Mundie Moms

Monday, March 31, 2014

COIN HEIST by Elisa Ludwig, Cover Reveal; Excerpt & Giveaway

Happy Monday! I'm so thrilled to be able to share today's cover reveal for Elisa Ludwig's COIN HEIST! Check out this cover!



I'm totally digging this cover! I've been told Coin Heist is a Breakfast Club meets Ocean's 11! Sold, and sold. I'm really looking forward to reading this one. We'd love to know what you think about the cover! Leave us a comment, and enter to win one of five arcs we're giving away. Find out more about the book below:

About the Book
The last place you’d expect to find a team of criminals is at a prestigious Philadelphia prep school.  But on a class trip to the U.S. Mint – which prints a million new coins every 30 minutes – an overlooked security flaw becomes far too tempting for a small group of students to ignore. 
United by dire circumstances, these unlikely allies – the nerd, the slacker, the athlete, and the perfect student – band together to attempt the impossible: rob the U.S. Mint.  This diverse crew is forced to confront their true beliefs about each other and themselves as they do the wrong thing for the right reasons.  
COIN HEIST is a fun, suspenseful, and compelling thriller, told from the perspectives of four teens with different motivations for pulling off the biggest heist in recent history. 
Get The Book on June 10,2014 from:
iTunes | Amazon

About the Author



My debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins) was released in March 2012, and the sequel, PRETTY SLY, is out in March 2014. COIN HEIST, a YA thriller, is out in June 2014 (Adaptive Studios). I live in Philadelphia with my husband and son. 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

The Giveaway
Want to win an arc of Coin Heist? Tell us what you think about the book by leaving a comment, and fill out the form below to be entered to win 1 of 5 arcs I'm giving away.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read An Excerpt
Want to read an excerpt from the book? Keep reading below!


NINE

ALICE

GREG AND I WERE IN THE CAFETERIA LINE, PULLING FOIL-
wrapped chicken sandwiches from under the heat lamps.
“I don’t think they have the right to call these things ten- ders,” Greg said as he peered under the bun, his acne glowing

red from the light.
“Maybe toughers?” I suggested, poking mine, which had

the texture of boiled rubber.
“We should start bringing our own,” he said.
I agreed. With all the cutbacks, the food was getting steadily

more budget every day. Where once we had organic tuna pita pockets, we now had peanut butter and jelly. The milks were half the size and the salad bar bins were filled with canned vegetables.
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“Well, I better run,” Greg said, gathering up the contents of his meal and heading for the cashier. “I told Mr. Jenkins I’d help him in the lab. After school?”
“Catch you later,” I said, inching down the line.
When I got to the drinks cooler, I noticed Jason was talking to the red-haired lunch lady. He was leaning over the metal rail and shaking his head.
“I’m so sorry,” I heard him saying, and he sounded really upset. “Look, I’ll see what I can find out, okay? Don’t panic. There’s got to be an answer.”
What was he sorry about? Even weirder was that he was talking to her like they were friends. She had to be fifty years old—she’d been working at HF since the beginning of time.
He pulled away from the rail just as I was sliding my tray along, so that we nearly collided. “Hey, Al,” he said.
It always took me aback when he used that nickname. Only my dad had ever called me that.
“Hey,” I said back, and we fell into step. I don’t know how it happened, but suddenly we were seeing each other every day. Talking, not just in Design class, but between classes. Even in the coffee bar during break—in full view of some of his exes. Which, to be fair, included most girls in our grade. Social math: In set theory there’s an axiom of pairing, which basically means that if a and b are sets then there’s a set out there that contains both a and b. By virtue of existing, they belong together some- where. The same could be said of Jason and the list of girls he’d hooked up with.
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It was strange. He’d started to appear in my brain even when I wasn’t with him. I thought about him as I showered and got dressed. And at night, when I finished my homework, I pictured him in his house, wondering what he might be doing. Which was completely crazy.
And when we talked, it wasn’t just about the Mint stuff any- more. He told me all about his band and his plans to dominate iTunes someday, and I couldn’t help but get caught up. I knew things about his family—his dad was still in jail, and his mom was making him go visit every week. I told him the latest about my parents, how my dad was even sneaking away on weekends now.
Now he was next to me and I felt my breath quicken. “So what was that about?” I asked, not wanting to be too nosy.
He sighed. “Dianne was just given a pink slip. Techni- cally there’s a union of service employees, and technically they shouldn’t be able to just do that. But this is an extreme situa- tion. It’s so messed up.”
“And you’re going to help her?”
He nodded. “I’m going to get some information from my dad’s office. See if there’s any way I can help.”
I’d never really seen this side of him before. “That’s actually pretty thoughtful.”
“You sound surprised,” he said.
Because you act like a bimbo sometimes? “So get this. My dad called Sheryl on the way to school today. He put her on speakerphone. They were using all of these euphemisms, like
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‘low-hanging fruit’ and ‘looping each other in’ but it was so obvious and disgusting. He acts like I’m five years old.”
“Why don’t you just talk to him?” he asked me.
“Um. Why don’t you talk to your dad?” I came back. “Because it won’t change anything.”
“Bingo,” I said.
When we talked like this, all the other stuff, all of his usual

whatever-dude stuff fell away.
We sat down at the table and waited for Benny, for our offi-

cial Mint job meeting to begin.
What started as a fantasy game, like D&D, had started to

seem more plausible. We were planning the smallest details, right down to our alibis and how we’d get rid of our prints. I didn’t know what Benny thought, but the way Jason talked about it, it didn’t seem like we were playing around anymore. It was like he needed to do this—to get back at his dad, or maybe to fix his dad’s mistakes.
And me? Well, for starters, the idea that I could make some- thing this big happen was intoxicating. I was in it for the thrill, for the idea that I could actually pull off a hack this size and prove that I wasn’t some stupid kid. I’d show my dad and any- one else who doubted me.
There was only one problem. I still couldn’t figure out how the heck we were going to manufacture as many coins as we needed without anyone noticing all the missing raw mate- rial after the job was done . I’d been poking at the holes in our plan for a few days now, but only in my head. It was time to
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bring all my doubts out into the open.
I pulled my iPad out of my bag and laid it down on the table

between us.
“So what have you got?” Jason asked.
I opened up a document I’d been keeping with notes from

our meetings and some of my own research. It was encrypted, of course, for safekeeping. “I think we have a good handle on how we’ll get in, at least virtually.”
“Cracking into the production system?”
“Right. I’ve done some research and they use Manufact- Sure. It’s an off-the-shelf product they’ve customized for their own needs. I ran some demos of it at home, to see how it’s organized—inventory, orders, accounting, that kind of thing. Should be easy to navigate. Once we get the plug into the build- ing, it’s just a matter of monitoring, really. But . . . that’s not the problem,” I said.
Benny emerged from the lunch line then, his tray filled with two chicken sandwiches, fries, three cookies, a yogurt, a banana and four milks. Football players. The guy’s calories in a single meal could support my whole household for a week.
“S’up,” he said, fitting his broad frame into the seat across from us.
“Al was just saying that there’s a problem with the plan,” Jason said. Then he turned to me, his gaze intent. Those eyes. I felt something inside me flutter. “Go on.”
“Well, I’ve been running the calculations, and I just can’t see how we could get enough money out of it. Even if we punch
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out quarters, it will take twenty million of them just to rebuild the endowment.”
“So the floor produces sixteen million coins a day,” Benny said. “You’re worried
about time?”
I nodded. “I just don’t see how we can reasonably take over production for that long without someone noticing. We need to do something in an hour or so, tops. In and out. Let alone the sheer amount of metal we’d need to use up to produce that many coins.”
“Huh,” Jason said, leaning back in his seat and chewing on a straw. “Well, that is a problem. And kind of a big one.”
Blech. Like I said, I’d been reluctant to mention this, even though it had been days since I figured it out. “Anyone have any suggestions?”
Jason pressed his fingers to his temples and closed his eyes as if he was reading something internally. “What if we just went for the materials? Maybe we could get the money if we sold the metal.”
“Even if we could, you saw how huge those coils were. No way we could get them out of the building without heavy machinery.” I sighed. “Benny?”
He shook his head. “I’ve got nothing.”
Ordinarily, I could see all the angles around a problem and walk the solution through in my mind, but this time I could only see the problem.
“Let’s keep thinking on it,” I suggested. “There’s no rush, 
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right? That building’s not going anywhere.” I’d be damned if I was going to let a little logistical issue interfere with my new- found whateveritwas with Jason.
Jason tapped his straw against the bottom of his cup. “Well, we only have until the end of the semester before the school defaults on its credit.”
A semester. In the meantime I had a physics quiz, an AP French test, three term papers and a calculus exam.
Jason grabbed his tray and stood up. “I guess our meeting’s over. Let me know if anyone comes up with anything?”
Over? Don’t say the word over. “You’re giving up?” I asked, my heart sinking. Maybe this was a fantasy after all. Maybe he didn’t really intend to go through with it.
“No, but what’s the point of sitting here if we can’t figure it out? It’s kind of a big problem.”
“Um, because we’re friends?” The words came out before I’d really thought them through. They sounded lame. Lame and desperate.
He looked at Benny and then at me. “Yeah. Sure.” But in the weakness of his tone, I heard exactly what he was thinking— yeah right—and my heart crumpled in five places. Just a few moments ago we were bonding and now we were back to our old pre-Mint selves. God. I was so deluded to even let myself be attracted to him in any way. “I have stuff to do, though.”
Benny sat up straight. “Wait. I got it. Maybe a fifty cent piece?”
For the first time I wondered if Benny was thinking it was 
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real, too. And maybe he needed our quandary to be solved as much as I did.
“They’re too rare,” Jason said, still hovering over us. “We’d never be able to use them without getting caught. Unless we found a magician we could sell them to. And then he could make them disappear.”
“Isn’t rare a good thing in coins?” Benny said.
“Yeah, but no one uses half-dollars,” I pointed out. “Except great-grandpas, and then they have caramels stuck to them.”
“Shoot,” Benny said. “Why doesn’t the Mint print bills? We could get this thing done in a minute.”
“If only we lived in D.C. or Texas . . .” Jason said wistfully. “I mean, D.C.’s not too far.”
Benny shook his head. “No way, man. We’re not gonna pull a job in the nation’s capital.”
“Shop local, steal local,” I said. “Either way, we’re breaking into a federal building. It’s no joke.”
“Good point. Good point,” Jason agreed. “Oh well, like I said. I gotta go meet up with my band.”
“So that’s it, I guess,” I said, feeling everything sink.
“I knew you guys weren’t for real,” Benny muttered.
Jason looked almost pissed then. “I’m completely for real,”

he said. “I always have been. I want this more than anyone. Otherwise I wouldn’t have started this thing. I just don’t see how it can work right now. Face it. We’ve hit a wall. And I’d rather give up before we have too much riding on it, you know?”
Maybe. We’d put in so much time and energy, though. It 
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real, too. And maybe he needed our quandary to be solved as much as I did.
“They’re too rare,” Jason said, still hovering over us. “We’d never be able to use them without getting caught. Unless we found a magician we could sell them to. And then he could make them disappear.”
“Isn’t rare a good thing in coins?” Benny said.
“Yeah, but no one uses half-dollars,” I pointed out. “Except great-grandpas, and then they have caramels stuck to them.”
“Shoot,” Benny said. “Why doesn’t the Mint print bills? We could get this thing done in a minute.”
“If only we lived in D.C. or Texas . . .” Jason said wistfully. “I mean, D.C.’s not too far.”
Benny shook his head. “No way, man. We’re not gonna pull a job in the nation’s capital.”
“Shop local, steal local,” I said. “Either way, we’re breaking into a federal building. It’s no joke.”
“Good point. Good point,” Jason agreed. “Oh well, like I said. I gotta go meet up with my band.”
“So that’s it, I guess,” I said, feeling everything sink.
“I knew you guys weren’t for real,” Benny muttered.
Jason looked almost pissed then. “I’m completely for real,”

