Review: Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan

Title: Don't Get Caught 

Author:  Kurt Dinan
Publisher: Sourcebooks

Publishing Date: April 1st 2016

Pages: 340
Genre: YA Contemporary/Humor

Series:  Stand Alone
Source: ARC 

 

10:00 tonight at the water tower. Tell no one. -Chaos Club

When Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust...

Yeah, not so much. Max and four fellow students-who also received invites-are standing on the newly defaced water tower when campus security "catches" them. Definitely a setup. And this time, Max has had enough. It's time for Rule #7: Always get payback.

Let the prank war begin.

Okay so here is the deal with this book. The cover caught my attention. Its red, it's bright, it has cows. I liked the cover and then I thought that title sounds intriguing. So I read the synopsis. I thought. Okay sounds like my kind of book and something a little different. So I read it. I laughed, I liked it. 

There is a group in Max's highschool. The chaos club. They play pranks on the school and have been doing it for decades. This book is about Max, his revenge against the chaos club, a group of misfits that decided to take the chaos club down, and a principal that wants nothing more than to catch the chaos club. No one knows who they are, where they will strike, or what they will do next. This is a book about Max's junior year and how he leaves his mark, makes new friends, finds out how to have fun, and possibly get the girl of his dreams. 

This book was fun. It really was. I had quite a few laugh out loud in public moments that earned me some questionable looks. Like it isn't obvious I am reading something funny with book in hand. Anyways it was fun. It had some background issues too that come to light in a very light and relaxed way. I did like that. Some serious but not too much to take away from the funny and little to give it just a tad bit of depth. 

What made this book so fun to read for me... well the pranks, the misfits, the rules that Max is always reciting from heist movies, and of course the pranks. I know I said that already, but the pranks were great. The entire book was great. There was even a tad bit of mystery thrown in over who was in the chaos club. So a bit for everyone. 

The book did have some romance,  very little and very light and I wouldn't even bring it up except some one that likes romance or doesn't like romance might wonder. There is a very tiny bit but its really not worth going on about. I didn't focus on the romance because its not really imperative for the enjoyment of the read but it does give a bit of something to the ending. So there is that, but like I said. Very little romance. 

The characters were fun. I didn't like them all in the way I wouldn't be friends with them. They were just a tad bit out of control, but I did like them in the way they added great fun to the story. If that makes sense. Max, the main character was a bit dense in my book. He was slow on the take but he made up for it in other ways... like is snarky thoughts and strange ideas. He was really loyal too and I did like that. In a group that wasn't friends to begin with and decide to rely on each other to prank the the school and its fearless leaders, loyalty is a must but can be hard to trust is there. Max did well. They all did actually. 

There really isn't much to mention about each of the characters. There is the school tramp (at least that is what her classmates think of her - but really she isn't) the school loner, the school jock, the good girl, and then Max, the invisible. So a little cliche at first but then there are things that are brought to surface that gives them their own voice and some depth. 

The principal was kind of funny. He may have been the vice principal I think. He reminded me of the principal on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. So that was fun too. He was dumb and always on the hunt. There were some other adults in the story that added to the good of things but not really worth mentioning them all.

The pranks were just fun and hilarious and creative and imaginative and I loved them. I loved the planning and trying to figure out what was going to come out of the planning. When the planning stage was in play, it wasn't known what the prank actually was and that I liked. I never could figure them out but it was cool. Each prank had different code names for the players too. Code names that had to do with their part of the prank. Yup again, fun.....just fun. 

It was a very quick and easy read. Writing was good for the type of story. Each character had a unique voice going on. So all in all it was a good read. Oh and the ending. It had resolution but it left it open for a sequel. I hope we get one. 

It was a great read and really good for anyone looking for a easy breezy full of laughs kind of read. 

Kurt Dinan is a high school English teacher living in Cincinnati. His debut novel, DON'T GET CAUGHT, will be released in April of 2016. He is represented by Kerry Sparks of LGR