Former Shreveporter makes splash with new YA thriller
In June 2022, a small notice appeared in the Publishers Weekly deals segment that Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books had acquired North American rights to a novel called “Thieves’ Gambit” by author Kayvion Lewis in a three-book deal. The name jumped out at me because I’d written about Lewis and her debut novel, “The Half-Class,” a couple of years ago when she was a Young Adult library technician for the North Shreveport Branch of Shreve Memorial Library. Release date for the new novel: Fall 2023.
Fast forward a year. That small notice is part of its own kind of big adventure for Lewis—and the kind of happy book news I love.
When I emailed her earlier this month about the release date and didn’t hear back, I popped over to social media. Let me say I should have started earlier. While I was trying to track her down, she was preparing for her book launch Tuesday (Sept. 26) with her first national TV appearance on “Good Morning, America” and heading onto her first book tour, with a first stop planned at Barnes & Noble in Shreveport earlier this week.
And there’s more: Lionsgate Studios has bought film rights to “Thieves’ Gambit.”
The book’s premise
Marketed as “The Inheritance Games” meets “Ocean’s Eleven,” “Thieves’ Gambit” is about a cutthroat competition for the world’s best thieves, including the teen girl who must win to save her mother’s life. At only age 17, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans—until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life in the balance.
In a desperate bid, Ross enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off-limits and the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world—a wish that could save her mom. When she learns two of her competitors include her childhood nemesis and a handsome, smooth-talking guy who might also want to steal her heart, winning the Gambit becomes trickier than she imagined. Ross tries her best to stick to the family creed: Trust no one whose last name isn’t Quest.
But with the stakes this high, she will have to decide who to con and who to trust before time runs out. Because only one can win.
More about the author
When I interviewed Lewis two years ago, I loved her high-spirited bio and enthusiasm about becoming a published author. Her excitement continues. On the Penguin website, she’s described as liking all things escapist and high-octane. When she’s not writing, she’s breaking out of escape rooms, jumping out of airplanes and running away to mountain retreats to study kung fu. Although she’s originally from Louisiana, these days you can find her in New York—until she takes off on her next adventure. During her “Good Morning, America” interview, she credits a Shreve Memorial librarian for encouraging her to write and for recommending books to her. As always, librarians are the best. To learn more: www.KayvionLewis.com.
Columnist Judy Christie is the author of 18 books, including the fictional “Gone to Green” series and the nonfiction “Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society,” now in its fifth printing in trade paperback. Co-authored with Lisa Wingate, it is the true sequel to Wingate’s bestselling novel “Before We Were Yours.” For more, see www.judychristie.com or visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JudyChristieAuthor.
This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Former Shreveporter makes splash with new YA thriller
