A Thief's Gift

A Thief's Gift #1

by James Haddock

Jamethon Trent, the second son of a low-ranking baron, once again finds himself in the city jail. This is nothing new for Jamethon; after being driven from home by an overbearing father and a bully older brother, he became a thief to survive. Thief he may be, but he only steals from thieves—which, it turns out, is a dangerous profession, as robbed thieves hold a grudge. Jamethon’s life is never the same after a dying cell mate, a thief mage, gifts him a pair of enchanted gloves. The gloves are keys to what the mage calls the “side realm,” a dimension that exists alongside the real world. The gloves allow the wearer to reach into the side realm and steal whatever they can reach. However, the gloves turn out to be more of a curse than a gift, as fate takes particular delight in making Jamethon’s life . . . exciting at every turn. Kings, generals, assassins, mages, spies, and thugs—he meets them all, and all seem to want to kill him. On the upside, the gloves does give him an advantage, but before he can use the advantage, he has to learn to use his ghost hands, to enter the side realm to become a ghost walker. Once he achieves that, he’ll be unstoppable.

Genres: Fantasy

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 25, 2025

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 😯🎶

This kindle ebook novel is from my Kindle Unlimited account

This is a new author to me I was not disappointed. He is jail where an old man gives him gloves and a cloak. His whole world 🌐 changes with all kinds from magic. He helps the poor by stealing from the criminals. It all ends happily. 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

I would recommend this novel and author to readers of romantic family and friends relationships fantasy world 🌐 adventure novels 🏙 🌃 2025 😙🙃

[Clarence M Brown III · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally!

If you like stories full of convoluted plots, harems, chapters from different characters view points that makes your head spin, these books are not for you!! If you like stories that let you live in them, see the story as you read, relax and enjoy the tale without horrible editing, welcome to Haddock's World! Now, if his fans could just get him to write follow- on books of every book he's written...

[Francisco Godoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

laundry list of events

There is no plot really. Just a lost of events. No tension or conflict of any sort. The MC is a Mary Sue

[Michael Gnizak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid book that entertains.

The story shares several themes with other stories by Mr. Haddock, but explores them in a new and exciting way. He does tend to use many of the same type of plots for a lot of his books, they all tend to have the same feel. I think of it as ‘iconic’ story telling as apposed to ‘iconic’ characters (this Indiana Jones. The character doesn’t really grow or change, that’s an iconic character as apposed to a growth type character so common in coming of age, hero’s journey type stories.) The plots in many of his books are similar but different. Worth reading in my opinion but fairly predictable if you’ve read other books by him. I really liked some of the differences this one had, the mercenary companies was pretty neat. The weapons and trains was a fun setting.

There were a fair number of typos but nothing to erroneous.

Bit of a spoiler:
Note to the author:
One plot point I notice as a sudo-plot hole, in the beginning the journal warns to be careful about being careful around mages. I expected this to come into play later, but despite encountering several mages, it never was an issue or weakness he needed to worry about. I thought his could be a good way to balance his strengths and add tension, but you never built on it.

[Franziska Tinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly can say,

that it is the first time I been reading non-stop any book, actually literally, inhaling the words off the pages, this story is that breathtaking! 😲🤓😳

I don't know that I ever read a book that is so well written! Thank you James
Haddock (if that is your actual name 🙃??), if you know what I mean..😁

Then, why minus 1 gold star? Towards the last third or thereabouts, I had trouble believing the rest of the story. It simply went a "nudge" too long for me, just a nudge. That it all is unbelievable is what makes this book and it's story so good! But for me you could have written: and I lived happily ever after, or almost ever-after, just a little sooner. Like, just before the automatic weapons came on board. It felt like I was overeating at a brunch. 😉 no disrespect intended.

Thank you James, for the most fun I had reading! Now I have to go ghosting a pavilion for myself and rest peacefully for a few years, so I can retake possession of my real self, well knowing, that such a story as the one you have concockted solely for my amusement will be almost impossible to find among all the millions of books available at Amazons bookstore. Thank you for keeping this story flowing and keeping it such incredible fun reading.

Btw, I have been reading for over seventy years!! Yes that long. So what I'm saying is, your imagination and your ability to keep it flowing so consistently, without falling off the stool, is amazing!. I am proud for knowing you through this story, and hoping that you have more such amazing stories to entertain us.

[Brett R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story!