he said. “I always have been. I want this more than anyone. Otherwise I wouldn’t have started this thing. I just don’t see how it can work right now. Face it. We’ve hit a wall. And I’d rather give up before we have too much riding on it, you know?”
Maybe. We’d put in so much time and energy, though. It 
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was like he had no confidence. This time his back was almost entirely toward us when Dakota Cunningham appeared in front of us.
“Hey guys,” she said. Talk about hitting a wall. When Dakota wanted something, there was no getting around her.
“What’s up?” Jason said. “Did you get lost on the way to the salad bar?”
“No. I’m here to see you.” Here she looked down at me and Benny behind him. “All of you.”
“What about?” Jason asked.
“You know. This thing you’re doing.”
“What thing?” Jason feigned surprised innocence, but he

wasn’t much of an actor. He still looked pretty damn guilty. “Your meetings. Your plan. I want in.”
Benny gave me a look, like, is she serious?
“What is it that you think we’re planning?” I asked her, test-

ing. There’s no way she could know. Unless she was straight-up eavesdropping.
“The Mint, okay?” she said quietly. “Stop playing dumb. I heard you talking.”
I think all of our jaws dropped simultaneously.
Silence.
“It’s nothing,” I said, breaking the spell. “We’re not planning

anything.” Because now that was the honest-to-goodness truth. “Then how come you’re all huddled together? I know you’re
not studying. Look, don’t try to fool me.”
Jason laughed, raising his hands like he was surrendering.
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“Okay. You got us, Cunningham. That’s what we were doing. Robbing the Mint to save HF, ha ha ha.”
Her eyes narrowed. She wasn’t buying his blowoff. “I can find out one way or another—you know I can, Jason. So you might as well tell me about it.”
Now she had me worried. Was she going to get us into trou- ble? Was she going to blackmail us? I had to be careful. “If that’s what we were doing, and I’m not saying it is, it would be impli- cating you to tell you about it,” I pointed out. “You wouldn’t want to risk your precious reputation, would you? And why do you even care?”
“I have my reasons,” she said, biting a corner of her pink- glossed lower lip.
“It’s impossible, anyway,” I said. “So don’t worry about it.”
“What’s impossible? Look you guys, I’m pretty sure I can help out.”
“Sorry, but I don’t think you could,” I said. “Even if we were planning something, I mean. We have enough people on our team. No available openings.”
For the first time in history, I was mean-girling Dakota. It was a rare opportunity. But still she stood there, clasping her bottle of water in front of her like it was some kind of offering. “I’m serious!”
“Okay, fine. The only way you could help us,” I said, know- ing full well that she couldn’t, “is if you can figure out how we can print enough coins in an hour to add up to fifty million dollars and use them without raising any suspicions.”
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“Easy. We don’t make new coins,” Dakota said, not skip- ping a beat. “Or at least not the ones in circulation now. We make an old coin.”
“What? How?” Jason asked.
“Don’t you remember? On the tour?” she continued. “The coins with the mistakes. Error coins. And only a few of them ever get out into the world, which is why the ones that do are worth a ton of money. So here’s what we do: We take a real error coin, and we mint that, pretend like they’ve been lost for years but newly uncovered. And because it’d be made on the floor of the Mint, it would be legit, totally authentic. We’d need a lot fewer copies to make a lot of money and bail the school out.”
She was talking like it was a bake sale or a car wash, some- thing she could just whip up with a little can-do spirit. Then again, I realized, maybe that’s exactly what we needed to get this thing going again, especially with Jason ready to jump ship at the first sign of a challenge.
“Huh,” Jason said, with a frown of thinking. “What do you think, Al?”
At least he was still asking my opinion. “I think it would need an excellent design. A forgery, essentially. None of us have that kind of skill,” I said. It annoyed me that Dakota was acting like it was all figured out when she’d just waltzed her way over here minutes before. It annoyed me that she’d thought of stuff I hadn’t thought of. Hey, I’m supposed to be the card-carrying nerd around here.
“Yeah, well, Jason can make the design. He’s brilliant at 
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drawing. Didn’t you guys know that? He already got an A on his project. His medal was perfection.”
“You did?” I asked him. I thought he blew off every class. I thought he’d been copying off me.
He shrugged like it was no big deal. But it was. No one got an A from Rankin. I was actually jealous. “Yeah. How did you know that?”
Dakota just laughed. “You have to know your competition.”
Yeah, okay. Whatever. So she was the all-knowing oracle of HF.
“And Alice, you’re great at math and tech stuff. I’m sure you can figure out the computer part.” She gave me her dazzling smile, which was only slightly less luminous than her bright blue eyes and highlighted hair. It hit me right on the flattery bone. Damn her. “So it’s airtight. And of course, I’ll help with the organization.”
The last thing I wanted was for her to distract Jason with her boobage, but if we let her in, we could at least continue with the plan. And with her help, the plan could actually go from lunch table discussion to the big time. It was a small price to pay, wasn’t it? Still, she couldn’t just steamroll over the rest of us. “That’s Jason’s job,” I pointed out.
“Really?” She laughed. “C’mon, Jason. These people must not know you very well, then.”
Now she was the expert on him? That bugged me. And I guess Jason, too, because he was like, “What? It’s my idea. I’m in charge.”
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“Fine. Fine. Then call me the project manager. I’ll make sure we’re on track. You’re the boss, but I’ll do the follow-through.”
She still sounded like a student council speaker, but even I had to admit I was impressed. Her plan was solid. She’d clearly given this some thought. Which meant she must have been watching us for a while. Were we that obvious?
“So?” she asked. “What do you guys say?”
“Sounds like she knows what’s up,” Benny said. “It could work.” It was the first time he’d said anything in awhile. I’d almost forgotten he was sitting with us. But it was obvious that when the silent guy actually spoke, we had our final vote.
And if we were letting her in, it was game on.
Holy crap. We were doing this thing. Actually doing it now. We all looked at each other with suspicious acknowledg-

ment, letting the reality sink in.
“Just one question,” I said. “How’d you know about us?” “Come on now.” Her eyes made a semicircle, trailing from

one of us to the next. “You don’t think the three of you hanging out wasn’t a dead giveaway? It defies all social logic.”
Darn. Maybe I’d underestimated Dakota all along. And maybe we’d have to be more careful about where we all met from now on.
“Do you think anyone else knows?” I asked.
“Would I get involved and risk my precious reputation?” She threw my words back at me. “No. I’m the only one who knows. Consider yourselves lucky.”
Well. I wasn’t about to go that far. 
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20 comments:

  1. Ahhj love the cover! So refreshing after the million covers out there with cut out models (not that there's anything wrong with them but they lose the appeal after a while)
    .
    Immediately adding it to my TBR (:

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  2. LOVE IT!! I adore her writing and can't wait for this book! :)

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  3. Ooh, I love the blueprints in the background!! And the colours are perfect :)

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  4. It sound so intriguing and unique. I absolutely love the cover

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  5. I like it, it looks like it'll make an interesting book.

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  6. The cover is fantastic. The use of colors and silhouettes makes it stand out - well done and congrats to Elisa! :)

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  7. The cover is really mysterious!

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  8. (This is Darith L)

    Whoa, awesome cover and an even BETTER premise! This sounds like Mad Money (the movie) and I loved The Breakfast Club! To the TBR on goodreads! :D

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  9. I just LOVE the cover and really anything mentioning Ocean's 11, I am already there! So excited!

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  10. I like it because it's a little different than most thrillers. Very appealing. I love heist stories.

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  11. Love a good heist story! The cover is great, I like the blueprints.
    Ann S

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  12. This looks very intriguing! I look forward to reading it!

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  13. I love the synopsis. I'm really looking forward to reading this now!

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  14. Oh, I'm really excited about this book! I've been going through a Leverage-watching binge, so the book looks exactly up my lane.

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  15. Interesting, can't wait to read more.

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  16. I love it!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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