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Heist Master
It’s been thirty years since Gabriel cracked his last safe. Now running a lawful locksmith and security service, he has left his criminal life behind to help protect his clients from people like him.
He’s free from want; he has enough money to last him to his last day and he’s now contributing to the community. Still, there’s something that keeps nagging at him. Even after all those years, the itch hasn’t truly left. For Gabriel, robbing rich people was never really a means to an end. Sure, the money and the jewelry were nice, but that’s not what ultimately led him down this path. What drove him was the thrill of the heist, to come up with a sound plan to enter the premises, disarm any security measures, and escape without getting caught.
These days, the old man can only look back on his past with a pang of nostalgia. He has neither the reflexes nor the physical capabilities to ever return to a life of thievery. Or does he?
When his business associate, and former partner in crime, offers him a FIVR set with a subscription to Rivenard, everything changes. Immediately, Gabriel goes for the Trickster class, with Lockpicking, Sneaking and Pickpocketing as his base skills. And soon, he’s picking his first locks, just like in the old days, and earning skills and XP.
But thieves and outlaws are not a welcome bunch inside Rivenard, and Gabriel ends up joining the Guild of Undesirables—where people like him can find likeminded individuals. That’s where he’s given his first mission.
Thankfully, he can count on his real life experience, as well as his Trueskill bonus as a real-life burglar to complete heists of increasing complexity and danger. But he must remain careful. Inside the game, as in the real world, jail is only one misstep away…
He’s free from want; he has enough money to last him to his last day and he’s now contributing to the community. Still, there’s something that keeps nagging at him. Even after all those years, the itch hasn’t truly left. For Gabriel, robbing rich people was never really a means to an end. Sure, the money and the jewelry were nice, but that’s not what ultimately led him down this path. What drove him was the thrill of the heist, to come up with a sound plan to enter the premises, disarm any security measures, and escape without getting caught.
These days, the old man can only look back on his past with a pang of nostalgia. He has neither the reflexes nor the physical capabilities to ever return to a life of thievery. Or does he?
When his business associate, and former partner in crime, offers him a FIVR set with a subscription to Rivenard, everything changes. Immediately, Gabriel goes for the Trickster class, with Lockpicking, Sneaking and Pickpocketing as his base skills. And soon, he’s picking his first locks, just like in the old days, and earning skills and XP.
But thieves and outlaws are not a welcome bunch inside Rivenard, and Gabriel ends up joining the Guild of Undesirables—where people like him can find likeminded individuals. That’s where he’s given his first mission.
Thankfully, he can count on his real life experience, as well as his Trueskill bonus as a real-life burglar to complete heists of increasing complexity and danger. But he must remain careful. Inside the game, as in the real world, jail is only one misstep away…
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 18, 2021
40 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 29, 2023
A master thief already close to the end of his life, with nothing really to do, explores a VRMMORPG, and sees whether he can ignite the spark of excitement and purpose in his life again. Not exciting, not really a master thief either if main character constantly makes naïve/noob mistakes. Story doesn't really have a purpose, sort of slice of life, but of a video game, and nothing that the main character does in this first book is exciting or worth the read. That and the fact, that by making the main character a "real-life" thief, that has a warped sense of morals, (doesn't like to kill, but thinks that stealing is okay), and was part of organized crime most of his life, deserves a second chance, deserves to be the main character and "hero" (thief) of this fantasy-video-game-immersion-role-playing story.
It's boring, and I do not recommend it.
It has no maps, no character summaries, no inside illustrations, no real world building (geopolitical, geography, economic, religious, social systems both in game and in real world, no real character descriptions and no real point of the story, no secondary plot arcs in a story that doesn't really go anywhere.
It's boring, and I do not recommend it.
It has no maps, no character summaries, no inside illustrations, no real world building (geopolitical, geography, economic, religious, social systems both in game and in real world, no real character descriptions and no real point of the story, no secondary plot arcs in a story that doesn't really go anywhere.
May 29, 2021
Fun premise but...
... the writing is just too clumsy. I followed along until the main character used a garrote to club somebody on the back of the head. Spoiler: a garrote is a thin wire or string used to strangle people. A blackjack, it is not.
Three stars for the effort and for the premise, and because I know most people aren’t as fussy as I am, but this is the last disappointment I’ll be risking from this author. (I’ve had this experience with their books before but this one is particularly bad for some reason.)
... the writing is just too clumsy. I followed along until the main character used a garrote to club somebody on the back of the head. Spoiler: a garrote is a thin wire or string used to strangle people. A blackjack, it is not.
Three stars for the effort and for the premise, and because I know most people aren’t as fussy as I am, but this is the last disappointment I’ll be risking from this author. (I’ve had this experience with their books before but this one is particularly bad for some reason.)
May 22, 2021
Fun, even if it has a few plot holes
The good... It was a fun take on litrpg and fivr tech, and Gabe is a unique enough character to like. The writing is solid with only a few errors.
The bad (but not so bad)..I struggle to see how a vr helmet could possibly cause a man's in game injuries to manifest in real life.
The good... It was a fun take on litrpg and fivr tech, and Gabe is a unique enough character to like. The writing is solid with only a few errors.
The bad (but not so bad)..I struggle to see how a vr helmet could possibly cause a man's in game injuries to manifest in real life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews