What do you think?
Rate this book
Justice Hustlers #1
Uptown Thief
In this sexy, heart-stopping tale, one smart, sizzling mami robs the rich and protects the exploited--until one heist too many puts everything at stake. . .
Marisol Rivera barely survived being abused with nowhere to turn. So there's nothing she won't do to keep her Lower East Side women's health clinic open and give disadvantaged women new lives. Running an exclusive escort service for New York City's rich and powerful 1 percent is the perfect way to bankroll her business--not to mention the perfect cover for robbing corrupt CEOs. And when times get even tougher, pulling a heist on a mega-billionaire will secure the clinic's future--and her gorgeous crew's--for good. . .
There's just one problem: Marisol didn't anticipate bad news even more dangerous than her curves. A seductive ex-cop who's too close for comfort, and a powerful thug with a score to settle, are turning Marisol's precise planning and seductive fail-safes into insidious traps. Now this beautiful modern-day Robin Hood will have to play some lethal wild cards without rules or limits to save those she loves--and live to steal another day. . .
Marisol Rivera barely survived being abused with nowhere to turn. So there's nothing she won't do to keep her Lower East Side women's health clinic open and give disadvantaged women new lives. Running an exclusive escort service for New York City's rich and powerful 1 percent is the perfect way to bankroll her business--not to mention the perfect cover for robbing corrupt CEOs. And when times get even tougher, pulling a heist on a mega-billionaire will secure the clinic's future--and her gorgeous crew's--for good. . .
There's just one problem: Marisol didn't anticipate bad news even more dangerous than her curves. A seductive ex-cop who's too close for comfort, and a powerful thug with a score to settle, are turning Marisol's precise planning and seductive fail-safes into insidious traps. Now this beautiful modern-day Robin Hood will have to play some lethal wild cards without rules or limits to save those she loves--and live to steal another day. . .
352 pages, ebook
First published July 26, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
December 13, 2016
This is a depiction of urban crime at its grittiest. Marisol Rivera and her bunch of female employees run a women's shelter as cover for their escort *cough* service. The shelter requires periodic infusion of cash which, as it seems, the ladies can get only by breaking into the homes of the new york rich.
Leon writes fluidly and gave us a story that is raw and unapologetic so much so I found myself both fascinated and repulsed by the lifestyle these women lived. Interwoven within their crimcapades is the love affair between Marisol and Raul, a younger ex-cop.
Uptown Thief has a really nice premise but it reads like an episode of CSI Maimi (yes, because Horatio!) so it basically stayed superficial while the issues got resolved with a nice little bow.
July 20, 2020
Ocean's 8 meets Hustlers, this is the positive sex worker representation I've been looking for in fiction. I especially enjoyed the contrast between the sex work scenes verse sex between romantic partners. Also loved queer couple in the cast. The pacing is a little slow, but the characters and plot kept me engaged. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of the series.
July 5, 2018
This book, written by a Bay area notable and featuring an ex-prostitute, now health center for sex workers COO, madame, and high class heist -Robin Hood-esque character (yes, complex) is diverting. I wanted it to be better. It was okay. I did care about the characters, but they were fairly flat - all good, all bad, all - in the end, predictable. But for my needs at that particular moment (take me away from the real world, please) it sufficed.
May 17, 2016
Uptown Thief takes you on a wild ride, but not through the countryside you're expecting, and that's what makes it great.
Marisol is a former sex worker who runs a free clinic for sex workers in Manhattan. But the economy is tight and it's squeezing her fundraising, so she also runs an escort service on the side. Lately, she's gotten into the Robin Hood business, using her small team of escorts to case the homes of millionaires who engage in sex trafficking in Mexico and robbing them in classic heist fashion. She's all set for her last big score that will set the clinic up for good when complications ensue in the form of a traitorous employee and an ex-cop-turned-possible-lover.
It's a twisty, fun read with snappy dialogue and winning characters, but what really makes it stand out is what it has to say, amid all the breaking and entering and sexual brinksmanship, about the sex trade in America. It presents it as, ideally and non-judgmentally, a (gasp!) simple transaction between people who want sex and other people who are willing to give it to them for money. "No girl has sex if she doesn't want to," Marisol tells her escorts. Tyesha, one of them, defends her choice of profession with a shrug: "I work one day a week, I pay for grad school, and I have a 401(k)." The problem, the book argues, is with the way the sex trade is treated in America, as an illicit, immoral practice ceded by default to violent pimps who treat unprotected women like property and make clinics like Marisol's all too necessary. This is a point of view you don't get very often, in fiction or non-fiction, and that's what makes this book special.
Besides all that, it's a refreshing take on the classic heist story, with a team of smart, beautiful women taking on the roles of George Clooney and his buddies in Ocean's Eleven. Also: it has lots and lots of sex. If you're looking for a fun read that also has something interesting to say, you'll love this!
Marisol is a former sex worker who runs a free clinic for sex workers in Manhattan. But the economy is tight and it's squeezing her fundraising, so she also runs an escort service on the side. Lately, she's gotten into the Robin Hood business, using her small team of escorts to case the homes of millionaires who engage in sex trafficking in Mexico and robbing them in classic heist fashion. She's all set for her last big score that will set the clinic up for good when complications ensue in the form of a traitorous employee and an ex-cop-turned-possible-lover.
It's a twisty, fun read with snappy dialogue and winning characters, but what really makes it stand out is what it has to say, amid all the breaking and entering and sexual brinksmanship, about the sex trade in America. It presents it as, ideally and non-judgmentally, a (gasp!) simple transaction between people who want sex and other people who are willing to give it to them for money. "No girl has sex if she doesn't want to," Marisol tells her escorts. Tyesha, one of them, defends her choice of profession with a shrug: "I work one day a week, I pay for grad school, and I have a 401(k)." The problem, the book argues, is with the way the sex trade is treated in America, as an illicit, immoral practice ceded by default to violent pimps who treat unprotected women like property and make clinics like Marisol's all too necessary. This is a point of view you don't get very often, in fiction or non-fiction, and that's what makes this book special.
Besides all that, it's a refreshing take on the classic heist story, with a team of smart, beautiful women taking on the roles of George Clooney and his buddies in Ocean's Eleven. Also: it has lots and lots of sex. If you're looking for a fun read that also has something interesting to say, you'll love this!
June 1, 2016
You ever read a book in a genre you don't usually read and think, "Damn, I should read those kinds of books more often"? That's what I thought after this debut, only I'm not sure what genre it falls into. The book had a bit of everything-- action, sex, smarts, an underlying point ... I'd describe it as a women's ocean 11, but with more at stake than just money and revenge. It was a much enjoyed fast, fun read.
November 1, 2016
Probably really 3.25 stars since the writing was only okay, but this has so many things going for it - former sex worker sets up women's health clinic for sex workers and other underserved populations, and then spends the whole book hustling (i.e., running heists on asshole millionaires) to make up funding where government and foundation grants fall short, a full cast of characters of color, and some lesbians - that I can't mark it down because the writing was sometimes clunky.
October 30, 2017
A fellow Rioter had recommended this and I’m so glad he did. This is a mashup crime novel and romance. It isn’t a puzzle mystery type book, instead you follow criminals. But not your everyday criminals, these are women who are running a women’s health clinic in NY for underprivileged women. But you need money to keep a clinic open and funding just isn’t enough. So Marisol Rivera creates a down-low escort service that targets CEOs that want to donate to the clinic. Except she’s targeting human garbage CEOs so her and her crew can rob them. Girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to keep helping her community… As for the romance: Rivera may finally get a shot at a real relationship when a now ex-cop she grew up with starts circling her orbit. There’s also a really nice relationship between two of the clinic workers. Also, plenty of criminal activity–including some hold-your-breath-they’re-going-to-get-caught moments.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: Mixed-Genre Mystery Recommendations
http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: Mixed-Genre Mystery Recommendations
http://link.bookriot.com/view/56a8200...
