entertaining story for middle grade readers and I am hoping that the author continues this series.

interesting quote (page number from paperback edition with ISBN13 9780606406512):

"Everything goes better with cash.
Living on twenty million might not be easy. But they were willing to try." (p. 263)

[Ellie Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quarter 1 book 3

2) Sting: It takes a crook to catch a crook - a mystery/adventure book written by Jude Watson.

3) Sting takes place in a couple of different places. Those places include various spots in New York, Paris, and Miami.

4) Main Characters
March is a young teenage criminal mastermind. March is the son of one of the world’s greatest jewel thieves who March formerly wanted to be like but over the book, his thoughts change and he realizes he wants to be nothing like his father. In the book, we see a new side of march, an unforgetting side, a rougher side than we have seen before. Though March enjoys the rush of a heist from time to time he enjoys the innocent life and yearns to get it for himself.
Jules is March´s long-ish lost-ish twin sister. Though these two were separated for a long time they share a bond unlike no other. Jules is a daring and brave girl who is a maniac with some silks. Like her brother, she wants to enjoy the life of a normal person and she even wishes sometimes that she never committed a crime in the first place. She grew up with her Aunt who we learn as getting evil-er and evil-er and that stands a huge part of her life.
Izzy is a small but very strong and powerful girl. Her past was not good at all until she met Darius, that is, now Darius and her have a special relationship. He protects her, and she protects him. Izzy is an excellent hacker but just like the rest of her friends she doesn’t want to be a criminal any longer and instead just wants to be a family. Izzy has shown a lot of progress in this book. In the past we have seen her being shy and not talking much but now we see a new side of her, a bold, strong, braver side of her that’s been hiding for so long.
Darius is a tall, strong 15-year-old boy. Just like the others, Darius´s parents haven’t exactly been good to him, his mom breaks promises and has been in and out of jail, and his dad left him when he was younger. Darius has been mistreated his whole life and is ready for a change. Just like everybody else Darius wants to live a crime-free life and to be with his friends. Darius is brave, strong, sweet, and protective.

5) Minor Characters
Blue is March and Jules´s evil aunt. All she wants is fame and fortune and will do anything and hurt anybody to get there. By the end of the book, her games are over and she is sent to jail.
Dimmy-Dimitri is the evil head of the European ´Top Cat´ criminal gang. He went undercover as an innocent out-of-country man to get into the gang’s life and then turned against them to try to steal their fortune. Dimmy pretends to like Darius´s mom Mikki and that’s how he got into the gang’s life.
Hamish is one of March´s ¨uncles¨ otherwise known as one of his dad’s friends. Hamish is very helpful to the crew but he also gets them in a lot of their troubles. For the majority of the book, Hamish lives in a condo in Miami and we don’t see much of a work side of him but I know from the previous book that he sells jewelry, stolen jewelry that is.
Mikki is Darius´s mother and one of the world’s best weel(wo) men. Though she has been in and out of jail she yearns to go forward with her life and pursue a criminal-free life but she has not quite gotten there yet. She makes lots of promises to Darius that she doesn’t keep but she still loves him and tries to do anything she can for him.
Joey is one of Hamish´s nephews. Joey sells things that fall out of a truck. Over the course of the book Joey helps the gang in three different ways, he lets the gang stay in his shop as a safe house, he gives them vital information that they need to pull of the Lemon heist, and in the end, he helps with a distraction and a car switch when they pull off the final heist.

6) The main conflict in this book is that the gang is doing a favor for Hamish, and like all criminals, Hamish is hiding something, three things to be specific. The gang gets sent on a wild goose chase for three magic sapphires. And along the way, they almost lost to the curse again. They are fighting multiple battles at once, losing a home, losing a friend, battling it out with a most deserved family member, and a fierce and deadly European crime gang.

