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The Light Thieves #3
The Light Thieves and the Terrifying Dawn
The third and final action-packed eco-techno-adventure in The Light Thieves series from Helena Duggan, bestselling author of A Place Called Perfect.
People know that the sun is being stolen by tech-billionaire Howard Hansom, who's been spinning everyone a massive lie.
The only person who can stop him from plunging the world into darkness is the mysterious White Rose. She must keep her identity a secret, so she's been sending out coded letters hoping good people will find them and work out what's going on. Young heroes, Grian, Shelli and Jeffrey have been deciphering her letters and are close to solving all the puzzles. But they need one more set of clues to help them in their quest.
Can they find the White Rose before it's too late?
People know that the sun is being stolen by tech-billionaire Howard Hansom, who's been spinning everyone a massive lie.
The only person who can stop him from plunging the world into darkness is the mysterious White Rose. She must keep her identity a secret, so she's been sending out coded letters hoping good people will find them and work out what's going on. Young heroes, Grian, Shelli and Jeffrey have been deciphering her letters and are close to solving all the puzzles. But they need one more set of clues to help them in their quest.
Can they find the White Rose before it's too late?
- GenresMiddle Grade
320 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2024
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Helena Duggan
14 books375 followersI am from Kilkenny, a medieval, haunted city in the south of Ireland, which was the inspiration for the town in A Place Called Perfect. I write stories full of adventure because I get bored really easily.
A Place Called Perfect was my first book. It was published in August 2017 and was a Waterstones Book of the Month. It won numerous awards including Crimefest Children's Book of the Year and was nominated for the Irish Book Awards and Waterstones Children's Prize.
The series is a bestselling series has sold over 230,000 copies in the UK and counting and is published in 13 languages to date. Perfect has also been optioned for an animated TV series by Jellyfish Productions.
The Light Thieves is my new eco/tech adventure series that has just been launched to rave reviews. I look forward to hearing how it's received by the World at large.
When I'm not writing or designing I'm hanging around with Robbie, my husband (who loves climbing mountains), my daughters Jo and Bobbie and our crazy rescue dog Tinky.
A Place Called Perfect was my first book. It was published in August 2017 and was a Waterstones Book of the Month. It won numerous awards including Crimefest Children's Book of the Year and was nominated for the Irish Book Awards and Waterstones Children's Prize.
The series is a bestselling series has sold over 230,000 copies in the UK and counting and is published in 13 languages to date. Perfect has also been optioned for an animated TV series by Jellyfish Productions.
The Light Thieves is my new eco/tech adventure series that has just been launched to rave reviews. I look forward to hearing how it's received by the World at large.
When I'm not writing or designing I'm hanging around with Robbie, my husband (who loves climbing mountains), my daughters Jo and Bobbie and our crazy rescue dog Tinky.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 26, 2024
Helena Duggan is a genius. This trilogy was so much fun and I really respect her for the way she ended this book. The characters and world are wonderful. A magical children's story.
September 7, 2024
This is the third in the series and I haven't read book 1 or 2 so I was a bit worried when this arrived. I needn't have been, there is a fabulous "The Story so Far" section in 40 short notes in the front of the book. Brilliant!
And so we meet Grian, Shelli (and her fox, Nach) and Jeffrey are on the way to Quantum City on motorbikes.
They need to expose tech tycoon Howard Hansom and his lies.
The sun is getting darker and they know it is something to do with Howard. And they have to find out what is going on before the sun is extinguished and the world dies.
The main clue is to find The White Rose. she has sent four letters, these contain riddles which should help them save the sun. But they also need four puzzle pieces and they only have two of them.
They believe they have identified The White Rose, she is Adabelle, one of three sisters. The other two were Mother Wilde - Shelli's grandmother Aristabelle, and the other is Howard's mother Adorabelle. Meaning The White Rose is Howard's Aunt and she is trying to stop him.
They believe Adabelle is in Quantum City. But this was previously believed to be an uninhabitable place enclosed within a dome so that noxious gases could not escape! How are the children going to get in? Well, they have a secret weapon - their new friend Mushka is already in Quantum and she is a hacker. She is going to be able to get them in by hacking into the Howard's hComputer and using hCards and Proctors (Hansom's private guards) gloves to help the children remain undiscovered...