December 13, 2016
Enjoyed the feminist premise and the Lower East Side setting. I've seen that neighborhood gentrify and was glad to hear about it through these voices. The read would have been even more fun if the writing were a little less clunky and characters weren't reduced to their body types.
June 19, 2017
This is pretty much what I always hoped entertaining fiction about adult women would be. Which illustrates that it can be done. Thank god. Now we need a lot more of it.
Unlike 95% of books, it hits my basic marks, such as:
- truly adult heroine. Her 20s are well behind her. She knows her shit. She has her goals. Now she's in the midst of successfully running things to meet them.
- within a network of women. She's not isolated, but surrounded by a variety of others just as she would be IRL. They are all ages, including a best friend in her 60s and cohorts in their early 20s.
- she's intelligent, driven and successful...without paying some dumb made-up price for it. She's not the only one, she's not a bitch, she's not empty. She's not mourning what could have been if she'd been more traditional (no baby or picket fence lust.) Her life is stressful and challenging to be sure, but that's what she has chosen and largely it suits her.
- she's not looking for a man. She's complete. She likes men. And we get some fine ass men in this book, along with a variety of losers. The men are absolutely entertaining to read. They are not there as prizes or rescuers though. And not one of those men is 'better' or 'stronger' than our heroine. Plus, some of them admire and desire her.
- she's got a glorious pair of shoes and a couple of awesome dresses, but what to wear is not her main concern or even touched on in most scenes. And she often looks frazzled or carries her dry cleaning on the subway, like a normal person.
- diversity of race, background nationality (for example, Dominicans vs Puerto Ricans vs Cubans), and diversity of orientation which matches what I see around me IRL.
- the financials and organization (nonprofit) details make sense. I've run businesses, so fiction makes me nuts because unrealistic. The heroine's organization feels real, she's writing grant proposals, dealing with city ordinances, truly working overtime, etc.
- the locations are interesting and don't depend on wealth for excitement. Her apartment feels real (and dusty) and there's no room for a sofa because NYC. Cuba feels incredibly real, right down to the locals' lack of personal space (the way everyone's always touching you).
- she absolutely knows what she's doing in bed. No man is teaching her bupkis. And she has different types of sex - casual hookups, paid sex, buddy sex and making love sex. She never fusses about what the man thinks of her sexually or her body.
- the world is unfair to women because sexism and misogyny, but nobody expects a man to help them or bail them out of this. They are responsible for their own damn selves. Just because it's an unequal playing field, doesn't mean we're not still wholly in the game.
Ok so, what's not for me? It's a heist book, which is not my fave. Some of the men feel one-sided or too convenient. The love interest in particular is maybe too handy and perfect in most ways. (Also I think he needed to grovel a bit more, if only for my delight.)
There's a lot of messaging the author is trying to get across (gentrification sucks; Cuba is better than America in some ways; we need universal healthcare; paid sex work can be work with skill and dignity; it can take many tries to exit an abusive situation; being a rich men's non working partner is boring AF, etc.) I didn't mind the messaging in part because I agree with all of it. But it's a load for a book to carry, and occasionally felt a bit preachy/teachy.
Overall though: we need more books like this. Tons of them. Then maybe this won't have to carry so much weight by itself.
Unlike 95% of books, it hits my basic marks, such as:
- truly adult heroine. Her 20s are well behind her. She knows her shit. She has her goals. Now she's in the midst of successfully running things to meet them.
- within a network of women. She's not isolated, but surrounded by a variety of others just as she would be IRL. They are all ages, including a best friend in her 60s and cohorts in their early 20s.
- she's intelligent, driven and successful...without paying some dumb made-up price for it. She's not the only one, she's not a bitch, she's not empty. She's not mourning what could have been if she'd been more traditional (no baby or picket fence lust.) Her life is stressful and challenging to be sure, but that's what she has chosen and largely it suits her.
- she's not looking for a man. She's complete. She likes men. And we get some fine ass men in this book, along with a variety of losers. The men are absolutely entertaining to read. They are not there as prizes or rescuers though. And not one of those men is 'better' or 'stronger' than our heroine. Plus, some of them admire and desire her.
- she's got a glorious pair of shoes and a couple of awesome dresses, but what to wear is not her main concern or even touched on in most scenes. And she often looks frazzled or carries her dry cleaning on the subway, like a normal person.
- diversity of race, background nationality (for example, Dominicans vs Puerto Ricans vs Cubans), and diversity of orientation which matches what I see around me IRL.
- the financials and organization (nonprofit) details make sense. I've run businesses, so fiction makes me nuts because unrealistic. The heroine's organization feels real, she's writing grant proposals, dealing with city ordinances, truly working overtime, etc.
- the locations are interesting and don't depend on wealth for excitement. Her apartment feels real (and dusty) and there's no room for a sofa because NYC. Cuba feels incredibly real, right down to the locals' lack of personal space (the way everyone's always touching you).
- she absolutely knows what she's doing in bed. No man is teaching her bupkis. And she has different types of sex - casual hookups, paid sex, buddy sex and making love sex. She never fusses about what the man thinks of her sexually or her body.
- the world is unfair to women because sexism and misogyny, but nobody expects a man to help them or bail them out of this. They are responsible for their own damn selves. Just because it's an unequal playing field, doesn't mean we're not still wholly in the game.
Ok so, what's not for me? It's a heist book, which is not my fave. Some of the men feel one-sided or too convenient. The love interest in particular is maybe too handy and perfect in most ways. (Also I think he needed to grovel a bit more, if only for my delight.)
There's a lot of messaging the author is trying to get across (gentrification sucks; Cuba is better than America in some ways; we need universal healthcare; paid sex work can be work with skill and dignity; it can take many tries to exit an abusive situation; being a rich men's non working partner is boring AF, etc.) I didn't mind the messaging in part because I agree with all of it. But it's a load for a book to carry, and occasionally felt a bit preachy/teachy.
Overall though: we need more books like this. Tons of them. Then maybe this won't have to carry so much weight by itself.
January 11, 2021
I want a million more books with positive sex work representation, please and thank you!
This book has a badass POC businesswomen who uses a side business as the Madam of a rad escort agency to fund her clinic serving sex workers and other marginalized women- oh yeah, and also she and her team also pull heists, Robin Hood-ing money from evil CEOs!
Occasionally the writing is, as other reviewers have said, a lil clunky, but goodness am I here for this story and these amazing characters!!
This book has a badass POC businesswomen who uses a side business as the Madam of a rad escort agency to fund her clinic serving sex workers and other marginalized women- oh yeah, and also she and her team also pull heists, Robin Hood-ing money from evil CEOs!
Occasionally the writing is, as other reviewers have said, a lil clunky, but goodness am I here for this story and these amazing characters!!
December 5, 2017
3.5 stars.
A book in which sex workers are neither objects of pity or disposable bodies, but in fact heroes? Yes, it is possible.