7) The book starts off with the gang completing a ¨favor¨ heist for their friend Hamish. As the heist unfolds they figure out that Hamish has much more planned and he wants them to steal yet two more sapphires, but there is a twist, the sapphires are cursed (again). The gang is sent all over the place to try to complete this task, but along the way the curse gets them. They lose their house due to a money misfungle, they get into a war with a European crime gang the ¨Top Cats¨, they lose Darius, and they have terrifying nightmares about the girl who started the curse, Zillah. They all learn something along the way, March learns that he infect does not want to be like his father like he had previously thought, Jules begins to accept the fate of her and Blue and seeks revenge, Izzy brings out the real her, the tough, fierce, and brave version of her, and Darius shows a more feely and lovey type version of himself. The book ends with the Top Cats having Darius kid-naped, the rest of the gang has to throw together a plan, and that’s just what they do. They elaborately double-cross the Top Cats and Blue. They get away with the money and split it evenly across all the others who helped with the switch. The gang buys a new, smaller, apartment and they live their dream, better this time.
8) Opinion and Analysis
-I enjoyed the book fine. I thought it was a good book and I had a good time reading it. Though I will say that I enjoyed the first book Loot more than this one. I like how some of the characters changed like Izzy, but I did not enjoy the way March changed. March is sort of self-ish and is meaner than he usually is and I preferred him more in Loot.
-My favorite part of the book was when they were pulling off the Lemon heist. I enjoyed this part because I feel that the heist was very well executed and that whole part was very interesting to read about as it unfolded.
-This book did not really engage my emotions as much as I would like it to. There were very many sad parts but the author did not exaggerate them as much as I would hope. I wish the author would make it engage my emotions a little more and in the parts where Darius stays with Mikki, or when Darius is captured, there were plenty of opportunities to tug on the heartstrings of the reader but I feel that the author didn't take them as much as I would like.
-This book felt complete. I feel that it was complete because the epilogue gave a look into the future and showed how they end up. I do wish that the epilogue was a little longer because we didn't really find out too much about all of our characters.
-This book compares okay to other books i've read. Like I said before, it's a fairly good book but the last book was a lot better in my opinion, it felt more complete, and engaged my emotions better, and the characters I thought were better.
-I would have changed all the things I mentioned before but mainly I would work on really getting at the reader's emotions.

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sad to report that I did not like this one as much as I liked the first one, with apologies to the management.

There was still quite a bit of good:

There was still an exciting heist, this time paired more with a con. There was less of a "quest" feel to this book, which I think was more disappointing to me specifically, but there was still plenty of thievery and lawbreaking that was very good.

I am happy to report that the characters' races were much more clarified, with March and Jules as white kids, Darius as African American, and Izzy as Puerto-Rican American. I was also glad to see that Mikki, Darius's mom, made another fabulous appearance!

Plus, there was a good reassessment of the stakes in this narrative. I think Hamish worked as a meaningful actor to get the kids off their butts, but the narrative itself created situations where our thieves were motivated in their own rights to do the things, which helped move things along.

I think I wasn't as impressed with this book because the character relationships themselves felt a little stagnant. The biggest emotional element of this book was the rift between Darius and March (who, btw, did not have any gayness between them, disappointingly). I'm not opposed to the four thieves seeing themselves as siblings; however, the execution felt circular. In the previous book, March, Jules, Izzy, and Darius were strangers who learned to be siblings. In this book, they were siblings who had a problem and then seemed to return to the same role as before.

I don't want to hate on the idea, because I do love the found family trope, but as a sibling myself I also know that there are different LEVELS of siblinging that can be achieved. While they seemed to share more trust by the end, a lot of the climax had more to do with the cursed jewels than character growth, which was disappointing, a little bit.

TL;DR: Still a fun book, but just not as inspiring as the first book.

