Please enjoy Robin reading their blog post with some thoughts on ensemble heist stories in fiction. If you'd prefer to read it instead, you can find it here. Refer below for books of the types discussed.
-----
Unplanned:
- THE ART OF SAVING THE WORLD by Corinne Duyvis - Parallel worlds subversion of the "big damn hero"
Technically this group is unplanned and they don't already know each other, but on the other hand the group is the same person over and over from different parallel worlds. This leads to a feeling closest to the "unplanned" type.
Mastermind:
- RIVER OF TEETH by Sarah Gailey (its sequel is TASTE OF MARROW)Alternate history with hippo farming in the American South.
I recommend getting the duology in the collected volume AMERICAN HIPPO
Pre-Assembled:
- JADE CITY by Fonda Lee (also its sequel JADE WAR, I'll be shocked if this is totally absent from the forthcoming conclusion JADE LEGACY)Lots of people have their own great reasons to steal lots of things in this epic clash between two powerful warring families. If I remember most of them knew each other before they their various thieving escapades, but it's possible that you could argue individual scenes fit "unplanned" or "mastermind" better.
- FEED, DEADLINE, BLACKOUT, and FEEDBACK by Mira GrantZombies, Politics, and Blogging. DEADLINE is the most thoroughly a heist story but the whole series is worth reading.
- BENEATH THE CITADEL by Destiny SoriaFantasy story about revolution, loss, and memory.
- TASTE OF MARROW by Sarah Gailey (sequel to RIVER OF TEETH)Alternate history with hippo farming in the American South.
I recommend getting the duology in the collected volume AMERICAN HIPPO
- CONFESSIONS OF THE FOX by Jordy RosenbergTrans retelling of notorious thieves Jack and Bess. I'm unsure whether this is just the framing or if it's actually retelling an existing story, but either way I loved it.
Hero Needs A Crew:
- THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS by Micaiah JohnsonDimensional time travel story following an initially-lone hero who ends up assembling a group around her in order to pull off the big event.
A mix of solo and group heists. - TIMEKEEPER by Tara SimA clocktower mechanic is trying to get his father back by fixing time.
Cool heists in otherwise non-heist books/anthologies:
- "The Takeback Tango" by Rebecca Roanhorse in the anthology A UNIVERSE OF WISHES edited by Dhonielle ClaytonThe story itself is a fantastic single-person heist in the midst of an otherwise non-heist anthology.
- "A Drop of Stolen Ink" by Emily Lloyd-Jones (retelling of "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe) in the anthology HIS HIDEOUS HEART, edited by Dahlia Adler
- LEGENDBORN by Tracy DeonnModern-day Arthurian retelling.
Contains a two-person heist partway through. - THE WEIGHT OF THE STARS by K. AncrumSapphic romance: A girl yearns to travel the stars but thinks she must be content with her responsibilities on Earth.
- THE WOLF OF OREN-YARO by K.S. VillosoA queen journeys to meet her estranged husband and then has to flee from assassins in a strange land.