I'm so tempted to put this at four stars because I am so so so behind the idea of this novel: a feminist heist novel about sex workers with a cast of woc underpinned by a clear-eyed understanding of how poverty, misogyny and racism influence their lives. Marisol is amazing in how capably she runs her clinic and thefts as well as sympathetic with her struggle to live with a traumatic past, overwork, abusive pimps and intimacy issues (which are very much warranted, given the dangers of her work). Marisol is a fully-realised, nuanced protagonist, and although the side characters don't get the same level of individuation, they all struck me as real people I could easily imagine existing (keep in mind I come to this book as someone with no personal experience in the sex industry and a limited amount knowledge acquired of it only from sex worker activist academia).
Interestingly, with regards to Marisol's intimacy issues: there's a romantic subplot which hits a lot of the beats in a romance novel, but where a lot of them do implicitly say you don't need to be paranoid about men, it's okay to open up and be vulnerable to one, this novel is far too clear-eyed about the reality of patriarchy and capitalism for sex workers to give that same message wholesale. To borrow a bit from Radway and Modleski (sorry, I'm still processing Radway so romance criticism's been on the brain for quite a bit), female paranoia in this romance is, on the contrary, revealed to be quite justified.
My main issue is that the prose was mostly serviceable and sometimes clunky, which made the story feel a little like a report. I understand this was written to be light reading, but I felt it invited a breeziness that took away from the emotional weight of its more intense scenes.
A book in which sex workers are neither objects of pity or disposable bodies, but in fact heroes? Yes, it is possible.
I'm so tempted to put this at four stars because I am so so so behind the idea of this novel: a feminist heist novel about sex workers with a cast of woc underpinned by a clear-eyed understanding of how poverty, misogyny and racism influence their lives. Marisol is amazing in how capably she runs her clinic and thefts as well as sympathetic with her struggle to live with a traumatic past, overwork, abusive pimps and intimacy issues (which are very much warranted, given the dangers of her work). Marisol is a fully-realised, nuanced protagonist, and although the side characters don't get the same level of individuation, they all struck me as real people I could easily imagine existing (keep in mind I come to this book as someone with no personal experience in the sex industry and a limited amount knowledge acquired of it only from sex worker activist academia).
Interestingly, with regards to Marisol's intimacy issues: there's a romantic subplot which hits a lot of the beats in a romance novel, but where a lot of them do implicitly say you don't need to be paranoid about men, it's okay to open up and be vulnerable to one, this novel is far too clear-eyed about the reality of patriarchy and capitalism for sex workers to give that same message wholesale. To borrow a bit from Radway and Modleski (sorry, I'm still processing Radway so romance criticism's been on the brain for quite a bit), female paranoia in this romance is, on the contrary, revealed to be quite justified.
My main issue is that the prose was mostly serviceable and sometimes clunky, which made the story feel a little like a report. I understand this was written to be light reading, but I felt it invited a breeziness that took away from the emotional weight of its more intense scenes.
July 25, 2016
It's the new OITNB. A story of women's hustle, women's relationships, women's worldmaking. And beautifully-realized depictions of messy, dirty, complex grown-up love (straight, queer, erotic, familial) between grown-up men and grown-up women. It cries out for a TV series.
UPTOWN THIEF offers the realest breakdown of sex work economies I've ever encountered in literature, TV or film. It brings to mind Auden on Jane Austen:
Describe the amorous effects of ‘brass’,
Reveal so frankly and with such sobriety
The economic basis of society.
A sample of great lines:
"a tech assembly factory beside a red-light district simply meant rescue operations could send endless cheap labour."
"For almost every woman in a bad situation, it takes more than one try to get out. Maybe your number is two. Maybe five."
"...but sex workers really needed the bodywork. So the chiropractor was paid mostly with stolen cash."
"Marisol loved green things at work - plants and money."
"You need to stop trying to be the hoe in the video and be the hoe making the video," Marisol said.
"the tightrope young brown women walk...the sisters who don't ever write the book, attend the gala, or even live to tell."
"Coño, these economic times wanna turn poverty into a death sentence."
"I've seen your boy's videos. No one's gonna be putting any of my girls in the trunk of a car."
"Rule Zero is don't go on and on about hoes tryna take your money if you don't want hoes taking your money."
"The girls aren't merchandise. They're service workers."
"He's a billionaire," Jody said. "They get off on buying things that aren't for sale."
UPTOWN THIEF offers the realest breakdown of sex work economies I've ever encountered in literature, TV or film. It brings to mind Auden on Jane Austen:
Describe the amorous effects of ‘brass’,
Reveal so frankly and with such sobriety
The economic basis of society.
A sample of great lines:
"a tech assembly factory beside a red-light district simply meant rescue operations could send endless cheap labour."
"For almost every woman in a bad situation, it takes more than one try to get out. Maybe your number is two. Maybe five."
"...but sex workers really needed the bodywork. So the chiropractor was paid mostly with stolen cash."
"Marisol loved green things at work - plants and money."
"You need to stop trying to be the hoe in the video and be the hoe making the video," Marisol said.
"the tightrope young brown women walk...the sisters who don't ever write the book, attend the gala, or even live to tell."
"Coño, these economic times wanna turn poverty into a death sentence."
"I've seen your boy's videos. No one's gonna be putting any of my girls in the trunk of a car."
"Rule Zero is don't go on and on about hoes tryna take your money if you don't want hoes taking your money."
"The girls aren't merchandise. They're service workers."
"He's a billionaire," Jody said. "They get off on buying things that aren't for sale."
July 31, 2016
Uptown Thief is a fabulously subversive novel that opened up a whole new world of reading for me. Here is a feminist action story, a sex-positive novel about sex workers who are wonderfully drawn, deeply felt characters. It’s a novel about power in all its forms. It weaves a story about sexism, racism and classism into a steamy, thrilling page-turner. You will cheer for our hero Marisol and her partners in crime the whole way through, your pulse will quicken during the caper scenes AND the sex scenes, and your heart will break for the suffering that so many of the women in the novel have endured.
December 23, 2016
Don't be totally fooled by the cover. This is a well written book by a talented author. She uses the romance genre to deliver a powerful social message.
July 22, 2018
I got to page 83 & realized I didn't have to finish reading this. Not my kind of book, characters or subject matter. Not a mystery either (which is what the review that recommended this said).
March 18, 2022
Popsugar 2022 Reading Challenge: a book by a latinx author
This book is intense. I almost don't know where to place it, genre wise, although I found it on the same feminist mystery & thriller list where I've found a lot of other winners. It's a heist story; it's hopeful, it's also extremely dark, and also there is a lot of explicit sex. Lots of trigger warnings: sexual assault, domestic violence, general misogyny, gun violence, incest, and grim realities of poverty abound.
This is a book about women carving out a space in a world that doesn't want to make room for them. They are the women whose bodies would turn up at the beginning of an episode of a standard police procedural TV show. Our heroine Marisol is a former sex worker who is now executive director of a clinic for sex workers - and primary funder, too. Marisol has a team of 3 sex workers/thieves who rob wealthy assholes who are otherwise untouchable by the law. Marisol is leader, mastermind, protector, and madam. She's also constantly on high alert, with a horrific traumatic past and a very real sense of the real dangers surrounding her and her people.
There's also a love interest, as little as Marisol wants to admit that's his role: Raul, a former police officer (and former because he sued the department for racial discrimination and won) who's willing to use his connections to help Marisol and company get away with the things they should get away with.
This is dark, gritty, hopeful book. I recommend it, but I also recommend going in with your eyes open.
This book is intense. I almost don't know where to place it, genre wise, although I found it on the same feminist mystery & thriller list where I've found a lot of other winners. It's a heist story; it's hopeful, it's also extremely dark, and also there is a lot of explicit sex. Lots of trigger warnings: sexual assault, domestic violence, general misogyny, gun violence, incest, and grim realities of poverty abound.
This is a book about women carving out a space in a world that doesn't want to make room for them. They are the women whose bodies would turn up at the beginning of an episode of a standard police procedural TV show. Our heroine Marisol is a former sex worker who is now executive director of a clinic for sex workers - and primary funder, too. Marisol has a team of 3 sex workers/thieves who rob wealthy assholes who are otherwise untouchable by the law. Marisol is leader, mastermind, protector, and madam. She's also constantly on high alert, with a horrific traumatic past and a very real sense of the real dangers surrounding her and her people.
There's also a love interest, as little as Marisol wants to admit that's his role: Raul, a former police officer (and former because he sued the department for racial discrimination and won) who's willing to use his connections to help Marisol and company get away with the things they should get away with.
This is dark, gritty, hopeful book. I recommend it, but I also recommend going in with your eyes open.
August 28, 2019
So I'd never really given the romantic suspense genre a try. Partly because I'm never a fan of guys with guns showing up and kicking off some action sequence in any story, partly because I don't usually enjoy external bad guys in my romance reading, partly because I suspect most of the genre doesn't share my politics. But a friend recommended this series and for all its dark and traumatic moments this book was so exuberant and fun: current & former sex workers making money for a free clinic, saving lives, and robbing unethical millionaires? Yes please!
The romance itself felt a little tacked on, but I liked seeing Marisol learn to trust Raul in parallel with learning how to be better to herself in general. Mixed feelings on whether his views on sex work felt resolved enough, but I very much enjoyed this take on a guy rescuing a woman who insists she doesn't need it (it never feels like he's ignoring what she wants, just seeing things from an outside perspective and understanding just how much trouble she's in). The details of running the clinic (and the heists!) and what it really means to be one woman trying to save everyone were fascinating too.
Just a wild ride, and one that gives voice, power, and satisfying sexy times to people who deserve them. Didn't really make me want to pick up more romantic suspense novels (still not a huge fan of the terse action-y writing style) unless they're also by this author...
The romance itself felt a little tacked on, but I liked seeing Marisol learn to trust Raul in parallel with learning how to be better to herself in general. Mixed feelings on whether his views on sex work felt resolved enough, but I very much enjoyed this take on a guy rescuing a woman who insists she doesn't need it (it never feels like he's ignoring what she wants, just seeing things from an outside perspective and understanding just how much trouble she's in). The details of running the clinic (and the heists!) and what it really means to be one woman trying to save everyone were fascinating too.
Just a wild ride, and one that gives voice, power, and satisfying sexy times to people who deserve them. Didn't really make me want to pick up more romantic suspense novels (still not a huge fan of the terse action-y writing style) unless they're also by this author...
April 28, 2021
Aya de Leon was a guest on the podcast I co-host with Jacqui Castle and Becca Spence Dobias. We had an awesome conversation, which led me to pick up a copy of the first book in the Justice Hustlers series. This entry focuses on Marisol Rivera, who learned how to Robin Hood from her mother before she passed away. Marisol runs the Maria de la Vega Health Care Clinic, which is funded by donations, grants, an undercover escort service, and a healthy amount of heisting. Marisol targets billionaires who have money to spare, especially those who have some penance to do. There's an unusual structure to the book - the big heist happens at the midpoint, so I was curious as to how it was all going to play out. There are tons of little side plots that all weave together, plus lots of surprises along the way. I loved the characters, and although I'm a little sad that Marisol isn't the main character of the next book, Marisol's right-hand woman Tyesha is. So I'm looking forward to visiting them again in book two.
June 16, 2017
A modern, feminist heist novel with compelling characters and a refreshing point of view. I love the premise of this story and the heists were great. For all the hot sex scenes, the book was weak in the romance department. The chemistry between the main character and the guy she eventually ends up with isn't that strong. Also, the story seems to linger, long after the plot climax, in a way that feels weak. Overall a great story.
June 21, 2018
tl; dr: not for me but that doesn't mean you won't like it!
I wanted and expected to love this book. WOC sex workers pulling heists on riche white dudes and taking care of their own? Yes, please. I hoped for some major catharsis with everything going on in our world right now.
Unfortunately, it didn't do it for me. I was left feeling just MEH. I prefer my novels to have the slowest of a slow burn and that wasn't present with our main couple. I felt the sex scenes were a bit awkward, and didn't like how characters would come in and then disappear and then pop back up. Some plot points (eg her sister's announcement) felt off. I also agree with other reviewers about the ending being too neatly wrapped up.
That being said, there were many things that I liked in this book. The social commentary. Sex workers as fully fleshed out characters kicking ass and taking names, and NOT needing to be saved. Casual sex with no apologies. Discussions of trauma's impact on our behavior.
I'm glad this book exists but won't be reading book 2.
I wanted and expected to love this book. WOC sex workers pulling heists on riche white dudes and taking care of their own? Yes, please. I hoped for some major catharsis with everything going on in our world right now.
Unfortunately, it didn't do it for me. I was left feeling just MEH. I prefer my novels to have the slowest of a slow burn and that wasn't present with our main couple. I felt the sex scenes were a bit awkward, and didn't like how characters would come in and then disappear and then pop back up. Some plot points (eg her sister's announcement) felt off. I also agree with other reviewers about the ending being too neatly wrapped up.
That being said, there were many things that I liked in this book. The social commentary. Sex workers as fully fleshed out characters kicking ass and taking names, and NOT needing to be saved. Casual sex with no apologies. Discussions of trauma's impact on our behavior.
I'm glad this book exists but won't be reading book 2.
July 28, 2016
This book is gold! From the fearless heroine Marisol, to the representation of sex workers, the compassion towards women in abusive situations, the urban Robin Hood story line, the strong female supporting characters, the suspense, and some awesome steamy scenes, this book is deeply multilayered. Let this book take you on a journey, and come out on the other side more educated about important issues. BRILLIANT!
August 27, 2016
Marisol is like a superhero. Such a great read.
February 7, 2017
Marisol Rivera is possibly my favourite heroine in all of fiction and there needs to be a sequel already.
October 18, 2019
I can't. I just can't.
July 12, 2016
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books for an honest review.
I read something somewhere, in a review?, in a book description? That said something like ‘Ocean’s 11 with women.’ Do not go into this book thinking that or you will be disappointed.
There’s another book that had that tagline attached to it. It was a Michael Crichton book from long ago, released under the John Lange name. That one is both a lot closer to being ‘Ocean’s 11 with women’ than this book while also being incorrect. There the storyline involved a group of people setting up to rob a hotel (I think it was a hotel). The book followed them as the planned, then as they robbed the place. It was actually quite neat. Just one thing – everyone in that gang in Lange’s book were men. So, why that tagline of ‘Ocean’s 11 with women’? Because there was in fact a group of women who robbed the place. They just did it under the noses of the male group – but it is something of a ‘disappointment’ in that the story didn’t follow them so much as it followed the male gang.