[Nathan Usher]

March McQuin forgot rule number one for cat burglars, which is how he and his twin sister, Jules, found themselves dangling upside down twenty feet above a stone floor at three in the morning. Their target was a set of stunning diamonds and it should have been an easy job, in and out. Except another thief got there first. March and Jules were lucky to escape with their lives, and one measly stone.
Now the heist has created a world of trouble. The stone they grabbed was the Morning Star, one of a trio of famous sapphires, and it's cursed. And the only way to break the curse and set everything to rights is by somehow managing to steal the other two sapphires in the set.

I like this book and I would recommend it for people who like adventure books. I would recommend this book to people who like books where the protagonist plays a theft role. I like this book because there is a lot of suspense and it has adventure.

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great follow up to Loot! March, his twin sister Jules and their friends Darius and Izzy are living their dream life after their last big caper when their father's friend Hamish convinces them to go on one last heist. They are pulling the job in London when things go horribly wrong. Instead of a bag of diamond, they end up with one lone sapphire. Unbeknownst to them, the sapphire was part of a set of three, cursed by the original owner. Hamish has a buyer, but only if they get all three. Full of twists and turns, this adventure will keep readers on the edge of their seats! Highly recommend for fans of the first book, Ocean's Eleven, and The Great Greene Heist, grades 5 & up.

[Leith Fattouh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sting by Jude Watson is and adventure book.

Sting takes place in modern day Paris, France for a good portion of the book.

The main characters in the book are March and Jules (once again), Darius, Izzy, and Hamish. I will talk about March and Jules. They have the same personality as the previous book but changed in ways. March used to be a burglar until he decided to give up on that and live with the money the squad got from the previous book. [spoiler alert] Until Darius lost the money and they had to go back to burglary. That is why he is dynamic. Jules also had to join in with the burglary. I feel like she became more outgoing.

The main problem/conflict of the book is the squad becomes homeless and have to go back to burglary and steal the precious sapphires which turns out to be cursed. They have to stay away from the FBI and compete with the Top Cats. With the conflict/problem showed the kind of conflict is person vs person (compete with Top Cats and stay safe from the feds). It could be Person vs Society since they are going against groups of people.

The author believes that theft isn’t the best way to get money. (although it can sometimes get you a whole load of money but it's illegal don't try it).
Text evidence
1. When they went back to stealing they already made two enemies (the Top Cats and the FBI)
2. It got them in dangerous situations. For example, the part where March was really pressured and didn't know what to do.
3. They always had to stay undercover and they almost got caught by the maid who ratted on them.

Q&A

Q: Did you enjoy the book? Why or why not?

A: I enjoyed the book but not as much as the previous one. I feel like Loot (the previous book) got me more thrilled when I read it.

Q:What was your favorite part of the book?

A:When Blue smashed into Zef’s car… Zef deserved it.

Q:Did the book feel complete?

A: To me yes. At the end [spoiler alert] they had 20 million dollars and they were successful. If there were more books being made to the series I don't think they would be good since I feel like it would be sorta the same plot. A spin off book with the other character's perspective would be AMAZING like the Ghost book where it had books with the other perspectives.

Q: How does the book compare to others?

A: The book is really good but not as good as Loot but it is there on my top 15 books.

Q: If you were the author would you change anything about the book?

A: I would not since Sting had a phenomenal ending to the series.

[Nathan Pozen · Rating 5 out of 5]

STING
It Takes a Crook to Catch a Crook

"Sting", by the American author Judy Blundell, with leave you sore for even more. March and his crew are back, returning the threat to every cursed jewel owner in the world. The second book in the series is about revenge. After the team banked in 20 million for collecting all the moonstones in the last book, "Loot", they went onto live a life of luxury, but when they discover they have been robbed, they went back in business. They return to their old orchestrator, Hamish, who has a new set of jewels to steal that will put the team back on top. They are the cursed Star Sapphires, though little in number (3), they have a large baleful presence. The only way to break the curse and to rake in the cash, is to collect all three and sell them to a black market buyer. There is however one mammoth problem, a European gang of ruthless adults, called the Top Cats, are after the jewels too. After the team barely escapes from the first heist in Paris, the Top Cats’ home turf, they go on to snatch the rest, where are located in the U.S.. But as pressure mounts, more problems arise, the FBI is onto the group, family turns on each other, yet siblings unite, but in the end of all the twists and turns, who will appear on top, and who will appear in prison?

