Thieftaker

Thieftaker Chronicles, Book 1

By: D. B. Jackson

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Boston, 1765: 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.

©2012 D. B. Jackson (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A unique blend of history and fantasy

What did you love best about Thieftaker?

It’s a historical fiction, but wait, it’s also an urban fantasy set in historical Boston. Why don’t we just throw in a little alternate history to sweeten the pot? I thought this was an excellent historical urban fantasy that managed to meld the magic and history in a way that felt realistic. The magic isn’t so fantastic and in-your-face that it doesn’t mesh weld with the gritty world its set. It doesn’t feel forced or trite in contrast to its setting, which can often happens when trying to base a magical story around actual historical fact.

What did you like best about this story?

As a history nerd, I liked that the story is set around factual historical events. Ethan may not be real, but his profession is seeded in historical fact. Jackson uses the events leading up to the Revolutionary War as the backdrop for his story, so there are cameos by people such Samuel Adams and James Otis, Jr. The history isn’t painted with a patriotic slant, if that makes sense. Ethan considers himself a servant of the crown, but he does understand the plight of the people in the colonies. The activities of Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty aren’t assumed to be correct and aren’t written to make a heart bleed red, white, and blue with all the patriotism. Instead it focuses more on the everyday man’s outlook and how it does or doesn’t affect his life.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Davis – was your favorite?

Ethan, of course. One thing that I’m often guilty of is giving male characters in an urban fantasy setting the “Harry Dresden” test and making unjust comparisons. I think part of this reason is because so many male urban fantasy leads have similar qualities that make it so easy to compare and contrast (and this is true of many female urban fantasy characters, too). I didn’t do this so much with Ethan because after a while he felt like a different breed of male protagonist. His experiences, his views on his own magic, really made his character feel a bit distinct. Jonathan Davis, who recently made it to my favorite narrators list, did a wonderful job of bringing Ethan to life with his narration, so that might’ve helped my view.

Any additional comments?

Usually, I find with books like this that the magic feels out of place in the story, but that wasn’t a problem here. Ethan is an interesting character whose flaws run a bit deeper than a self-deprecating self-view hidden behind quirky humor.

Predictable but interesting

While I cringed at the at the first moment of dialogue: 'you are mine!', The story was actually quite good. Is follow the traditional lines of magic in an urban setting, except that the magic is during the pre-Revolutionary War days in Boston. Think Dresden, if Dresden lived in the 18th century.

Part mystery, part love story, part character study, the tale yes the reader acquainted with Ethan, the protagonist. The story itself could be borrowed from Sherlock Holmes, the Dresden files,or any other similar mystery/ interesting character novel. Still, I found the story engaging enough to continue to its conclusion. If you like The Dresden Files novels, you will like this, but I would say The Dresden Files are better.

Historical Urban Fantasy

Set in 1765, in the early colonial era of Boston, Ethan Kaille is a man with a secret, if kept poorly. He is a conjurer, and it is this talent for spellwork that brings a wealthy merchant to his door seeking answers concerning the death of his daughter and the return of a stolen brooch.

The case is trouble from the very start, with other wealthy noteables of Boston weighing in, a rival theiftaker objecting to Ethan taking her clients, and the authorities disliking his 'witchcraft'. When Ethan finds that another conjurer is to blame, he is warned off the case. He should leave it alone, for the conjurer is far more powerful than he, but this conjurer has killed more than just this girl, and it is up to Ethan to stop him.

It's urban fantasy set inside the build up of the Revolutionary war, and it's thoroughly entertaining.

I wanted to like it more...

Let me start this review with the preface that I love Johnathan Davis and everything he narrates. That being said, I really wanted to like this book more than I ended up doing. It's a murder mystery (sort of) set in pre-revolution Boston, about a magician Ethan who works as a thief taker. As a murder mystery it's not exactly interesting, it tries to focus more on the magic side of things.

The book was too long and rather repetitive. It wasn't that it reiterated plot points again and again (like some mysteries), but the scenes seemed to repeat. It could easily have been pared down quite a bit. The character's motivations were a little vague, especially Sophira. There were times that it felt like things were happening just so that Ethan could get beaten up more. For a supposedly smart guy, Ethan takes a long time to figure out some seemingly basic plot points. There seems like lots of interesting back story that could be expanded upon in further books, but even on the strength of Johnathan Davis's narration (which is absolutely excellent as always), I'm not sure I'll be getting any of the rest of the series.

Original, compelling and addictive

"Thieftaker" is not just a modern urban noir supernatural detective story dressed up in a period costume, it is driven by the events and the mindset of the period, which gives it a distinctive and intriguing flavour.

It is driven as much by character as by plot. Our hero is not an easy man but he is one you could learn to care about. The people who threaten or help him (sometimes the SAME people) have motives and emotions of their own that make them much more than plot devices.

The supernatural world is well thought through and skillfully revealed and the plot stands up as a detective/thriller story in it own right.

Jonathan Davis narrates the book with a steady voice that has exactly the right pitch and pace to get the most from this tale.

I've already ordered the next in the series and I have high hopes of it.

A Unique Blending of Historical and Urban Fantasy

If you could sum up Thieftaker in three words, what would they be?

Any additional comments?

Thieftaker, being my first foray into a historically accurate setting with an urban fantasy twist, was a wonderfully unique read for me. The intermingling of actual historical figures and places experiencing first hand a spell casting thieftaker was very well done. I especially enjoyed D.B. Jackson's conduit for Ethan Kaille's power, uncle Reg. All the characters are brought to life very well through Mr. Jackson's writing, as well as portrayed well in voice by Johnathan Davis. All in all a very enjoyable story.

Dresden Files in revolutionary Boston

Plenty of historical fiction mixed with urban fantasy. Narrator sounded too similar to James Marsters, which was weird.

Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry

A new twist on pre-Revolutionary Boston

I liked this book despite a certain annoyance with the main character who seemed to lack good sense much of the time. Sense of place was terrific and I enjoyed the cameos of real historical figures. I was disappointed, however, in Jonathan Davis' narration. I normally enjoy his performances, but this was so deadly slow that I had to speed up my player, making him sound a bit like Donald Duck. I plan to give this series another opportunity to make me love it.

Repetitive, repetitive, and repetitive

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

It would have been nice if anything ever happened.

Would you ever listen to anything by D. B. Jackson again?

Not until he learns that the correct pronunciations of breeches is "britches". He uses similar simplistic pronunciations of waistcoat and victuals. If you're going to narrate a period novel, please send 10 minutes with the dictionary first.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The premise is an interesting one and some of the minor characters are quite interesting.

Cool concept that went no where.

Would you try another book from D. B. Jackson and/or Jonathan Davis?

I was drawn to this book by the basic premise but it turned out to not deliver. It had a poor plot, repetitive action and two dimensional characters. Nothing of interest is done with the historical figures who show up in minor rolls.

Would you ever listen to anything by D. B. Jackson again?

Probably not.