Right, so this book here. For one thing, the action that occurs does involve and follow women, so that’s one up on that unnamed Lange book. But the book is not a group of women who rob some location and go through thrills, suspense, and the like. No, the book is about a latina woman named Marisol Rivera who had a rotten childhood (mother died, father wasn’t around, then grandmother died; got left with an uncle, who sexually abused her; she, Marisol, did what she could to protect her sister; which included, once the uncle was gone, becoming a prostitute at the age of 17 to get enough money to pay the rent and bills. She, Marisol, is now in her 30s (or is it 40s? I got confused about her age) and is the executive director of a health clinic in Manhattan. Serving the poor, specifically (has this reputation though I’m not sure it is actually part of their official motto) sexual workers. Also, because the economy went into a downturn, and various grants and the like dried up or were pulled, Marisol again needs a way to pay her bills. So, she opens an escort service. Rich people can ‘donate’ to the clinic, get a tax write-off for that, and then get a ‘gift’ from the clinic (as in an escort).
Somewhere along the line that ‘Ocean’s 11’ has to come in, right? Well, that has to do with two facts. The escort service is not able to cover all the bills, and Marisol spots a few people she wants to ‘punish’. Rich CEO’s who were involved in a Mexican sex traffic ring – got put on trial, and got off (I think the judge dismissed the case or something). So, she robs them. Right off the bat that’s different from Ocean’s 11 – where a gang robs a casino. Here the ‘gang’ (a small group of Marisol’s most trusted people) robs several locations. As quietly as possible. And there’s a ton of other stuff happening in this book. So, if it had been a series of robberies, I might stretch things to include this under some altered tagline of ‘Ocean’s 11 with women’, but no, it isn’t that. It’s more of a slice of life book that just happens to have, as the main character, someone who robs rich assholes.
So, Marisol – because of the abuse from the uncle, and because of the fucking for money, she is not one who has the ability to have a natural relationship from men. She does have an ‘itch’ though. A huge number of times, she’ll head uptown to an immigrant area, pick up a man, and fuck him. With her in control.
Both of her criminal and relationship life is put in jeopardy, though, when a man from Marisol’s past turns up in the form of Raul. A man who grow up in the same neighborhood (which reminds me – for the shit life Marisol had growing up, she sure has a lot of nostalgic feeling for her ‘old community’).
When a pimp wandered near waving a gun and calling for his whore to come out, things got complicated at the clinic. At a benefit for the clinic, Marisol mentions needing some extra security. Raul steps up and offers his services. He becomes a temporary security guard. He has a certain background, being that he had been a NYPD officer. He’s an ex-cop now, though. One that still consults with the city. Which is part of the complication on the criminal side – Marisol robs people, an old friend begins working at the clinic and is an ex-cop. Then there’s the romantic side – for the first time in maybe ever, Marisol might be willing to try a relationship, she has lustful feelings toward Raul. Though there are complications – he’s an ex-cop, she’s a criminal, and she also has that past sex worker history (and current, for that matter).
One of the neat things about this book is how LGBT friendly the book is. Two of Marisol’s top friends/thieves/escorts are lesbians (they are each other’s girlfriends). And another character in the book, much less important character-wise, is transgender.
Marisol, though, is very much heterosexual and spends a lot of time, and I mean a lot, humping men. Well, I do not mean to make that seem like it goes to porno levels. She humps men. Every once in a while. And, at times, graphically.
To a certain extent this book took me somewhat longer than normal not because of anything to do with the book itself, I mean quality wise, but because it involves MF relations. I had to ease my way in, and then through at times. Taking breaks here and there.
There is one very big flaw/problem with the book that could have had something like a negative impact on the star rating, if the book was not an arc. Because it is, I do not push up or push down the rating in any way because of it. ‘It’ being the part wherein the formatting in the copy I read is kind of messed up. As in, it isn’t really formatted. Sentences/paragraphs/etc. are smashed together or have double spaces within the same sentence as in:
Not an exact quote:
While at other times I was not always certain who was saying what because of things being mushed together, as in:
Again, not an exact quote:
Most of the time I could tell, in context, that ‘Are you doing that’ was actually someone else speaking; though occasionally I wasn’t certain.
Again, though, I do not – because it is an arc – remove anything from the rating because of that issue (though I would if this wasn’t an arc). I assume that I got a digitalized version of the paperback, as opposed to an ebook file.
One last thought – language. I began reading this one at the same time I was reading Clare Ashton’s Poppy Jenkins. Which I mention for one reason – while I was reading ‘Poppy Jenkins’, people I know who were reading it at the same time were making comments about all the Welsh words popping up. And I? I was reading that and this book here. No, there are no Welsh words popping up in this book, no there were instead a bunch of Spanish words. I probably should have mentioned that any way – the part where a bunch of Spanish gets used. But I specifically am mentioning it here for a reason I once mentioned in another book with mixed languages (not the Poppy book, but a Heyer book).
I have no inherent problem with a book filled with mixed languages; characters speaking two or more languages at the same time in the same sentence. The specific problem I had was, like in a book by Heyer about the British fighting in Spain, this book here included several occasions when a character would start talking and the author included helpful notes like ‘in Spanish’. As in, the character was speaking in Spanish, but the words were printed on the page in English. I liked the fact they were there in English so I could read along. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the part where, remember the reader has already been told that the characters are speaking in Spanish, Spanish words would begin to appear in the sentences.
How exactly am I supposed to ‘take’ that? Spanish words popping up in a Spanish conversation that has already been specified to be translated into English. Are those words extra Spanish-y? So that’s why they appeared in Spanish? And to clarify, I’m not talking about the Spanish words that pop up before and after this specific event I’m talking about. I’m specifically talking about when the main character went to Cuba, and several occasions conversations occurred during which the author noted that the conversation had been translated from Spanish into English . . . yet still contained, here and there, Spanish words (Note: until I went to look for examples, I had forgotten that ‘in Spanish’ actually popped up in previous sections to the trip to Cuba; there are 17 occasions when ‘in Spanish’ is used in the book).
Quote from book:
1) Why are his words in Spanish? Well, no. Both of their conversation are in Spanish. Why are his words only in Spanish, while hers, which, remember that ‘in Spanish’ part, are also in Spanish, but get translated?
2) Why does ‘in Spanish’ keep getting repeated?
By the way ‘Quieres otra’ apparently means ‘do you want another’. And ‘Como no?’ means . . . I don’t know what it means. Google translate is telling me it means ‘as?’. Hmm. Okay.
Here it makes sense to mix things up. I would not have known what ‘necesidad de estar en la cima’ (I have a large feeling that isn’t what ‘I need to be on top’ is in Spanish, but that’s what I get from Google), but do know Bueno = good.
Though here is what I meant specifically about mixing:
Gah. Okay, the mixing took place several paragraphs later. Still, same talker, I assume he is still speaking in Spanish after that ‘in Spanish’ mention, especially as they are in Cuba and everyone there speaks Spanish. So, why is pero mi casa es tu casa in Spanish in a part that is already supposed to be translated into English from Spanish? I know, from here or there, that ‘casa es tu casa’ is ‘my house is your house’ (or something like that), though I didn’t realize it needed the mi to make it ‘my’, and had no clue what pero was until I looked it up (means but – as in ‘but my house is your house’).
*shrugs* I never learned Spanish, so 99.9% of the stuff in Spanish just flies over my head unless there is some mention of what it means (several occasions someone will say something in Spanish, then within a paragraph or two, what they meant is said in English – somewhat rare, though).
I liked the book. I recommend this book. Do not expect constant action and thrills and suspense. Or, for that matter non-stop sex (there’s plenty of graphic sex, just not non-stop – oh, and, other than kissing, I believe all the sex is between a man and woman; no lesbian sex here; bah, I just recalled that there was one incident when the two girlfriends got busy while their ‘dates’ were asleep. I forget how graphic that scene was, though. Looking for ‘in Spanish’ is easy; searching for ‘lesbian sex scene’ to see if it is graphic or not does not actually work, heh).
Overall – An enjoyable book. I liked it. Just be aware that there’s graphic depictions of male-female sex, and that it isn’t a ‘thrill-a-minute’ type of book, but more of a ‘slice-of-life that occasionally includes robberies; and those robberies can occasionally be suspenseful’.
July 11 2016
I read something somewhere, in a review?, in a book description? That said something like ‘Ocean’s 11 with women.’ Do not go into this book thinking that or you will be disappointed.
There’s another book that had that tagline attached to it. It was a Michael Crichton book from long ago, released under the John Lange name. That one is both a lot closer to being ‘Ocean’s 11 with women’ than this book while also being incorrect. There the storyline involved a group of people setting up to rob a hotel (I think it was a hotel). The book followed them as the planned, then as they robbed the place. It was actually quite neat. Just one thing – everyone in that gang in Lange’s book were men. So, why that tagline of ‘Ocean’s 11 with women’? Because there was in fact a group of women who robbed the place. They just did it under the noses of the male group – but it is something of a ‘disappointment’ in that the story didn’t follow them so much as it followed the male gang.
Right, so this book here. For one thing, the action that occurs does involve and follow women, so that’s one up on that unnamed Lange book. But the book is not a group of women who rob some location and go through thrills, suspense, and the like. No, the book is about a latina woman named Marisol Rivera who had a rotten childhood (mother died, father wasn’t around, then grandmother died; got left with an uncle, who sexually abused her; she, Marisol, did what she could to protect her sister; which included, once the uncle was gone, becoming a prostitute at the age of 17 to get enough money to pay the rent and bills. She, Marisol, is now in her 30s (or is it 40s? I got confused about her age) and is the executive director of a health clinic in Manhattan. Serving the poor, specifically (has this reputation though I’m not sure it is actually part of their official motto) sexual workers. Also, because the economy went into a downturn, and various grants and the like dried up or were pulled, Marisol again needs a way to pay her bills. So, she opens an escort service. Rich people can ‘donate’ to the clinic, get a tax write-off for that, and then get a ‘gift’ from the clinic (as in an escort).
Somewhere along the line that ‘Ocean’s 11’ has to come in, right? Well, that has to do with two facts. The escort service is not able to cover all the bills, and Marisol spots a few people she wants to ‘punish’. Rich CEO’s who were involved in a Mexican sex traffic ring – got put on trial, and got off (I think the judge dismissed the case or something). So, she robs them. Right off the bat that’s different from Ocean’s 11 – where a gang robs a casino. Here the ‘gang’ (a small group of Marisol’s most trusted people) robs several locations. As quietly as possible. And there’s a ton of other stuff happening in this book. So, if it had been a series of robberies, I might stretch things to include this under some altered tagline of ‘Ocean’s 11 with women’, but no, it isn’t that. It’s more of a slice of life book that just happens to have, as the main character, someone who robs rich assholes.
So, Marisol – because of the abuse from the uncle, and because of the fucking for money, she is not one who has the ability to have a natural relationship from men. She does have an ‘itch’ though. A huge number of times, she’ll head uptown to an immigrant area, pick up a man, and fuck him. With her in control.
Both of her criminal and relationship life is put in jeopardy, though, when a man from Marisol’s past turns up in the form of Raul. A man who grow up in the same neighborhood (which reminds me – for the shit life Marisol had growing up, she sure has a lot of nostalgic feeling for her ‘old community’).
When a pimp wandered near waving a gun and calling for his whore to come out, things got complicated at the clinic. At a benefit for the clinic, Marisol mentions needing some extra security. Raul steps up and offers his services. He becomes a temporary security guard. He has a certain background, being that he had been a NYPD officer. He’s an ex-cop now, though. One that still consults with the city. Which is part of the complication on the criminal side – Marisol robs people, an old friend begins working at the clinic and is an ex-cop. Then there’s the romantic side – for the first time in maybe ever, Marisol might be willing to try a relationship, she has lustful feelings toward Raul. Though there are complications – he’s an ex-cop, she’s a criminal, and she also has that past sex worker history (and current, for that matter).
One of the neat things about this book is how LGBT friendly the book is. Two of Marisol’s top friends/thieves/escorts are lesbians (they are each other’s girlfriends). And another character in the book, much less important character-wise, is transgender.
Marisol, though, is very much heterosexual and spends a lot of time, and I mean a lot, humping men. Well, I do not mean to make that seem like it goes to porno levels. She humps men. Every once in a while. And, at times, graphically.
To a certain extent this book took me somewhat longer than normal not because of anything to do with the book itself, I mean quality wise, but because it involves MF relations. I had to ease my way in, and then through at times. Taking breaks here and there.
There is one very big flaw/problem with the book that could have had something like a negative impact on the star rating, if the book was not an arc. Because it is, I do not push up or push down the rating in any way because of it. ‘It’ being the part wherein the formatting in the copy I read is kind of messed up. As in, it isn’t really formatted. Sentences/paragraphs/etc. are smashed together or have double spaces within the same sentence as in:
Not an exact quote:
‘That taco is very
hot don’t you think?’
While at other times I was not always certain who was saying what because of things being mushed together, as in:
Again, not an exact quote:
“How are you doing?” She looked at the floor. “Are you doing that thing later?” She asked.
“The tacos are hot.” She moaned.
Most of the time I could tell, in context, that ‘Are you doing that’ was actually someone else speaking; though occasionally I wasn’t certain.
Again, though, I do not – because it is an arc – remove anything from the rating because of that issue (though I would if this wasn’t an arc). I assume that I got a digitalized version of the paperback, as opposed to an ebook file.
One last thought – language. I began reading this one at the same time I was reading Clare Ashton’s Poppy Jenkins. Which I mention for one reason – while I was reading ‘Poppy Jenkins’, people I know who were reading it at the same time were making comments about all the Welsh words popping up. And I? I was reading that and this book here. No, there are no Welsh words popping up in this book, no there were instead a bunch of Spanish words. I probably should have mentioned that any way – the part where a bunch of Spanish gets used. But I specifically am mentioning it here for a reason I once mentioned in another book with mixed languages (not the Poppy book, but a Heyer book).
I have no inherent problem with a book filled with mixed languages; characters speaking two or more languages at the same time in the same sentence. The specific problem I had was, like in a book by Heyer about the British fighting in Spain, this book here included several occasions when a character would start talking and the author included helpful notes like ‘in Spanish’. As in, the character was speaking in Spanish, but the words were printed on the page in English. I liked the fact they were there in English so I could read along. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was the part where, remember the reader has already been told that the characters are speaking in Spanish, Spanish words would begin to appear in the sentences.
How exactly am I supposed to ‘take’ that? Spanish words popping up in a Spanish conversation that has already been specified to be translated into English. Are those words extra Spanish-y? So that’s why they appeared in Spanish? And to clarify, I’m not talking about the Spanish words that pop up before and after this specific event I’m talking about. I’m specifically talking about when the main character went to Cuba, and several occasions conversations occurred during which the author noted that the conversation had been translated from Spanish into English . . . yet still contained, here and there, Spanish words (Note: until I went to look for examples, I had forgotten that ‘in Spanish’ actually popped up in previous sections to the trip to Cuba; there are 17 occasions when ‘in Spanish’ is used in the book).
Quote from book:
“Quieres otra?” he asked
“No thanks,” she said in Spanish. “But I’ll buy you one.”
He raised his eyebrows, but then leaned back and smiled “Como no?”
She told the bartender in Spanish. “A rum and Coke.”
1) Why are his words in Spanish? Well, no. Both of their conversation are in Spanish. Why are his words only in Spanish, while hers, which, remember that ‘in Spanish’ part, are also in Spanish, but get translated?
2) Why does ‘in Spanish’ keep getting repeated?
By the way ‘Quieres otra’ apparently means ‘do you want another’. And ‘Como no?’ means . . . I don’t know what it means. Google translate is telling me it means ‘as?’. Hmm. Okay.
“I need to be on top,” she said in Spanish. “Bueno,” he said. me talking now – this is an example where the formatting got messed up – both of their lines are right after each other without a break
Here it makes sense to mix things up. I would not have known what ‘necesidad de estar en la cima’ (I have a large feeling that isn’t what ‘I need to be on top’ is in Spanish, but that’s what I get from Google), but do know Bueno = good.
Though here is what I meant specifically about mixing:
“Welcome to Cuba!” he said in Spanish, kissing her check. “Sorry we couldn’t . . .”
“our house is no Hotel Palacio, pero mi casa es tu casa.”
Gah. Okay, the mixing took place several paragraphs later. Still, same talker, I assume he is still speaking in Spanish after that ‘in Spanish’ mention, especially as they are in Cuba and everyone there speaks Spanish. So, why is pero mi casa es tu casa in Spanish in a part that is already supposed to be translated into English from Spanish? I know, from here or there, that ‘casa es tu casa’ is ‘my house is your house’ (or something like that), though I didn’t realize it needed the mi to make it ‘my’, and had no clue what pero was until I looked it up (means but – as in ‘but my house is your house’).
*shrugs* I never learned Spanish, so 99.9% of the stuff in Spanish just flies over my head unless there is some mention of what it means (several occasions someone will say something in Spanish, then within a paragraph or two, what they meant is said in English – somewhat rare, though).
I liked the book. I recommend this book. Do not expect constant action and thrills and suspense. Or, for that matter non-stop sex (there’s plenty of graphic sex, just not non-stop – oh, and, other than kissing, I believe all the sex is between a man and woman; no lesbian sex here; bah, I just recalled that there was one incident when the two girlfriends got busy while their ‘dates’ were asleep. I forget how graphic that scene was, though. Looking for ‘in Spanish’ is easy; searching for ‘lesbian sex scene’ to see if it is graphic or not does not actually work, heh).
Overall – An enjoyable book. I liked it. Just be aware that there’s graphic depictions of male-female sex, and that it isn’t a ‘thrill-a-minute’ type of book, but more of a ‘slice-of-life that occasionally includes robberies; and those robberies can occasionally be suspenseful’.
July 11 2016
December 26, 2019
Aya de León is having kind of a mini-moment within mystery/crime circles. When the movie Hustlers came out back in September, influencers in the crime fiction world recommended de León’s work as it has thematic similarities to the popular film: underpaid women stuck at dead end sex worker jobs (with the resulting cultural stigma) who develop a side hustle in order to make ends meet. Both side hustles involve soaking rich white men and both the film and de León’s book portray the women as some sort of modern day Robin Hoods.
But that’s really where the similarities end. I won’t give a full review on Hustlers, though I do encourage you to see it if you have not yet done so. But Uptown Thief is a far more complicated, nuanced look at the realities of sex work, gender, and the criminal justice system.
In the book, these women commit crimes in large part to help finance a free clinic for sex workers, one that provides shelter from abusers, classes on entrepreneurship and healthcare that they would not otherwise receive. The means to an end is greater here: there are real stakes involved.
There’s not a single plot thread that goes through Uptown Thief. It took me two tries to read it as it can lose the reader leaping from one scene to the next. What kept me hooked this time was the character of Marisol Riviera. This book is really about her more than it’s about any one single crime. Through her experiences as a survivor, a sex worker, a CEO, and, yes, a hustler, Aya de León is able to communicate all she is trying to say through an engaging character whose well-being I was invested in. I found myself rooting for Marisol the whole time, even while being frustrated at some of her decisions. You can see her however you want but I admire a writer who can present a fully realized character to let the audience read how they may. I felt like there was nothing held back and that made every small consequence in the book feel real. In other words, it earns its moments because of her.
The book does have some drawbacks. As I said before: I’m not a fan of stories without a solid plot. Some of the dialogue can be a bit clunky. And, though I’m not complaining about this, I realize the irony in the primary male character being the most poorly written one as this is often a huge issue when men write about women. Still, because his character is supposed to shoulder a large part of the burden, I was hoping for more.
Nevertheless, this is an awesome book and a great companion if you liked Hustlers or if you want to read a crime tale focused on the realities of sex work. Whether or not you do, check out Aya de León’s essay on her stories and the movie.
But that’s really where the similarities end. I won’t give a full review on Hustlers, though I do encourage you to see it if you have not yet done so. But Uptown Thief is a far more complicated, nuanced look at the realities of sex work, gender, and the criminal justice system.
In the book, these women commit crimes in large part to help finance a free clinic for sex workers, one that provides shelter from abusers, classes on entrepreneurship and healthcare that they would not otherwise receive. The means to an end is greater here: there are real stakes involved.
There’s not a single plot thread that goes through Uptown Thief. It took me two tries to read it as it can lose the reader leaping from one scene to the next. What kept me hooked this time was the character of Marisol Riviera. This book is really about her more than it’s about any one single crime. Through her experiences as a survivor, a sex worker, a CEO, and, yes, a hustler, Aya de León is able to communicate all she is trying to say through an engaging character whose well-being I was invested in. I found myself rooting for Marisol the whole time, even while being frustrated at some of her decisions. You can see her however you want but I admire a writer who can present a fully realized character to let the audience read how they may. I felt like there was nothing held back and that made every small consequence in the book feel real. In other words, it earns its moments because of her.
The book does have some drawbacks. As I said before: I’m not a fan of stories without a solid plot. Some of the dialogue can be a bit clunky. And, though I’m not complaining about this, I realize the irony in the primary male character being the most poorly written one as this is often a huge issue when men write about women. Still, because his character is supposed to shoulder a large part of the burden, I was hoping for more.
Nevertheless, this is an awesome book and a great companion if you liked Hustlers or if you want to read a crime tale focused on the realities of sex work. Whether or not you do, check out Aya de León’s essay on her stories and the movie.
April 8, 2018
Reviewed on Books Cats Tea
A fabulous modern twist to a classic Robin Hood tale. Strong women from different ethnic backgrounds robbing the rich to care for the poor with an intelligent feminist story.
Marisol Rivera runs a successful health clinic in Manhattan. Like many non-profits that serve the underrepresented and the vulnerable, funding is tough which makes paying the bills even harder. To supplement the clinic's income, Rivera leads a select team of trusted women who run an secret escort service out of the clinic. When a chance to strike back at several members of an Ivy League fraternity consisting of rich CEOs who (not surprisingly) escaped justice for trafficking vulnerable women and underage girls from their factory in Mexico, Marisol sees a way to save the clinic and bring a sense of justice to the men. While her plans and team work effectively, the clinic faces threats from pimps and thieves. Marisol herself must come to terms with her past, an ex-cop who wants to love her, and the clinic and women she so dearly loves and protects.