In this book, Mrs. Blundell does it again! She is fantastic at introducing stunning and unforeseen events, often twists that can change the entire storyline. This large-sized book may seem long at times, but every page turns out to be necessary in the end. With devious schemes, double crossers, and multiple near-misses, the book is impossible to put down. The book can be a bit confusing at times, but everything will turn out to be masterly-planned in the end. Outstanding book!

This entertaining book definitely has higher vocabulary, some sections take multiple pages to fully comprehend the intended story, and in addition, the main characters are 13 to 16 years old. Due to those reasons, I think readers in the 6th through 9th grade would enjoy this book the most. With great morals, twists, and turns, anyone could still have fun with this book no matter what their age.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sting was AMAZING.
Ok, let’s get into this. Yes, this does have spoilers for this book, but this is a post-read sort of review so you shouldn’t really be here if you haven’t read it.
Sting is the continuation of the prequel book, Loot. Sting is about our favorite ragtag group of four getting into more heisting trouble, due to a favor from March and Jules’s uncle Hamish. There is drama, comedy, angst, and a swirl of feelings in this book. This does have EXTREMELY descriptive writing, so if that’s not your thing I don’t recommend this book. Now here is my personal review.


I think the book was great. Some things were weird but somehow worked, like March’s personality change and the loss of the apartment complex. I liked how March and Darius’s relationship changed in this book, although I think it would’ve been a good idea to have at the MINIMUM one sided romance instead of ‘brotherly love’. Because let’s be real, NOBODY thought we were heading towards brotherly love until it was stated. I think Jules and Izzy were good characters in this book as well, but the plot mainly revolves around March and Darius so let’s push them aside for now. The main heartbreak between March and Darius was when the apartment got taken, due to a scam that mind you, the ENTIRE group fell for. March immediately blames it all on Darius, for some reason or another. He’s obviously in the wrong, but refuses to admit it until the end of the book. Jude Watson really knows how to write an annoying character. Also, just a fun fact, did you guys know that Darius is canonically gay? It’s not obvious due to romance not being a big part of their lives (which is unrealistic for 13-15 year olds) but if you look at the text, there’s two key giveaways. One, in Loot, March asks Darius if he and Izzy are dating, only for Darius to reply with “Girls aren’t my thing, Marco.” And in this book, Mikki (Darius’s mom) asks him if he’s having boyfriend troubles. More reasoning to why I feel like March and Darius should’ve had romantic feelings for each other, but that rant is for another day. That’s pretty much it for my review of Sting.

[Brenten Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING 2.67 STARS

This book falls in line with the likes of Gordon Korman's SWINDLE series in that it is a caper style tale with a cast consisting of kids. In that sense, you can expect some zaniness and unbelievable shenanigans. In this case, we follow the second entry in the lives of March and Jules - twin brother and sister duo whose father was a world-renown thief - along with their new "family" Darius and Izzy who come out of retirement to once again attempt to steal a series of infamous (and cursed) jewels in a "one-last-heist" sequel.

While I did find it an enjoyable and fun read, it doesn't quite join the ranks of Korman's aforementioned series for a few reasons. First and foremost, I had an extremely difficult time relating to the characters. There are some emotional tugs and moments throughout the book, but they completely fell flat for me because I felt no investment in the characters whatsoever. I'm not sure if it's because It took me so long to read this sequel after finishing LOOT or if it's just the writing, but there was no connection for me.

