Ash and Benjamin are teenage thieves. Their latest heist involves stealing $200 million from a wealthy billionaire named Hammond Buckland. After winning a contest using Benjamin's essay, Ash goes to meet with Buckland, using the meeting to infiltrate the building and search for the money, but Ash doesn't count on a hitman named Peachy who has been hired to kill Buckland to interfere with her plans.

Money Run is a fun heist story with lots of twists and turns to make it interesting. We don't get much information about Ash and even less about Benjamin, making this book more plot than character driven. The crazy, unbelievable episodes in the story would fit well into an action/thriller movie, but there isn't all that much about the story that makes it unique. Warning: The violent nature of this story is probably not recommended for younger readers. Overall, Money Run is a fast paced adventure that is worth the read. ( )

Thank you to netgalley.com for letting me ready this.

I'm somewhat torn on this one. I liked it, it had a great suspense aspect, and the final twist was great. I definitely think there are those who are going to love it, especially those who like adult spy novels or 007 movies. But I also felt there were things that didn't seem as smooth as they could have been.

Overall, I would give it 3.5 stars. ( )

Fifteen-year-old Ashley Arthur is a career criminal. It all started after her mother left Ash and her father to fend for themselves. The bills are piling up, the power is frequently cut off, and Ashley’s dad works several jobs just to make ends meet. One day Ashley came home to find their house had been burglarized, and after doing a little research, she figures out who did it, and proceeds to steal her stuff back. That little shot of adrenaline was all she needed. Now, Ash and her computer nerd/genius friend, Benjamin, work together to pull off some pretty impressive heists. Their latest project: Steal $200 million from a local billionaire. By their estimates, the money is hidden somewhere within an office building. After a fortunate chain of events lands Ashley inside the building, Ben guides her through the heist step by step — off-site of course — Ben is a tech wiz — the brains of the organization.

What the two of them don’t realize is that there is an assassin locked inside the building with Ashley and he’s supposed to take out the billionaire. When their paths cross, this simple heist turns into something much more complicated.

All of the characters in this book are pretty larger than life, and if you can’t buy into them, you won’t be able to make it through the book. It took me a while, but eventually I realized that I needed to suspend disbelief a little farther than normal, and once I did that, I enjoyed the story much more. Ashley, at fifteen, is quite accomplished and resourceful. My biggest problem was that I didn’t really know Ashley outside of her criminal dealings, so, to me, she seemed much older than fifteen. Some of the things she was able to pull off just seemed way too unbelievable seeing as how she had no training whatsoever. She managed to pull off some crazy feats that only (maybe) a well-trained CIA agent would be capable of. Considering all she’d ever had were a few karate classes, some of the things she did were pretty out there.

Benjamin was likable, but he was a bit of a cliche’. Most of his scenes involved him talking to Ashley over their communication unit in her iPod. He’s pretty much off-site the entire book. All we really know about him is that he’s very loyal to Ash and he (surprise, surprise) has a mad crush on her.

The most entertaining character was probably the hit man, “Peachy”, who daydreams about Hollywood making a movie, based on the book he is going to write about his life as an assassin.

There’s no doubt about it — Mr. Heath can weave quite a story. There’s a ton of action, and I finished reading it in just under two hours. While I did enjoy it, it was kind of like watching a Michael Bay movie. You just have to accept it for what it is. There were a TON of implausible things that happened. I won’t mention them here so as not to give anything away. Click the spoiler box below to read a few if you MUST know.

Also, a lot of the plot devices felt as if they were pulled from blockbuster action movies: Die Hard, National Treasure, Mission Impossible, etc. A lot of it was pretty predictable, but there was a twist at the end that I didn’t expect.

While Money Run is action-packed and wildly entertaining, you’ll need to suspend your disbelief pretty far to buy into it. Once you do, you’ll enjoy the ride. Especially if you like big action movies. I do think this one will appeal to reluctant readers, and teens will probably get a kick out of it. While on one hand I felt the story was a bit too far-fetched, I did have fun with it and I will pick up the next book. ( )

When I first heard about Money Run by Jack Heath it was described to me in a way that had me hooked immediately: "Die Hard meets Hustle". My all time favourite Christmas film meets one of my favourite TV programmes of the last ten years - I was sold immediately and even promoted it straight to the top of the TBR pile and started reading it as soon as it arrived, and I didn't put it down again until I had finished it. Yes, I enjoyed it that much.

I am aware that I sometimes over use certain words and phrases when writing reviews. Prime examples would be: "hi-octane", "roller coaster ride", "edge of your seat", and I am sure there are many others (hey... I teach woodwork, not English), and clichéd though these may be I still want to use every single one of them (and more) to describe Money Run. In a world that has seen a huge number of thrillers written for the 11 age group over the past decade this one feels fresh and original and if I sequel was out already I would have started reading it as soon as I had finished this one. As for how it lived up to that original phrase on which I was sold so quickly? I think the only link to Die Hard is its setting in a highrise office, but there are definitely a number of favourable comparisons with Hustle. However, I would also like to throw 24 into the mix, because, apart from the prologue, the whole story takes place over one evening and every 'minute' is made to count.

I can't think of many books for this age group that are set in such a short period of time, and it is quite impressive how much Jack Heath manages to fit in to this mere handful of hours without the plot ever seeming rushed or too crammed with information. More importantly as well, although he manages to include as many action set-pieces as you will find in many a blockbuster action film there are also the essential quieter moments that add tension to the story and kept me eagerly turning pages whilst my heartbeat settled back to something close to its normal rest rate.