Can they find The White Rose? What else do they find in Quantum?
I really enjoyed this book! I didn't need to have read the first two to do so. The whole idea of this story is that a multi-millionaire tech tycoon could destroy the world but save his rich friends and those that are useful to him is a rather scary thought. There are plenty of such people in our world whose acquisition of money seems to give them ideas of world/space domination!
Thanks to Fritha at Usborne for the early copy of this book. This is out on 12th September.
And so we meet Grian, Shelli (and her fox, Nach) and Jeffrey are on the way to Quantum City on motorbikes.
They need to expose tech tycoon Howard Hansom and his lies.
The sun is getting darker and they know it is something to do with Howard. And they have to find out what is going on before the sun is extinguished and the world dies.
The main clue is to find The White Rose. she has sent four letters, these contain riddles which should help them save the sun. But they also need four puzzle pieces and they only have two of them.
They believe they have identified The White Rose, she is Adabelle, one of three sisters. The other two were Mother Wilde - Shelli's grandmother Aristabelle, and the other is Howard's mother Adorabelle. Meaning The White Rose is Howard's Aunt and she is trying to stop him.
They believe Adabelle is in Quantum City. But this was previously believed to be an uninhabitable place enclosed within a dome so that noxious gases could not escape! How are the children going to get in? Well, they have a secret weapon - their new friend Mushka is already in Quantum and she is a hacker. She is going to be able to get them in by hacking into the Howard's hComputer and using hCards and Proctors (Hansom's private guards) gloves to help the children remain undiscovered...
Can they find The White Rose? What else do they find in Quantum?
I really enjoyed this book! I didn't need to have read the first two to do so. The whole idea of this story is that a multi-millionaire tech tycoon could destroy the world but save his rich friends and those that are useful to him is a rather scary thought. There are plenty of such people in our world whose acquisition of money seems to give them ideas of world/space domination!
Thanks to Fritha at Usborne for the early copy of this book. This is out on 12th September.
September 11, 2024
The Light Thieves series is wrapping up with a bang in this last book. Helena Duggan, the brains behind "A Place Called Perfect," is back with more crazy adventures and a world in big trouble.
So, here's the deal: There's this super rich tech guy, Howard Hansom, who's been up to no good. He's literally trying to steal the sun! Now that everyone's figured out his game, it's panic time. The whole planet's about to go dark, and the only hope? Someone called the White Rose.
This White Rose character is pretty sneaky, sending out secret codes to get help. Three kids - Grian, Shelli, and Jeffrey - are on the case, solving puzzles like pros. They're so close to cracking the whole thing wide open.
But here's the kicker - they're running out of time. They need to find one last clue to finish the job. It's a race against the clock to find the White Rose and stop Hansom before he turns out the lights for good.
This book's got it all - cool eco stuff, sci-fi tech, mysteries, and tons of action. It's perfect for young readers who like their stories with a side of real-world issues.
New to the series? No sweat! There's a “The Story So Far…” section to catch you up.
The kids in the story are awesome - you'll feel like you're right there with them, trying to save the world. With twists and turns that'll keep you guessing, this book is a total page-turner for teens and tweens. It's not just about the thrills, though. It sneaks in some good stuff about taking care of the planet, working together, and standing up to the bad guys. So, if you're up for a wild ride with some cool kids taking on an evil tech genius, this book's got your name all over it!
So, here's the deal: There's this super rich tech guy, Howard Hansom, who's been up to no good. He's literally trying to steal the sun! Now that everyone's figured out his game, it's panic time. The whole planet's about to go dark, and the only hope? Someone called the White Rose.
This White Rose character is pretty sneaky, sending out secret codes to get help. Three kids - Grian, Shelli, and Jeffrey - are on the case, solving puzzles like pros. They're so close to cracking the whole thing wide open.
But here's the kicker - they're running out of time. They need to find one last clue to finish the job. It's a race against the clock to find the White Rose and stop Hansom before he turns out the lights for good.
This book's got it all - cool eco stuff, sci-fi tech, mysteries, and tons of action. It's perfect for young readers who like their stories with a side of real-world issues.
New to the series? No sweat! There's a “The Story So Far…” section to catch you up.
The kids in the story are awesome - you'll feel like you're right there with them, trying to save the world. With twists and turns that'll keep you guessing, this book is a total page-turner for teens and tweens. It's not just about the thrills, though. It sneaks in some good stuff about taking care of the planet, working together, and standing up to the bad guys. So, if you're up for a wild ride with some cool kids taking on an evil tech genius, this book's got your name all over it!
April 21, 2025
3.5
Didn't quite enjoy this as much as the other two in the series. I know it's a middle grade series, so maybe I'm just putting too much adult brain into it, but I felt that this one had a lot less interesting mysteries to figure out. The way it was written it was like the characters figured a bit of the puzzle out, then two chapters later they're like 'oh yes! So this must mean this!' when they'd already figured it out. Then again, a bit further in the book they would have the eureka moment again, as if it wasn't already something they'd discussed several times. The most obvious of these being when they 'found out' that
But even so, I did really enjoy this series overall, it's very current with how it deals with environmental and technological aspects (and billionaires) so I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves middle grade, but especially young people who need to see this fight!
Didn't quite enjoy this as much as the other two in the series. I know it's a middle grade series, so maybe I'm just putting too much adult brain into it, but I felt that this one had a lot less interesting mysteries to figure out. The way it was written it was like the characters figured a bit of the puzzle out, then two chapters later they're like 'oh yes! So this must mean this!' when they'd already figured it out. Then again, a bit further in the book they would have the eureka moment again, as if it wasn't already something they'd discussed several times. The most obvious of these being when they 'found out' that
But even so, I did really enjoy this series overall, it's very current with how it deals with environmental and technological aspects (and billionaires) so I would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves middle grade, but especially young people who need to see this fight!
February 16, 2025
I really enjoyed this series. The kids in the story are awesome and totally believable and the whole time it's like you are with them. And it's you trying to save the world. There are twists and turns that'll keep you guessing, this book is a total page-turner for everyone who enjoys an adventure. The whole time you are reading this you are learning about the environment and how to protect the planet.
September 13, 2024
The last in the trilogy and a solid finish for the gang. This is a series about climate, about how we treat the planet and how technology advancements can be both detrimental and a positive.
I thought the catch up at the beginning was really handy as it had been a while since I read the last book, it did still take me a fair few chapters to get back into the world.
I thought the catch up at the beginning was really handy as it had been a while since I read the last book, it did still take me a fair few chapters to get back into the world.
June 25, 2025
A big thanks to Usborne publishing and Fritha for sending me on this surprise.
I literally ran to read the first 2 books, because there was no way I was just reading a finale of a trilogy just like that.
In this book we have our 3 MCs Grian, Shelli and Jeffrey travelling to Quantum City on motorbikes of Riders of the Apocalypse with Shelli's fox, Nach right where we left them at the end of book 2. The Sun is losing its light rapidly and they have very little time to stop the tech billionare super villain mastermind Howard Hansom from completely destroying the sun and in turn earth. For this they have to solve the riddles set out in the letters from White Rose who they now know is Adabelle.
The story was super fast paced and gave a very relevant commentary on the environment, the tech industry, the top 1% and the current bid by them to convert the world into a tech oligarchy (yes we are talking about a certain someone whose name rhymes with Husk and then a few others). Hansom was such a perfect reperesentation of so many characters we know from across the world, that this felt like a prediction of future, hopefully not, lets make sure it is not!!
I literally ran to read the first 2 books, because there was no way I was just reading a finale of a trilogy just like that.
In this book we have our 3 MCs Grian, Shelli and Jeffrey travelling to Quantum City on motorbikes of Riders of the Apocalypse with Shelli's fox, Nach right where we left them at the end of book 2. The Sun is losing its light rapidly and they have very little time to stop the tech billionare super villain mastermind Howard Hansom from completely destroying the sun and in turn earth. For this they have to solve the riddles set out in the letters from White Rose who they now know is Adabelle.
The story was super fast paced and gave a very relevant commentary on the environment, the tech industry, the top 1% and the current bid by them to convert the world into a tech oligarchy (yes we are talking about a certain someone whose name rhymes with Husk and then a few others). Hansom was such a perfect reperesentation of so many characters we know from across the world, that this felt like a prediction of future, hopefully not, lets make sure it is not!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews