Book Review: The Academy – Thief by C.L. Stone

Rating:

“The Academy – Thief ” is a spinoff of the highly popular “The Academy – Ghost Bird Series” and introduces the reader to a whole new set of characters.

First, there is title character Kayli Winchester, an accomplished pickpocket who supports herself and her brother by stealing.

And the Academy boys – Marc, the planner; Raven, the bad-boy Russian and sometime comic relief; Corey, the computer expert; his twin brother Brandon, the protector; and Axel, the group’s leader and gun expert.

There is also Blake, the anti-hero. Rich, good looking and with an agenda of his own, he is a mystery from beginning to end.

The book is classified as Romance, Teen & YA, but there is a mystery/thriller element in it. That’s how Kayli got involved with the Academy boys in the first place. They needed her expertise as pickpocket. It was supposed to be an easy job, get in and get out. But nothing is ever easy and Murphy’s Law took over. Kayli found herself in over her head and too close to both the Academy boys and Blake for comfort.

As a standalone book, “Thief ” is highly engaging. And as book 1 of “The Scarab Beetle Series”, the plot, though it was resolved in the ending, left enough interesting premise for the audience to want to read the next installment. And, having an anti-hero separated it from “The Ghost Bird Series”.Yet, I am also disappointed, hence the three-star rating for this book. C.L. Stone has set the expectations very high in “The Ghost Bird Series”. The reverse harem angle is groundbreaking for Sang and the boys in that series, but repeating it (at least in this early stage) in “Thief” seems like pandering to a captured audience.

Ironically, the Academy boys in “Thief ” are so diverse that the subplots for the boys and Kayli could have gone in so many different ways that it could have been groundbreaking in its own way. So, seeing the reverse harem angle again is dissatisfying to say the least; but, it is in its early stage and it could change drastically in the next installment.

“Thief ” is on the cusp in terms of reading level. There are enough adult situations to make it Rated M for Mature, yet those situations do not warrant an M rating. This book is definitely not PG 13 though. So, let’s go with the book classification and rate this T for Teen, because it really is in that category – no longer a child but not an adult yet.