Over the past ten years or so I have read a number of action adventure stories that, although they have been (cliché time again) exciting, fun-filled, white-knuckle rides, this has been at the cost of good character development and ultimately they have left me feeling a little cheated, as to really enjoy a scene where your main character is at risk of losing their life you have to genuinely care about that character. When this is the case your pulse accelerates, you get that butterflies-in-stomach feeling, and you really start to worry about the dangers faced by that character...... at least I do anyway and I am sure I am not alone in this. Technically, Money Run has two main characters, Ash and Benjamin, but in this story at least, Ash is very much the main focus, and I was not long into the book before I was reading each page as fast as I could to find out what she would do next.

To say any more about the plot than that which is already written in the publisher's blurb would be to ruin the story for you. It would be like showing all the best bits in a movie trailer and leaving no surprises when you finally come to watch the film itself. However, to put it simply, Ash is a thief and Benjamin is the technical wizard who plans with her and supports her whilst she is in the field, and together they make a formidable team. In Money Run the pair set out to steal a whopping great $200 million dollars from a billionaire businessman, but very quickly find themselves very much out of their depth as Ash finds herself dodging multiple assassins, the police and the machinations of the very same billionaire they intended to relieve of his cash. I remember watching the very first season of 24, and how I realised after the first few episodes that I would never really know what was going to happen next, and guessing would be a pointless exercise. Although whilst reading Money Run I did find myself correctly guessing a few of the plot twists, there were many that I didn't see coming, the biggest of which comes right at the very end of the book.

Money Run has its weaknesses but it is so much fun that it is very easy to ignore these and enjoy the ride, although and you will need to suspend your disbelief at times. As I closed this book I genuinely felt that the couple of hours I had spent reading it were well spent and I felt nothing but excitement at the prospect of a sequel and the potential for even more exciting stories beyond that. ( )

When I first received this book, I was pretty excited at the prospects of getting to read it. I had never had the opportunity to read a book about thieves, let alone two children doing the thieving. I was pretty pumped at the whole idea that this book was based on. It steps outside of the paranormal or even the normal and creates a book that doesn't contain magical creatures just incredible actions. The book keeps the readers on the edge of their seats, blood pounding through their body as the characters take you on twists and turns that you couldn't have suspected. It definitely met my expectations.

Money Run by Jack Heath is really the story of Ashley and Benjamin as they take on one of the most difficult jobs they will ever have to face. What was supposed to be a quick in-and-out turned into an intense game for her life as Benjamin tries to protect her from the sidelines. All they wanted was to steal the money that the billionaire Hammond Buckland appears to be hiding in his office building but it never turns out that easy. At least not this time. It only seems to get more complicated when an assassin is thrown in to the mix, determined to end both Buckland and Ash. Money may have been the prize but surviving is the ultimate goal. Once the story gets into swing, it appears that everyone is in a tangled web of deceit and someone is pulling the strings. Will Ash get out alive? What can Benjamin do to help save her from the fate that seems inevitable? How does Buckland play into the story and why does it seem that he is the one holding all the cards? Who is the assassin and who is the people paying him to do this job?

Ashley is the main character of this story, who always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else. She is one of those baby geniuses that gets placed in all the elite schools and people know that she is going to go places. Instead of expanding her talent though, it seems to be holding her back, not letting her challenge her limits but creating them for her. Her chance to become something other than bored comes when her mother ups and disappears on her father and her, leaving them nothing to survive on. She appears to be the strong one for her father. She tries to make it seem like he doesn't need to worry about her because he already has so much to worry about. I like that about her. Her resourcefulness in the face of danger is admirable as well and she uses that talent almost constantly during the story. I definitely wouldn't have been able to come up with all of the schemes that she did when she is in sticky situations. There was very little weakness exploited in her character over the course of the novel and I honestly would've liked to experience some of her pitfalls. She may be a genius but she can't be perfect, right?

The ultimate partner and best friend resides in Benjamin for Ash. Unlike her, he is less comfortable in social situations but he makes up for his lack of social skills with genius that even surpasses his best friend. If she is the muscle, then he is the brains. I find it very endearing that he seems to have a crush on his best friend and that he isn't shy about it. Most books portray guys as shy and uncertain, never daring to cross the line between friendship and relationship, but I think he busts open that ideal quite easily. He isn't wounded when she continually tells him 'no' and it doesn't seem to persuade him to stop. For having a lack of social skills, he seems to understand women a lot better than most guys. Never saying anything and giving up too quickly is never an appealing quality for a man. I wish that I would've actually gotten to see him break out of his comfort zone. He was a wonderful character nonetheless.

Peachy is the assassin previously mentioned in the summary and I just have to say that his name is just not the type that would strike fear into anyone. I must say that his determination is quite interesting to say the least and perhaps even admirable. Except when it begins to border on obsession. I think we can compare him to a cockroach, he just won't die. No matter what sort of challenge is thrown his way, he finds some baffling way to survive. He even manages to get his target after everything he had been through. But which target is it? It's hard to truly grasp his character until you read the story to be honest.

Hammond Buckland is definitely the man with all the cards and I guess with how rich he actually is, I can't blame him for having everything planned out quite well. Even from the beginning of the story, I was quite certain that he knew more about the people he worked with and invited into his office than he let on. But his devious mind is something that I would've like to actually get to see more than I did. The whole plot of the story must've taken time to develop and he is a key figure in it. Instead of sitting on the sidelines as everything happens, he implements himself into as many scenes as possible and it definitely puts him in the line of fire. He manages to outsmart the assassin as well as the two thieves at least once in the story and somehow, he makes it look quite easy. I really want to actually understand his character a lot better than I already do.

I really liked this story and I honestly think you would too. Check it out! You never know, you might get just as hooked as I expect I am. ( )