She just stole an ancient, enchanted relic. Now she’ll have to pay the price.Isabella used to be a small time thief for a big time gangster. Now, she’s a fugitive from him and his gang of thugs. Sure, she has managed to stay under his radar, but Scottie was always going to find her. And now he has.Her fragile sense of safety isn’t just broken, it’s shattered. She needs to get out of the city. … She needs to get out of the city. Pronto. Because Scottie Lebans isn’t just any mobster. He’s her ex-fiancé, and he’ll do anything to get her back.
She ends up in a dark alley behind a seedy bar with a stranger dying at her feet. She doesn’t know he’s a dark sorcerer. Or that the rune she pinched from his pocket has powerful magic.
She has no idea she just trespassed into a secret supernatural underworld, either. She just knows that whoever is after the stolen object is far worse than the ex she’s running from.
And they don’t just want the rune back.
They want vengeance…
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RUNE THIEF : (Book #1 Isabella Hush Series) : THEA ATKINSON.
WOW, WOW, WOW, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE
THIS BOOK & AUTHOR!!!
OMG, if that opening paragraph doesn’t grab you by the balls and hold your attention up close and personal by the short & curlies, I don’t know what does! It’s certainly the most unique opener I’ve ever read and had reeled me in from line one (sorry no spoilers)!
Urban Fantasy is my favourite genre & Thea Atkinson has been a long time favourite author.
I love reading her books, they take me into different worlds and allow me to do things my body just isn’t physically capable of, but at the same time allowing my brain to transform me into these characters ‘Skin Walking’ in essence, as if I am Isabella Hush, playing the title role and having the ride of my life!
Ms Atkinson’s is truly a gifted author whose talented writing brings their characters development right off of the page from mere words in black & white, transforming them into full flesh & bone, into real people in our minds, hearts and souls, just like our family friends and loved ones.
Some you adore and fall in love with along the way, while there are others equally well written whom you also love, but love to hate. These bring about the biggest response from me, especially if well written. It’s these characters I can not wait to see how Thea delves out their fate, punishment for being a total arsehats, what cruel & unusual punishment will occur as meet their fate? Will it be something simple & normal like a bullet to the brain or will the bast@DrS die screaming the horrid death they deserve & how traffic & detailed can it become? Will it be one of those classic endings you’ll remember for life, like the good Doctor from Hannibal Lecter?
We often take these characters into our hearts & homes, wishing we could know them in real life & have friends or loves just like them. So many totally unforgettable, still thinking of them long after the book has been closed & put back on the shelf. I have a feeling there may be 2 of them here in this series, but I need to read much more, because as of yet, they haven’t earned that statues, but I hope they do.
Isabella Hush is more than she seems.
A small slip of a woman often mistaken as a child. She’s a tough, street smart, a thief and hustler, great at solving puzzles on the go and currently on the run & hiding from a violent, controlling ex who runs a criminal empire with his fingers in everything, with feelers and minions everywhere.
Isabella is about to pull the job of her life. All for Incan Gold. A score so big, it’ll enable her the new start she so desperate desires. A means to an end to secure the finances she needs to escape and flee Scottie Lebans once and for all or will it?
Isabella Hush isn’t your stock standard American sweetheart, the girl next door type. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. She’s not nice, she’s not sweet, but can play the part to a T, and is about as far from a hero as a hero can get. Actually our protagonist would be better described as an anti-hero!
And as for the rest of the characters, I’m not sure whether there’s one decent person or human being among the lot.
But when the sh@# hits the fan and the job all goes horribly wrong, Isabella’s life will be forever changed, blowing her mind in a way she never thought possible and now she’s on the run again, but this time its not just from one person & his minions, its multiple people and multiple things!
Ms Atkinson creates a shadow world of everything deep, dark, scary and totally unbelievable.
A realm where the things made of nightmares live, hiding within the shadows of our own world able to blur the lines of one world to the other at whim, can she escape it, or will it swallow her whole?
Honestly what’s worse a sadistic, violent ex or the things that go bump in the night, with fangs, claws, fur, scales and tails that you only dared thought lived in nightmares, but nightmares are real, they come true too, just like dreams!
This is not your typical happily ever after story where girl meets boy, they fall in love, girl loses boy, then find their way back to each other and live a blissful life together, thank goodness, that’s so blasé and overdone.
But there’s enough action, drama & excitement in this fast paced novel to keep you glued to the book right from the start. And yes there’s some chemistry between a few of the characters, but will it pan out here, well you’ll just have to read it yourself (like I said, no spoilers here)!
Thea has created an intriguing bunch of both main & secondary characters completely & utterly unique.
While none of them are exactly good, not all are evil, or 100% bad, but at the same time we’re not really sure who or what they are or how they’ll grow, develop nor adapt over the series and that’s a good thing, there’s no predictability here.
And I am so eager to delve more into these other worlds, the world’s where the things from nightmares dwell.
In some of Ms Atkinson’s early work, I noticed a lack of detailed descriptive world building, while characters were well defined, easy to imagine and picture, some of the places, buildings or scenery were not as detailed, not as descriptive, but that of course comes with experience which I believe Thea now has in spades a great example of this comes in chapter 16:
This small paragraph reminded me of this authors capabilities to so aptly get my literacy juices flowing and I love the attention to detail here, and yes it’s not exactly world building in the sense of scenery, but it gives you a taste of her poetic licence.
‘All in all , creepy enough to make my skin try to crawl off my bones and slither up the stairs behind me. Which was exactly what I decided to do.’
And I for one can not wait for her world building in the coming books to put me through my paces, it’s one of my favourite aspects of Thea’s writing.
I really love the restraint the author has shown in this book, holding back on the romance and sex. While there were small glimpses, such as characters having thoughts or imagining how it would feel etc, that was all that was needed. Especially when you take into consideration isabella’s other relationship. Izzy would have been force against her will.
I praise & thank Thea for allowing both us & the characters to get to know one another before they start shoving tongues down each other’s throats and with the constant threat of rape in this book, I think it would have been in poor taste & Ms Atkinson has shown maturity & restraint where other authors would have just cashed in on the main character relationship aspect rather than to allow it to develop naturally over time.
Too often these days book relationships go with the metal to the pedal. Everyone wants the next big book couple.
One thing I can tell you, you’ll be glad you’ve read it and left wanting more,
I certainly was. And the good news, these books have been around for a while so there’s 1 prequel Slayer, and 4 current books available, with the 5th due to be released soon. There’s nothing better than a binge worthy series you don’t have to wait for!
I RATE RUNE THIEF
5 Stars Out Of 5 Stars!
I received an ARC Copy of this book from the author’s and this is my fair, honest and impartial review as always.
Reviewed By : Jewelz Pederick
From the
(Bye Love From The Crazy Australian BookWorm)!
Isabelle, or Sis is a thief and can crack even the hardest codes. She ran from a man named Scottie three years prior and is still on the lookout for him. If he finds and gets her, she will be caught and imprisoned in his world. On her latest job, she is out to steal Incan gold. It is a new lock to break and code…she does it~ She is attacked by two guard dogs but gets away. She also manages to have someone else pawn her things. She runs into a stranger on the streets who offers to help her but turns away from him. She runs into the same man in the pawn shop. She goes to a bar she regularly attends and is accosted by a brute of a man. She gets away but not unscathed! The man from the pawn shop is named Maddox! When she leaves the bar, the man that accosted her runs out and is hurt. She tries to help him but in turn steals some items. One is a tile marked with strange things on it. She tries to pawn it and Maddox ended up making it safe for her to leave. She contacts one of her people and she puts her in touch with someone who will buy it but she has to wait in the bar. A whole new world opens up to her! The tile is priceless and one part of a bigger puzzle that everyone wants! She will face numerous dangers, life and death situations, carry a mark that will finally save her…and hopefully can buy some protection! This is a new series that will leave you wanting more. I received a Reader’s Copy of this book and am leaving a voluntary review.
Rune Thief: an urban fantasy adventure novel (Isabella Hush Series Book 1) by Thea Atkinson is a wonderful story to read. This is book number one in this wonderful start to a brand new series that I fell in love with. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading aobut urban fantasy.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Readers Link.
One girl, a product of her environment and a past boyfriend that thought he owned her. Isabella is a thief and a very good one that longed for the good theist but what happened with the last one defies the belief of this world. Electric writing! Good book
I was gradually reeled in to care about the protagonist, even though I didn’t like her at first. The world building is pretty good and I ended up buying the sequels.
great fun, read the whole series and can’t wait for more.
I received this book free as an Arc copy, and all that was asked in return was an honest review. This was an amazing book I really enjoyed this book. World-building is exceptionally well done, and very descriptive. Heat factor was zero, and violence was mild. The storyline was about a woman who got herself into a whole lot of trouble more trouble than she knew what to do with. The main character’s name was Isabella, and she is a professional thief. She took something that she should have ran away from, and in doing so created a roller coaster ride full of danger, and scary twists and turns. The plot was very well developed, and left you wanting more. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves kick butt heroines, and fast action paced thrills. This is a series so there is more to come, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series it is addictive.
Thea Atkinson is a amazing author.
I love reading books she has written.
I highly recommend reading this..
The character of Isabella is so good…
Never give up!
Isabella has been running from her thug boss, Scottie, for a few years now. After her latest heist goes badly, she is hunted by paranormal beings who are seeking a tile that she acquired.
What’s a scrappy, never-give-up woman going to do when paranormal thugs, in addition to human ones come after her?
Read this action-filled book for an unusual set of players, unique action solutions, and a surprise ending!
I received a free ARC copy of this book and read it until it was time to get up in the morning. It had me hooked!
This book was a great read it held my interest all the way through it. I knew as soon as I started it I wasn’t going to be putting it down until it was done and then I would be disappointed when it was done that they wouldn’t be anymore. It was a well done book good characters, good plot, good background I could read forever if I had books like this one.
This was a book full of action and adventures. It is a good start to a series, with an original storyline and I’m interested to see how it plays out in future books.
A s a believer of the supernatural I enjoyed Thea’s look into the underbelly of their world. Thea also delves into darkness of humans and some crosspoints between the two. She is another wonderful paranormal mystery author who I’ll be adding to my list to follow.
Thea Atkins ‘ style is definitely out of the norm for paranormal fiction. Instead of cookie cutter good v. evil dimensions, the reader is given realistic heroines and anti-heros whose very psyche, while cold and apathetic are really enthralling to observe. These hosts of bizarre people takes recycled elements that I have came found really boring and transforms into delightfully dark world that is very addicting. Can’t wait for book 2.
Rune Thief is a good start to this series. It’s a little slow to begin with, but if you stick it out, it is definitely worth it. Ms. Atkinson develops her characters well and progresses them naturally. You like the good guy (Isabella) and dislike the bad characters. The story takes place in a modern city, so there doesn’t need to be a lot of world building, but what there is is well done. I’d definitely recommend this story if you like action, adventure and fantasy!
From beginning to end I found myself wondering if Isabella and her unnamed kitteh would survive. She is always the desperate underdog and I always root for the underdog. As a heroine she is a combination of ingenious and lucky because although she fumbles due to naivete, she manages to draw support and protective characters to her aid. Plus she is always willing to take action to be able to survive each adventure. I can recommend this book because I experienced the draw of the story and I believe other fans of the paranormal genre will find the same enjoyment with the read. I bought the book to experience Ms. Atkinson’s writing and wrote the review based on that.
I loved reading this book! It was intense, exciting, and original! It kept me on the edge of my seat! I loved it!
Rune Thief is a wonderful ride of a story. Isabella Hush has already gotten over her head. What she thought was a simple job has turned out to be much more complex, the rune she took wields a powerful magic. Turn the page and enjoy the show.
A thief who wanted just one more job to try and break away from her past as a thief finds it doesn’t go as she planned and is lucky to escape
with her life, tries to help a guy in the alley but going through his pockets finds a tile that causes her more problems than she can handle.
I recommend this book for all who enjoy reading about a gutsy human girl who finds out because of a tile she stole that there is a whole world of paranormals out there she never knew existed before.
This is a page turning book when a supernatural assassin and a sorcerer both come after her to get that tile.Turns out the guy she lifted the rune from was not human after all but a sorcerer who wants it back as does a supernatural assassin who has her in her sights now as well because of that rune
This is the first book in a new series which will keep the suspense, action and adventure coming to satisfy the wants of its readers I predict.
I was up all night ready this and hungry for more. This is the first book I’ve read by Thea Atkinson. She didn’t disappoint. The characters are real, believable and flawed, but you can’t help but root for Isabella. The plot kept me guessing and the world building was unique and interesting. If you’re still reading this review, stop already. Open the book and enjoy the story.
This is a really great book.