Thief's Odyssey

"It was a serious game, but it was still a game. Money was just a useful way of keeping score."

Bo Mosley is an uncommon thief. At age sixteen, living in a foster home, he set a goal to become the world's greatest cat burglar. To that end, he mastered safecracking, lock picking, and a variety of skills needed for high tech burglary. Now, eleven years down the crooked path, Bo heads to the Bahamas for his biggest heist yet. But when a tragic figure from his childhood turns up, Bo must choose between lifelong ambition and loyalty, between freedom and responsibility. He'll need to choose fast, because the stakes have never been higher.

He's not just playing for money anymore.

Interview with the Author

Q - Tell me a little bit about your thief, Bo Mosley. A bit of back story, specialties, etc.

A - Bo Mosley is a former foster kid, now 27 years old, who grew up idolizing famous thieves like Blane Nordhal and Bill Mason. Most kids look up to sports stars and astronauts or pop singers for their career aspirations, but not Bo. He grew up admiring how Mason and Nordhal and others thumbed their noses at square society, surviving by their wit, doing what they wanted. Despite all that, Bo isn’t a completely bad guy. He’s capable of love and is brave in defense of his friends.

Q - How realistic are the criminal activities featured in the book?

A - Research was a big deal for me because I wanted to give the reader crystal clear visibility into the life of a high-tech burglar. I wanted her/him to see just how technical cracking a safe could be: by using graph paper and knowledge of how the safe actually works, right down to the internals of the wheel pack. I fully expect some readers to want a story where the camera sits farther back. But there are enough stories like that out there, and yes, I love them too. This book was for the folks who want to sit right there with Bo as he realistically compromises email accounts, disables alarm systems with wire and cold solder, or shrugs off the extra minutes needed to “bump” his way past mushroom pins in a warded lock.

Q - If Bo Mosley could steal anything in the world, what would it be and why?

A - Bo doesn’t steal for greed, he steals for the challenge. So anything challenging that people value a great deal would do. And yet, he’s not the type that would want to steal the gold from Fort Knox. Not that he wouldn’t if he somehow devised a plan, of course. Bo’s interests, however, are turned more toward wealthy society: the fat cats, the celebrities, the people who wake up every day on the winning side of life. He’s turned stealing into a game, and the more players the better.

Q - What genres does Thief’s Odyssey fall into?

A - I tried my best to have the book fall solidly into “crime fiction,” whether in the “Action and Adventure” category or the “Mystery” category. That said, readers of other genres will enjoy the human story of a troubled man trying to fill his life with an unhealthy obsession (stealing) while staying true to his better nature.

(Courtesy of author Jillianne Hamilton)