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HeartTheft #2
HeartTheft Book 2: Apocrypha
After his long and arduous chase brought Isidor time and again inches from his quarry - the mysterious Darcy, the "Heart Thief" - he found the tables turned on him, prisoner to the thief themself!
The enigmatic serval is full of surprises, not least of which is that, much to Isidor's distress, he rather enjoys their company. The thief seems equally flummoxed by their growing bond, but who can say what lies in their heart or motivates their decisions? Every new piece of information is cryptic, every feeling Isidor grapples with excruciatingly confusing. This only worsens the more Isidor learns about the conspiracy at the heart of the crime he has been attempting to solve.
The Ministry of Templar has finally begun to take interest in his investigation now that the noose is tightening. Isidor is forced into an unenviable position: maintain his role as a Templar while hiding what he knows, including potentially protecting Darcy from his very own Brothers-in-arms. The line between enemy and ally begins to blur, and where Church and State secrets are concerned, the penalty for betrayal can be blood.
It is hard to hold the heart of another in your hand under the best of circumstances. It is far harder when the world around you will not even recognize your love as real.
The enigmatic serval is full of surprises, not least of which is that, much to Isidor's distress, he rather enjoys their company. The thief seems equally flummoxed by their growing bond, but who can say what lies in their heart or motivates their decisions? Every new piece of information is cryptic, every feeling Isidor grapples with excruciatingly confusing. This only worsens the more Isidor learns about the conspiracy at the heart of the crime he has been attempting to solve.
The Ministry of Templar has finally begun to take interest in his investigation now that the noose is tightening. Isidor is forced into an unenviable position: maintain his role as a Templar while hiding what he knows, including potentially protecting Darcy from his very own Brothers-in-arms. The line between enemy and ally begins to blur, and where Church and State secrets are concerned, the penalty for betrayal can be blood.
It is hard to hold the heart of another in your hand under the best of circumstances. It is far harder when the world around you will not even recognize your love as real.
474 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 2, 2025
What I always love about Rukis’ books is that, aside from their stellar characters, there’s always a focus on a deeper message, an effort to understand what it is to be a person. In this duology, it was centered around the protagonist Isidor’s struggle to understand how his faith could stand under the pressure of realizing that the organized religion he’d followed his whole life was full of darker truths and corruption he’d never have guessed at. The outcome of this internal struggle was immensely satisfying, as was the culmination of the plot, and the places left open ended for other stories in the Red Lantern universe. I certainly look forward to returning to this world, and the high-quality characters and conflicts that I can always count on!
April 17, 2026
✨⭐️🌟💫🌌🌠 All the stars in the universe for this masterpiece of a novel. There is a good book, an amazing book, and then a book that you truly, truly enjoy from the bottom of your heart. It is a rare thing and one that I have come to treasure in the past few years.
The second part of this duology is even better than the first. The absolutely phenomenal character writing and the meaningful dialogue makes this easily the best book I have read so far in 2026. This book resonated with me in so many ways as someone who is religious but discomforted by the corruption that exists in various institutions worldwide. Isidor’s journey, mostly in the metaphorical sense, is deeply relatable and shows how powerful personal belief is compared to the oppressive views perpetuated by Church leaders and the upper classes. I am aware the foreword says this was not intended as an allegory for any human society but I can’t help but think of Rukis’ characters and worldbuilding as being more human than most others I’ve read about.
And that’s not even getting into Darcy. It’s rare to ever find a story that prominently features a nonbinary character, and if there’s any author that could depict one in a respectful manner, it would be Rukis. Darcy is just as good of a character as Isidor, and I am absolutely yearning for a story written from their perspective. Hell, any kind of sequel or continuation of HeartTheft would not only make my day, but probably my entire year. There is one plot point that I felt wasn’t addressed enough, that being the truth behind what happened to the Heart of Faith, but the positives were so strong that it barely mattered in the end.
My heart broke for Malachi, another amazing and very complex character. The tragedy of both his and Cillian’s deaths will stay with me for a while now.
I will think about this book for years to come just as I have with Rukis’ other works. I’m not sure if they’ll ever see this review but I mean it when I say this: thank you for writing some of the most beautiful stories I have ever read in the two and a half decades I’ve spent on this Earth. I’ve read literal hundreds of books, definitely over a thousand by this point, and yours have been the highlights.
Even if you’re not a furry, I implore you, please give Rukis’ books a try. You can buy them from https://baddogbooks.com as eBooks, or https://furplanet.com in physical format.
The second part of this duology is even better than the first. The absolutely phenomenal character writing and the meaningful dialogue makes this easily the best book I have read so far in 2026. This book resonated with me in so many ways as someone who is religious but discomforted by the corruption that exists in various institutions worldwide. Isidor’s journey, mostly in the metaphorical sense, is deeply relatable and shows how powerful personal belief is compared to the oppressive views perpetuated by Church leaders and the upper classes. I am aware the foreword says this was not intended as an allegory for any human society but I can’t help but think of Rukis’ characters and worldbuilding as being more human than most others I’ve read about.
And that’s not even getting into Darcy. It’s rare to ever find a story that prominently features a nonbinary character, and if there’s any author that could depict one in a respectful manner, it would be Rukis. Darcy is just as good of a character as Isidor, and I am absolutely yearning for a story written from their perspective. Hell, any kind of sequel or continuation of HeartTheft would not only make my day, but probably my entire year. There is one plot point that I felt wasn’t addressed enough, that being the truth behind what happened to the Heart of Faith, but the positives were so strong that it barely mattered in the end.
My heart broke for Malachi, another amazing and very complex character. The tragedy of both his and Cillian’s deaths will stay with me for a while now.
I will think about this book for years to come just as I have with Rukis’ other works. I’m not sure if they’ll ever see this review but I mean it when I say this: thank you for writing some of the most beautiful stories I have ever read in the two and a half decades I’ve spent on this Earth. I’ve read literal hundreds of books, definitely over a thousand by this point, and yours have been the highlights.
Even if you’re not a furry, I implore you, please give Rukis’ books a try. You can buy them from https://baddogbooks.com as eBooks, or https://furplanet.com in physical format.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews