THE STOLEN Review - Liz Braswell

The Stolen by Liz Braswell
My Recommended Age Group: Young Adult to Adult
Released: August 31, 2004
Other work: The Fallen, The Chosen (Nine Lives of Chloe King, Volume Three)
Our Rating:

From Goodreads:

She argues with her mother. She occasionally skips class. And she alternately crushes on two totally different boys.
But Chloe King is by no means your typical teenager. The girl can scale buildings and see in the dark. Sometimes, at night, she even likes to leap from rooftop to rooftop. Yes, Chloe has the instincts and ability of a cat. And that makes her unique indeed.

It also makes her a wanted woman.

Because the Order of the Tenth Blade does not deal kindly with people like Chloe. It stalks them. Preys upon them. And wants many of them -- like Chloe, for instance -- dead.

My thoughts:

Have you ever come across those series where the first book makes you think, "Hmm, this is going to be good!"  Then you pour through the second book and just sit speechless for a bit?

Yep, that's what happened to me this weekend.  I recently finished reading The Fallen, the first book in The Nine Lives of Chloe King.  I was left wondering after that book so went and found the second book.  Just as the first was, THE STOLEN, the second book in this series, was a quick read and packed with enough action and emotion to make me lose myself completely in the story.

The Fallen introduces us to Chloe King, our smart, spunky, and slightly feline heroine of the series.  She discovers within the story that she is a member of the ancient race of the Mai, and feline race whose existence has been recorded since the time of the ancient Egyptians.  Hunted by the human assassins, The Order of the Tenth Blade, Chloe discovers that her life is in jeopardy shortly after discovering that her new abilities exceed simple cat-like reflexes.

Continuing the story in THE STOLEN, Liz Braswell explains more about the Mai and their history.  We get to learn who they are, where they come from, and what has happened to the mighty race within its recent history.  Schooled in Egyptology herself, Braswell really gives the story a lot of color and realism with the ancient myths.  If I had to pick one thing, that would be what made THE STOLEN a complete winner for me.  It was perfectly evident that Braswell did her research and the way she explained and incorporated the ancient Egyptian gods made for a brilliant book that was not only easy to follow, but addictive as well.

Going beyond simple introductions to Chloe's life, we see the action kicked up a notch within the pages of THE STOLEN.  Now we discover that there is more behind The Order's need to slaughter the Mai.  More than that, it seems that darker plots arise around Chloe, making life even more dangerous for her and the people around her.

New characters and new scenery add an interest factor to the book that is sure to keep readers entertained throughout THE STOLEN.  Sometimes with a series, even though the story may be good, reading about the same characters in the same settings book in and book out can get old.  While not completely throwing us into a different world from the one we were accustomed to in The Fallen, Braswell, does change THE STOLEN up a bit, adding newer dimensions to keep us attached.

As I've mentioned in my review of The Fallen, this series, The Nine Lives of Chloe King, was picked up by ABC Family and will be premiering on that network June 14th.  Along with many others, I was one who thought the previews looked fantastic and then only later discovered that the show was based on a book series.  If you're one of those people who enjoy reading the books that go along with a show or movie, I suggest picking these up.  So far the story has proved to be fascinating with just the right amount of drama and otherworldly feline awesomeness.

Again, if you are looking for these books online, you may need to look under the author name Celia Thomson.  The combined edition (three books in one) comes out in June under Liz Braswell, but previous editions were published under the name Celia Thomson.

Looking for more Chloe King posts?