The titular protagonist of K. Ancrum's young adult novel Icarus lives a double life that mixes the mundane and inexplicable. By day, he is like any other high school senior, managing his classes, navigating student cliques, and preparing for the frightening and exhilarating independence lurking just beyond graduation. By night, his life dips into the bizarre and even outlandish — Icarus is a thief at the behest of his art restorationist father, Angus, breaking into nearby Mr. Black's mansion to replace genuine artwork with Angus's forgeries. Neither Angus nor Icarus are motivated by money in these robberies; Angus is more than successful with his restorations, not infrequently commissioned by world-famous museums. The novel reveals in painstaking bits and pieces the vengeful hatred undergirding Angus's criminal activities, into which he has dragged Icarus.

Because of the long ...