Review: Great start to a new series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 15, 2014
C.L. Stone’s other series (The Ghost Bird series) is so addicting that I knew I had to read her new series as soon as possible. Thief is a captivating first book in the Scarab Beetle Series, and I am positive that the subsequent books will be just as brilliant.In Thief we see the story from Kayli’s perspective. Forced by circumstance, Kayli resorts to stealing wallets in order to pay the rent so that she, her younger brother, Will, and her drunk, abusive father have a temporary roof over their heads. However, she doesn’t pickpocket from just anyone, Kayli is a thief with morals. She does not pickpocket from the elderly, women or children, even though they are the easiest targets, but only steals from those that can defend themselves. Not only that, she doesn’t take it all, she will steal a few bills and then leave the wallet somewhere she knows the correct authorities will find it and return to the owner.The academy boys have tracked Kayli and need her for their mission, to steal a billionaire’s wallet and then replace it at the same party without anything going missing. This billionaire has also been on the academy’s radar since he has been recently mingling with dodgy people and they want to find out what he is up to.Kayli is prepared to do this job but she is unprepared for the boys themselves and how they accept her despite knowing her secrets. They promise to help her but can she trust their promises? She tries to run away and shut them out but slowly they are beginning to break down her walls and Kayli isn’t sure why they would want her when she is so broken...This is an excellent start to the series and I am looking forward to the second book, which should be out this summer!Favourite Quotes:A snore broke through our mutual silence. I turned my head, spotting Jack on the bed closest to the wall. Daddy, Dad, Papa and other father names never really fit well between my lips and his ears. Jack was the thing we’d settled on. And those moments he wasn’t cursing at me, he sometimes remembered my name was Kayli.“Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me there’s no chance in hell you’ll stop stealing.”I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn’t know me. I didn’t want to admit to anything. “I didn’t ask for a chance.”“None of us do. But you don’t throw away one when you get it.”“Promise not to say anything?”My eyebrows shifted up. “You’d trust me not to tell? You don’t even know me.”“Doesn’t mean your promise isn’t any good.”“Is that hope I’m detecting in your question, little thief?”Brandon made a noise that sounded a lot like a growl. “If he’s not a bad guy, she’s hoping for a date.”Eyebrows lifted on faces around the room. Raven smirked. “In that case, yes. He’s a dealer. And a rapist. And a murderer. He murders babies. Girl babies. And puppies. And he rapes them. After they’re dead. Sometimes.”“Gay guys are awesome,” I said. “You can do all kind of cool things together and it never goes into a weird zone.”Brandon huffed. “You’ve got strange ideas.”I needed to know I was wanted for who I was. And I didn’t know who I was outside of Kayli the thief.