The caper story is a subgenre of crime fiction. The typical caper story involves one or more crimes (especially thefts, swindles, or occasionally kidnappings) perpetrated by the main characters in full view of the reader. The actions of police or detectives attempting to prevent or solve the crimes may also be chronicled, but are not the main focus of the story.
The caper story is distinguished from the straight crime story by elements of humor, adventure, or unusual cleverness or audacity. For instance, the Dortmunder stories of Donald E. Westlake are highly comic tales involving unusual thefts by a gang of offbeat characters — in different stories Dortmunder's gang steals the same gem several times, steals an entire branch bank, and kidnaps someone from an asylum by driving a stolen train onto the property. By contrast, the same author's Parker stories (published under the name Richard Stark) are grimly straightforward accounts of mundane crime — the criminal equivalent of the police procedural. Others, such as Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr novels, feature a role reversal, an honest criminal and crooked cop, and the use of burglar Rhodenbarr criminal talents to solve murders.
A caper may appear as a subplot in a larger work. For example, Tom Sawyer's plot to steal Jim out of slavery in the last part of Huckleberry Finn is a classic caper.
The verb to caper means to leap in a frolicsome way, and probably derives from capriole, which derives from the Latin for goat (Capra). The noun caper means a frolicsome leap, a capricious escapade or an illegal or questionable act.
The Ransom of Red Chief (1910) by O. Henry — two kidnappers find that the little boy they're holding for ransom is more dangerous than the law
early stories of "The Saint" (beginning in 1928) by Leslie Charteris
The Asphalt Jungle (1949) by W. R. Burnett, adapted for film in 1950, 1958, 1963 and 1972
novels by John Boland such as The League of Gentlemen (1958) and The Golden Fleece (1961)
The Light of Day (1962) by Eric Ambler (filmed as Topkapi)
the Modesty Blaise stories (beginning in 1963) of Peter O'Donnell
the John Dortmunder series (beginning in 1970) and other novels by Donald E. Westlake
Sledgehammer (1971) by Walter Wager
A Tough One to Lose (1972) by Tony Kenrick, who is often compared with Westlake — an entire airplane and hundreds of passengers go missing; how did this happen?
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1973) by John Godey— a subway car is hijacked and held for ransom
The Great Train Robbery (1975) by Michael Crichton
Stealing Lillian (1975) by Tony Kenrick — A con artist is enlisted to stage a kidnapping to capture some terrorists (film rights were purchased, according to the dust jacket, but the film was never made)
The Seven Day Soldiers (1976) by Tony Kenrick — three suburbanites rob a bank by mail, then must battle the mafioso whom they robbed (film rights were purchased, to be directed by Robert Aldrich and to star Steve McQueen, according to the dust jacket, but the film was never made)
Faraday's Flowers (1978) — adapted as Shanghai Surprise
Two Lucky People (1981) by Tony Kenrick — A man and woman, both with only weeks to live, decide to spend their last days defeating a criminal ... in a farcical way.
Glitterbug (1991) by Tony Kenrick — An amnesiac must deal with the many criminals who made him this way (film rights were purchased by TriStar Pictures to be a vehicle for Bruce Willis, but the film was never made)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) by Scott Lynch
Heist Society (2010) by Ally Carter
The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Directed By John Huston
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Rififi (1955), Directed by Jules Dassin
The Ladykillers (1955)
The Killing (1956) Directed By Stanley Kubrick
The Badlanders (1958, based on The Asphalt Jungle)
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958, remade in 1984 and 2002)
Seven Thieves (1960)
Ocean's Eleven, novel and screenplay by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell (1960, remade 2001)
Cairo (1963, based on The Asphalt Jungle)
Topkapi (1964), Directed by Jules Dassin
The Pink Panther (1963)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
Grand Slam (1967) Directed by Giuliano Montaldo
Le Cercle Rouge (1970) Directed By Jean-Pierre Melville
The Thomas Crown Affair, screenplay by Alan Trustman (1968, remade 1999)
The Italian Job (1969, remade 2003)
Kelly's Heroes, screenplay by Troy Kennedy-Martin (1970)
Cool Breeze (1972, based on The Asphalt Jungle)
The Sting, screenplay by David S. Ward (1973)
Bank Shot, screenplay by Wendell Mayes from the novel by Donald E. Westlake (1974)
The Hot Rock, screenplay by William Goldman from the novel by Donald E. Westlake (1972)
The Castle of Cagliostro, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1979)
The First Great Train Robbery (1979)
The Great Muppet Caper, directed by Jim Henson (1981)
Family Business (1989)
Sneakers, directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams), and written by Robinson, Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker (1992)
Reservoir Dogs, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino (1992)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, written and directed by Guy Ritchie (1998)
Entrapment (1999)
Three Kings, written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by John Ridley (1999)
Sexy Beast (2000)
Small Time Crooks (2000)
Snatch, written and directed by Guy Ritchie (2000)
Heist (2001)
The Score written by Scott Marshall Smith directed by Frank Oz (2001)
The Bank Job (2008)
The Brothers Bloom, written and directed by Rian Johnson (2008)
Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (2010)
Argo, written by Chris Terrio directed by Ben Affleck (2012)
The Thieves, directed by Choi Dong-hoon (2012)
Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier (2013)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
Lupin III, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura (2014)
Jalaibee (2015)
Now You See It, Now You Don't, a 1968 TV-movie about an art expert who is hired by an insurance company to protect a Rembrandt on loan from the Louvre and later hatches a scheme to steal it
Hustle, a British series created by Tony Jordan (2004–2012).
Leverage, a TNT series created by Dean Devlin (2008–2012).
Olsen Gang, a Danish comedy series.