I've only recently discovered this author, and I've enjoyed his books so much, I've read like five in a row. Basically, gorging on them! I know that I shouldn't, because I'll run out of books way too soon, but I can't help myself!
Except for missing or extra words, the stories themselves are very well plotted. The MCs are strong and well filled out. And the supporting characters fill in the plot well.
For this story, 'A Thief's Gift,' the MC starts out overnighting in a jail cell and ends up wealthy and married. He goes from being a thief, just trying to survive, to a magical artifact using mercenary, to a magician, and finishes as a newly married beginning merchant.
Oh, but the journey he takes to get there is fascinating.!!!
My only complaint is the editing. Too many 'to v. too' mistakes, as well as missing helper words, like "got done" should have been "that got done." [Not an actual remembered phrase, just the gist.] I took the time to highlight and comment on the majority of the mistakes that I spotted, but I might have missed some. After all I, I wasn't being paid to be an editor! I sure hope that they take the time to go through and fix them! That way, when I go back to re-read them, which I definitely will, I can just enjoy them!
Seriously, if you enjoy well written fantasy and sci-fi without gratuitous sex, you can't go wrong with James Haddock's books.

[Jake · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Ok Story

Author Haddock’s stories read like a military after action report. If that’s your style, great?

The stories generally have an extremely OverPowered main character, who just gets more and more overpowered as time goes by, with almost no build to it.

The authors personality comes through as well, with that American jingoistic outlook on the Bible, God, and Christianity. In the books I’ve read. Usually mentioned just a couple or a few times before ignored later on.

The magic systems in his books are generally very similar, and pretty boring in how overpowered they are.

It’s a story. It’s semi interesting. The authors flaws carry through too much for me to give it more than 2.5 out of 5.

[Ford Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy fun read. Lots of plot holes and plot armor.

Like all of the authors works, this book is readable, fun and simplistically fulfilling. Most of the authors work center around a main character, who with overpowered abilities changes the world around him like a man who's won a billion-dollar lottery ticket.
This book is the same, weaving money and magic with the reminisce of an ex-military person dreaming.
I found the book simple and easy to read however, it needs better editing. The story loses its way and becomes convoluted. It's as if the author merged his notes and outline without having a professional editor check the story afterwards. The main character jumps around different plot lines with seemingly different objectives each time the main character's motivation changes. It gets tiresome to a degree.
It's a very simple easy read but the main character lacks gravitas and your left feeling unfulfilled at the end. You enjoy the roller coaster but you realize you waited 3 hours for two and a half minute ride. This book makes you feel the same...

[Jan Gable · Rating 5 out of 5]

And there it goes another ball out of the Park!

Totally awesome story, the kind that keeps you up till 3am! I had to get out and buy it so I could show as a verified purchaser. James writes books where by the end you are happier and more relaxed than when you started. Just what I need in our world today. Keep writing James and I’ll keep hoping that the next one will be a sequel to some of the books you left open ended with characters that I dearly love.

[Michael Wooten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once more unto the breach

Another very enjoyable read. This time there was no romantic betrayal, which I liked as I am a romantic, but honest to know not every story is HEA. I do notice that several of the magical elements seem to hold through the last few fantasy books, well if it works, don't try to "fix" it. I would love to see another steampunk. And as a career vet, you know each and every world created will have the magic elixir of life, coffee.

[LWM · Rating 3 out of 5]

This began with a compelling storyline that took a firm hold of my interest. . .

. . .largely due to our main character and hero, Jamethon Trent. The best feature(s) of our remarkable, highly intelligent young hero turns out to be his collection of personal characteristics that are not just extraordinary, but surprisingly adaptable and completely untapped by our young hero. Yep, he had no idea he was anybody special, largely, in fact, because he had to endure verbal & physical beat-downs most of his young life from his own father and older brother. When you hear how worthless, useless, pathetically weak and stupid you are, the words imprint on the psyche, the mind, until it's all you know about yourself. Yet, Jamethon didn't altogether believe what had been beaten into his very young, weaker self, and when he grew stronger and more than his brother, he broke away from his family, despite his failures had been orchestrated by his scheming, selfish brother.

Basically, he gets lucky -- he meets and does a kindness for the right person at the right time, reaps rewards that connect him to his mage roots (inherited from an ancestor - interesting point, as his family members had every access to magic that he had, but their ignorance, lack of affinity, connectivity, and the right timing left them wanting), spilling his essence into the magical universe so he seemingly becomes inundated by magical beings and artifacts. That's the fun and intriguing part, where someone great like him gains magical awards, rewards, access, and skills. He switches personas, names, and identities as easily and quickly as he changes his clothes, then smashes, runs over, sneaks into, and topples kingdoms, conspiracies, mobs and gambling cartels in the process.