Also, this does feel very much like a recycled rewrite of LOOT. The plot points are quite similar as is the progression throughout the story. It was more fun the first time. That's all. And, finally, this one is completely untethered from reality. There is a point where we are all willing to suspend our disbelief, but this whole cursed jewels and kids running amuck throughout the world and, well, the resolution and all that... I mean so many things just don't add up and it just doesn't sit right. (NOTE : Because I'm sure someone will give me a hard time on this... I KNOW, I KNOW, I KNOW! THIS IS A MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL! BUT AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS THAT DO THIS BETTER!)

Look, overall, it was fun. Unlike Gordon Korman books, however, it is not likely a book I'll revisit.

[Luke Losardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Sting by Jude Watson is a fictional and fantasy book about a set of twins named March and Jules McQuin who take after their father, Alfie McQuin, and act as burglars to steal jewels alongside their friends, Darius and Izzy. They are all teenagers who all have criminal techniques, so they are very skilled in robbing places. This takes place present time in Paris, France through the story. Every chapter is very suspenseful and always leaves you with a cliffhanger, and the theme is that theft can put you in a dangerous situation.

The book starts out as the crew attempts a robbery to steal a valuable sapphire as well as diamonds to help out their adult friend, Hamish. After they successfully do that, the crew finds out that Darius has accidentally lost the mansion that they owned and were going to stay in to keep them out of crime for the rest of their lives. Since they lost their valuable mansion, they force themselves to go out on another heist to steal the rest of the sapphires,that way they could afford to stay out of the foster-care system. However, one of the sapphires ended up being cursed, as well as being worth a fortune. The sapphire is shown to buyer, who thinks he could fix the spell if he had the other set of sapphires that went along with it. With the crew broke and having to get the other sapphires, the suspenseful book ends off in an interesting way.

I found this book overall to be pretty good. I liked how suspenseful it was and how you were left with a cliffhanger. The book relates to larger issues like how dangerous theft can be and what it could put you in. It felt like one of those books when you put it down, you can’t help but pick it back up and continue reading it. I would rate this book 4 stars out of 5 stars because it was a very good book, but it wasn’t my favorite. I would recommend it to anyone who likes mystery and suspenseful books. Overall, the book Sting by Jude Watson was a very good book and you should read it too.

[Andrew Georgy-Embree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Name: Madelyn
Title: Sting
Author: Jude Watson
Published: Scholastic Inc.
Copyright: 2016
Pages: 263

Setting
At the start at the book, Sting, there is a group of kids and they’re trying to steal three special gems in Miami and L.A.
The action takes place where five kids live by themselves in a whole apartment building in Paris. They’re planning to take the first gem. At the end they try to keep the gems. There is also a curse if you have all three of the gems.
The time of year is probably somewhere in between 2014 and 2016.

Characters
All the main characters in Sting are March, Jules, Darius, Izzy, Hamish and Blue .The characters are believable. They are fifteen year old kids and are trying to steal famous gems. I liked March and Jules the most because they work as a team and never fight. They are also twins. I can’t relate to any of the characters because I would never think of stealing anything from somebody. I’ve never seen a burglar or met a burglar. I’ve never stolen something before or ever felt like I wanted to do it.

Plot
The conflict of the story in Sting is they’re all trying to get all three gems and trying to stay away from their Aunt Blue. Also Aunt Blue killed March and Jules dad. The gang has never gotten caught before stealing gems or diamonds. They are trying to help their friend for trading a gem and they are trying to get their aunt blue and her gang away.

