"Here we teach you how to commit offenses, because someday – no matter how paradoxical it may seem to you – you will need to change the world; to make it more just." When the talented petty thief Gabriel arrives at Crookhaven for the first time, he encounters a completely new world. In this hidden "school for thieves," students are taught Burglary, Imitation, and Criminalistics, so that when they eventually go out into the world, they are capable of changing it. On the first day, the mysterious headmaster of Crookhaven, Caspian, talks to them about the Cup of Crooks, the famous competition that will crown the "best of the best." Gabriel, determined to win, realizes that it is difficult to win the prize alone and that he will need to form an unusual "gang" to help him achieve his goal. Will he succeed? After all, when have rules ever been an obstacle for a petty thief?