Early Review: Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson

Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson (Thieftaker Chronicles #1)

Egalley thanks to Tor/Forge Books


Synopsis from Goodreads
Boston, 1767: In D.B. Jackson's Thieftaker, revolution is brewing as the British Crown imposes increasingly onerous taxes on the colonies, and intrigue swirls around firebrands like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But for Ethan Kaille, a thieftaker who makes his living by conjuring spells that help him solve crimes, politics is for others…until he is asked to recover a necklace worn by the murdered daughter of a prominent family.
Suddenly, he faces another conjurer of enormous power, someone unknown, who is part of a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of power in the turbulent colony. His adversary has already killed—and not for his own gain, but in the service of his powerful masters, people for whom others are mere pawns in a game of politics and power. Ethan is in way over his head, and he knows it. Already a man with a dark past, he can ill afford to fail, lest his livelihood be forfeit. But he can't stop now, for his magic has marked him, so he must fight the odds, even though he seems hopelessly overmatched, his doom seeming certain at the spectral hands of one he cannot even see.

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9/10

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 If you noticed how many books are getting high grades on this blog in the last couple of months...it's not because I'm getting soft, I'm just being very lucky and keep finding really really enjoyable reads *fingers crossed, the luck will hold*


Thieftaker is one of such books. I enjoyed it immensely. Full of rich, well-rounded characters, extremely atmospheric and just riveting.



I loved Ethan Kaille. He is in his late thirties, tired, wise and bedraggled. In his young years he got involved in a riot and had been sent to Barbados for more than 10 years to an absolute hell of a prison on plantation where he had to do everything in his power to hide that he is a natural-born conjurer.


Now he is settled in Boston and making a living by finding stolen goods and catching thieves for middle-class clients. Another thieftaker, a dangerous criminal, Queen of the South End, Sephira Pryce has her pick of rich and powerful clients and Ethan tries hard not to cross her way.

Only when a young girl is found dead on the street without a mark on her, her powerful family goes to Ethan and ask him to recover brooch stolen from her body in hopes that he would lead them to the identity of the killer.

Ethan doesn't want to take the job, doesn't want to come to an attention of vicious Miss Pryce but when he sees the body he knows that another conjurer murdered the girl by a powerful spell, and he needs to be stopped.

Thus starts his extremely dangerous journey, full of political intrigue, powerful magic, cruel enemies, and all of this in a country on the verge of revolution where a conjurer can still get hanged as a witch.

The conflict between Ethan and an evil conjurer is intense, there are a lot of enemies and constant danger of dying, which keep you on the edge of your seat through the whole book.

Ethan is absolutely lovely and so very alive, like one of those lone rangers in old westerns. He is lonely and scarred and kind. He's got friends and a woman, Kannice, who love him and who can be used in a game against him, and he is desperate to keep all of them safe.

I do love this one-man-battle-against-all-odds type of book or movie, and with Ethan you don't really know until the very end if he wins or not (you know he will, because that's how the book is supposed to end, but try telling this to your heart which still goes to him).

I would recommend the book to all fans of Diana Gabaldon, because the period and the atmosphere reminded me of her books quite a bit.

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Замечательная книга, превосходные живые колоритные характеры и очень напряжённое действие на протяжение всей книги!

Этан Кэйли работает ловцов воров в Бостоне как раз перед Американской революцией. Ему под сорок, он истрёпан жизнью и устал, и одинок, берёт только клиентов из среднего класса и не пересекает дорогу жестокой бандитке, Сефире Прайс, которая доминирует поиск воров в Бостоне и выбирает самых богатых клиентов.

Но когда молодую девушку находят мёртвой на улице после одного из бунтов без следа увечий и ран, которые бы дали понять как она умерла, её богатая семья нанимает именно Этана, чтобы найти её украденную брошь, в надежде что она выведет и на убийцу.

Этан собирается отказаться, но затем он смотрит на тело девушки и понимает, что сильнейшее заклинание отняло её жизнь, и ему надо найти и остановить колдуна, пока тот не убил ещё больше людей своей чёрной магией.

Задача кажется непосильной, колдун чрезвычайно могущественен, и из каждого столкновения с ним Этан выбирается полуживым. Кроме него за ним гоняется и пытается его убить разъярённая Сефира Прайс со своей командой бандитов. Этан оказывается с головой замешан в политические интриги, и жизни его друзей и возлюбленной, Каннис, в опасности, и он готов пойти на всё, чтобы те, остались в живых.

Напряжённая, живая, прекрасная история, где до самого конца не ясно выиграет ли Этан схватку или нет, будут ли наказаны все злодеи и как всё разрешится... Чрезвычайно рекомендую, особенно поклонникам Дианы Габальдон!