Most of Uptown Thief is fast paced and adrenaline filled. I had a hard time putting the book down. The thrill of a heist and the rush of the aftereffects kept me turning the page. de León creates real, authentic characters with desires and demons; charm and honesty; naïvety, clever intelligence, and fierce street smarts. I really liked being able to see feminist work and ideas through the lens of women of color.
The book slows down towards the end, but I think that goes with the flow of Marisol's emotional needs. She needs to get away and to relax, so we also get to finally meet Cristina, Marisol's younger sister and the driving factor in her life and work. Part of me felt that the end could have been a little shorter, but the point of Marisol's visit was to slow down and relax, so it made sense to me. The ending was a surprise mostly because I thought it had already been wrapped up, but, nevertheless, it was one final burst of adrenaline that paved the way for the final scenes.
I was happily surprised to learn that this is the first in a series of Justice Huslers that continues with one of the characters in Uptown Thief. The next book is called The Boss and I saw that a third book in the series is coming out this year titled The Accidental Mistress!
A fabulous modern twist to a classic Robin Hood tale. Strong women from different ethnic backgrounds robbing the rich to care for the poor with an intelligent feminist story.
Marisol Rivera runs a successful health clinic in Manhattan. Like many non-profits that serve the underrepresented and the vulnerable, funding is tough which makes paying the bills even harder. To supplement the clinic's income, Rivera leads a select team of trusted women who run an secret escort service out of the clinic. When a chance to strike back at several members of an Ivy League fraternity consisting of rich CEOs who (not surprisingly) escaped justice for trafficking vulnerable women and underage girls from their factory in Mexico, Marisol sees a way to save the clinic and bring a sense of justice to the men. While her plans and team work effectively, the clinic faces threats from pimps and thieves. Marisol herself must come to terms with her past, an ex-cop who wants to love her, and the clinic and women she so dearly loves and protects.
Most of Uptown Thief is fast paced and adrenaline filled. I had a hard time putting the book down. The thrill of a heist and the rush of the aftereffects kept me turning the page. de León creates real, authentic characters with desires and demons; charm and honesty; naïvety, clever intelligence, and fierce street smarts. I really liked being able to see feminist work and ideas through the lens of women of color.
The book slows down towards the end, but I think that goes with the flow of Marisol's emotional needs. She needs to get away and to relax, so we also get to finally meet Cristina, Marisol's younger sister and the driving factor in her life and work. Part of me felt that the end could have been a little shorter, but the point of Marisol's visit was to slow down and relax, so it made sense to me. The ending was a surprise mostly because I thought it had already been wrapped up, but, nevertheless, it was one final burst of adrenaline that paved the way for the final scenes.
I was happily surprised to learn that this is the first in a series of Justice Huslers that continues with one of the characters in Uptown Thief. The next book is called The Boss and I saw that a third book in the series is coming out this year titled The Accidental Mistress!
July 12, 2020
We decided to read this for my bookclub because we wanted to read more urban fiction. It was delightful! I would almost call it wish-fulfillment expect that all the victories in it are extremely hard-won, they're just also really satisfying! Marisol, the main character, runs a public health clinic that helps sex workers and other women. She also runs a (secret) brothel, where women can take entrepreneurship classes. With women from the clinic/brothel, Marisol also pulls heists on billionaires in an underage sex ring, sending a lot of the money to a charity created to help the girls abused by the billionaires. All through this, the book focuses on the power these women have, on what they're doing and their relationships with each other. Power imbalances are addressed, but very rarely does the book present women only as victims. Even in the flashbacks about Marisol's abusive uncle (I will admit, I skimmed these), the focus is on what Marisol is doing to protect her sister. Another thing that really struck me about this book is that it doesn't really buy into American exceptionalism. There are a lot of immigrants in the book, and they're probably glad to be in America, but when Marisol takes a trip to Cuba to visit her sister who goes to medical school there, because she couldn't afford medical school in the States, Cuba is also presented as a great place for people to go to escape. The lifestyle is very different from the US, but equally good (and maybe more humanizing). There's a romance plot in the book, but I wasn't impressed by it, partly because Marisol's real "romance" seemed to be with the clinic, the other women, and herself (sorry, cliché, I know, but can't think of another way to phrase it).
April 11, 2020
I will be honest. This book was a disappointment to me. I respect Aya de León quite a bit and I have enjoyed her essays and journalism over the years, and when I heard about her novels, I was excited to read them! (I have a long to-read list, so it took me a while.)
Unfortunately, this first installment in the series was just terrible. It's supposed to be a heist novel but the heists are basically just unplanned breaking-and-entering with some magically acquired safe-cracking thrown in. It's full of bad decision-making, hypocritical characters, and unrealistic dialogue. (And sadly, the audiobook narrator is egregiously unskilled, although I can't blame the author for that.)
Worst of all, it's packed with bad sex. I don't see the point of including graphic, unpleasant sex in a book unless it advances the plot. Clearly, de León disagrees with me. This culminates in the worst example, when a character pays over half a million dollars for what is (based on the author's description) more pathetic sex than I have ever had the misfortune to personally experience. I would want my money back if I had paid $50 for that.
I will read the rest of the series for two reasons: 1) what else am I going to do in quarantine? 2) the next book is about Tyesha, objectively the best-written, and subjectively the most awesome, character in the first book.
Unfortunately, this first installment in the series was just terrible. It's supposed to be a heist novel but the heists are basically just unplanned breaking-and-entering with some magically acquired safe-cracking thrown in. It's full of bad decision-making, hypocritical characters, and unrealistic dialogue. (And sadly, the audiobook narrator is egregiously unskilled, although I can't blame the author for that.)
Worst of all, it's packed with bad sex. I don't see the point of including graphic, unpleasant sex in a book unless it advances the plot. Clearly, de León disagrees with me. This culminates in the worst example, when a character pays over half a million dollars for what is (based on the author's description) more pathetic sex than I have ever had the misfortune to personally experience. I would want my money back if I had paid $50 for that.
I will read the rest of the series for two reasons: 1) what else am I going to do in quarantine? 2) the next book is about Tyesha, objectively the best-written, and subjectively the most awesome, character in the first book.
July 2, 2018
This is a revolutionary book written for mainstream audiences. It is radical in ways large - depiction of sex work, queerness, POC folks to the front, gentrification and wealth distribution- and small - condom use, position preferences and boundaries, explicitly checking in with your sexual partners not just to obtain consent but because you care that they are having a good time.
Not only that, the women create a committed and loving family that care for one another and other people, celebrate and mourn together, take big risks together and support one another through the trials and tribulations of life. Oh yeah, it’s probably worth mentioning the sex is as hot as this July US east coast heatwave.
As a middle-aged queer who has been a sex radical my entire life, this book embodies what I fought so hard to achieve. The fact that it is written in workaday prose and with a straightforward plot makes it all the more fun and satisfying.
Highly recommended. Even if it doesn’t appeal to you, buy it so the writer is rewarded for her amazing achievement. She deserves every penny that the 50 Shades series earned and more.
Not only that, the women create a committed and loving family that care for one another and other people, celebrate and mourn together, take big risks together and support one another through the trials and tribulations of life. Oh yeah, it’s probably worth mentioning the sex is as hot as this July US east coast heatwave.
As a middle-aged queer who has been a sex radical my entire life, this book embodies what I fought so hard to achieve. The fact that it is written in workaday prose and with a straightforward plot makes it all the more fun and satisfying.
Highly recommended. Even if it doesn’t appeal to you, buy it so the writer is rewarded for her amazing achievement. She deserves every penny that the 50 Shades series earned and more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews