We at THP don’t say this lightly: Heirs of Infamy by Kyla Zhao may just be a contender for one of our favorite 2026 reads! Yes, we know there are still two and a half months left in the year. But we have a good feeling about this one.
Set in 1940s San Francisco Chinatown, this historical heist stars two star-crossed teens: Alexis Sung and Zachary Ren. Alexis belongs to East Phoenix, home to Chinatown’s most powerful crime syndicate. Her former best friend and current enemy Zachary works for the West Dragon.
An opportunity arises that could save both crime families from financial ruin. Determined to prove herself to her father, Alexis teams up with Zachary on a heist that could make or break her future (and her heart). We loved this YA debut, so here are three of our favorite things about Heirs of Infamy by Kyla Zhao!
Book Overview: Heirs Of Infamy
Content warnings: violence, sexual assault, racism, xenophobia, blood, drinking, smoking, guns, weapons
Summary: Beneath the neon glare of postwar San Francisco, Chinatown is ruled by two rival crime families. East Phoenix deals in secrets and stealth, West Dragon in fists and fear. But both empires are bleeding money, and the fragile truce between them frays by the day.
As the daughter of Chinatown’s most powerful crime boss, Alexis Sung can do almost anything, except join the family business. When her first job for East Phoenix goes wrong, her father shuts her out for good. Across town, Zachary Ren—a brilliant orphan raised by West Dragon—is desperate to escape a life he never chose. Their paths were never meant to cross again, not after he destroyed Alexis’s one shot to prove herself.
That changes when a daring heist surfaces—one with a bounty big enough to save both families from ruin. Defying her father’s orders, Alexis seizes the chance to redeem herself by striking an uneasy alliance with Zachary. As old wounds reopen and new sparks catch, survival means trusting the last person she thought she would.
Heisting & Reconnaissance
It has been a while since we’ve last read a heist novel quite like Heirs of Infamy. We felt so immersed in the plot every time Alexis and Zachary discussed their heist in secret. And our hearts raced whenever they did recon around the warehouses and the Chamber of Commerce. The pair worked surprisingly well together despite their rivalry, and their improvisation made for some lighthearted moments in between the pressures of such a high-stakes mission.
The Setting
Heirs of Infamy transports us back in time to the nation’s oldest Chinatown in post-World War II San Francisco. Not only do we get a close-up view of the tension between two rival gangs, but we also get a sense of the Asian American experience in the 1940s. The Red Scare and anti-communist paranoia started to spread throughout the country, leaving Asian American communities to face prejudice and discrimination, which the author depicts so clearly and with so much care and accuracy.
Their Star-Crossed Romance
Finally, we can’t discuss our favorite things about Heirs of Infamy without including the star-crossed lovers themselves: Alexis and Zachary. They used to be best friends in their early teens, until a mission left Alexis shut out of her family business and Zachary climbing the ranks of his. After going four years of not speaking, they must now become close allies. Their initial tension turns into flirty banter and soon forms a forbidden attraction. We held our breaths in the last few chapters, unsure how their romance would end.
Kyla Zhao’s Heirs of Infamy takes us on a historical heist of a lifetime. From the high-stakes mission to the star-crossed romance, we didn’t want to put it down!
Heirs of Infamy by Kyla Zhao comes out on October 13th, and you can order a copy of it here!
What do you think of Kyla Zhao’s YA debut? Are you interested in reading Heirs of Infamy? Let us know over on Twitter! You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram!
Want to hear some of our audiobook recommendations? Here’s the latest!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KYLA ZHAO:
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