Personal Opinion
I liked that the gang in Sting all helped each other and worked on things together. I would change that there would be another gang trying to get the gems the same time they were trying to get the gems. I learned to never steal things from someone else.
Whoever is going to read this should be ready for adventure and some stealing. There’s also friendship in this book. It’s a great book to read!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following up on the previous Loot title, this one continues the story of March and Jules McQuin, who, along with their friends and fellow thieves, Izzie and Darius, find themselves in big trouble when they manage to steal the Morning Star instead of the diamonds they were after. While the stone is undeniably valuable, it is less so since it's part of a set of three. The teens decide to go for the other two stones, a goal that becomes increasingly important after they realize that their new home and its contents have been sold, and the seller has disappeared. Teen readers will enjoy all the plotting that goes into pulling off a successful heist or two and how the friends play on each other's strengths as well as their knowledge of human nature. There are thrills aplenty here and lots of nonstop action, including car chases, daring escapes across high buildings, intrigue, and an awareness of what real friendship and family mean. It's clear that March and Jules remain haunted by their respective childhoods and find it hard to trust anyone. This is a fast, well-plotted read with short chapters so that readers who are easily distracted or enjoy reading in short bursts will find it easy to do so.

[Ibrahim -_- · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choice book #2 Quarter #2.
Sting written by Jude Watson is a mystery/adventure book that takes place mostly in Brooklyn, New York.

The main characters in this book are March, Jules, Darius, Izzy, Hamish, the FBI, and the top cats which includes blue. The main problem in this book is that march, Jules, Izzy, and Darius start running out of money so they go to steal more gems and but another thief gets there first and they don't get money except one measly stone which ends up being cursed.

I enjoyed the book because it was new (like a different genre) and it had much detail and i could tell what the characters were feeling.

My favorite part of the book is when they steal the pile of cash from blue and give her the fake money.

This book engages my emotions by making me feel the intensity of when they pull off a heist and it makes me feel how sad the characters were with the catastrophes in this book happen.

this book felt very complete like it was the second book because it was.

This book compares very differently then other books i read because it had a different theme and genre.

I would not have done anything different if i was the author because of how well laid out this book was.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

March McQuin, his twin sister Jules, and their friends, Izzy and Darius thought they had everything they ever wanted after the theft of "the moonstones," but fate has a different idea when Darius invests their money with a con artist and they lose it all. Now the four of them must find a way to stay out of the foster system and jail if they are to have any chance of staying together. The answer seems to come with three famous sapphires and another curse, but it will require the four to pull off their most dangerous heist to date.

Sting expands on the same basic plot as Loot but with a bit of a twist as the four main characters must learn what it means to be a real family and to share the burden of failure. Character development is mostly left behind since we were introduced to these characters in Loot, however, March does go on a journey of personal discovery as he has to learn from his father, Alfie's, experience and mistakes. Just like Loot, Sting is an exciting story, filled with international intrigue along with action and adventure. Overall, another enjoyable ride, well worth the read.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you ever think someone would be hanging of a building me nether. I think sting by Jude Watson is an amazing book it's basically a crime, action, thriller all in one. The book was very thrilling because you never new what would happen next. When they tried to steal the diamonds they weren't supposed to get the diamonds. The problems were amazing they just got into a fight and the story took a unexpected turn. At the bank D went to a random trust funder and gave him everything and two months later he stole all of it and it left them bankrupt.and it was really realistic it seemed legit and it didn't have any science tech stuff we don't understand. They stole a necklace by gathering at a golf club and to come in white and a whole bunch of people came and they stole the necklace and then just blended in with the crowd. This is just an all around kids book adults could read it but they probably wouldn't like it.

[Tyler Cray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sting by Jude Watson, introduces us to March, Jules, Darius and Izzy who are living their dream after their last big robbery. Suddenly they are convinced to do one more robbery. When they get to there destination everything goes wrong. They only end up with one sapphire not a bag of diamonds. That sapphire ended up to be famous and cursed. Now they had to get the other two famous sapphires to break the curse. They realized that if you make a bad decision there can be bad consequences. For example in this book March, Jules, Darius and Izzy decided to rob a bank and the jewel that they got was cursed. Sting is a very exciting book that always keeps you on the edge of your seat. It has a lot of action and it is funny. Also, it gives you a better understanding on how doing something bad can affect you.