Loved the story until he allows a female to gain power, authority, and EQUAL CONTROL over all he has gained and acquired through his hard work, risk taking, ingenuity, intelligence, surviving near death, and exerting his aura of charisma, will, and perception. I think Trent's acceptance of and establishing Ani so quickly and completely as his "equal" was proven to be a mistake by her threatening him and manipulating him by using *gasp*, *sigh* really lame sexual tactics. Yep, so disappointing. She's not even that great in power, nor is she really as brainy ad he is. Now, if she had some awesome natural mage skill and power, or brilliant commercial talent? Yes! However, she has minor magic and can heal a little with herbs and potions. Not a fan, and her position brought Jameson-Len-Brunt et al and his brilliance down a couple stars.

Three stars. If a woman must be added to what was already an amazing story & plot, she should be likeable, powerful, naturally gorgeous, kind and sweet. You know. . .perfect. 🤗

[quinn bierbaum · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must say that the huge volume of glowing reviews on this is puzzling to me. This novel is very typical of self publishing. The writing is amateurish, the plot is nonexistent, the characters have virtually no personality or motivation, and you won’t find any interesting ideas or themes at any point.

Most critically, however, it lacks vision. Haddock claims to be a “pantser,” and that shows in A Thief’s Gift. The idea of “pantsing” or discovery writing is that the author discovers the story as they write, but reading this story gives the impression that the author made it all the way to the end without discovering anything. At no point is it ever clear what the events are building to, and in the end they don’t really build to anything.

Many of the other reviews point out that the protagonist is overpowered or a Mary Sue, some as a positive, and I don’t necessarily consider that a problem, but a hero who never faces any credible resistance is inevitably boring. The story’s many villains rarely survive the chapter following their introduction, which makes the hero feel powerful but also leads to the reader feeling adrift as there is no character or motif to represent the ongoing conflict. There really isn’t an ongoing conflict. Instead, stuff just happens until the word count is reached, and then it ends.

The hero is also a dirtbag. He tortures and kills with no remorse and laughs it all off with the rest of the cast who, of course, love him. By the end of the story I was rooting for his demise. It’s particularly frustrating, since the opening hints at tragic comeuppance in his future, but it never comes.

And even if all that doesn’t bother you, the writing craft is just poor. Not only did this manuscript never get a second draft, it never even got proofread. Characters names are spelled inconsistently and the author’s distracting ticks are everywhere. If you do decide to read this, and you don’t want to remember it, take a drink every time a character nods. I’m willing to bet that I put more effort into revising this review than Haddock put into revising his book.

I have more complaints. The only female character with a personality trait loves shopping (not that the male characters are any more developed). But I’ll end it there. I commend Haddock for publishing his work and sharing it with us. Work of this quality is more typical in the world of fanfiction, so I respect the him for having the creativity to imagine his own characters and worlds. A Thief’s Gift, however, is a very weak book, and based on the reviews I was expecting something much stronger.

[Curtis Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story centers on a protagonist who gains magical powers by wearing enchanted objects. Initially, this concept holds promise, but things escalate far too quickly. Partway through the book, an abrupt explosion turns him into an absurdly overpowered mage. From that point on, his magic becomes essentially limitless—he can do anything, anywhere, at any time, with no real restrictions.

This lack of consequences for his powers removes any real tension from the story. Conflicts are resolved instantly, often without any buildup or meaningful struggle. The protagonist simply arrives, casts a spell, and eliminates the problem. There are no engaging fight scenes or stakes—just a series of effortless victories. As he continues to gain one powerful ability after another, the narrative loses any sense of challenge or growth. By the end, he’s teleporting around the globe, solving problems for various kingdoms like a magical fix-it man.

On the structural side, the book suffers from frequent and disorienting scene jumps. The story will suddenly shift from one location to another with no transition or explanation, often mid-paragraph. This makes it difficult to stay grounded in the plot.

Additionally, the writing leans heavily on “telling” rather than “showing.” The author often uses short, abrupt statements to convey events or emotions, which isn’t inherently bad—but the overuse of this style makes the prose feel choppy and flat. Combined with the lack of real conflict, the overall result is a story that quickly becomes monotonous and hard to engage with.

[Jed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disjointed plot

In the story, the main character receives magic by wearing objects. Later in the story, a very abrupt explosion turns him into a full-fledged mage that’s completely overpowered. The magic used by the main character is also all powerful. Essentially, he can do whatever he wants with impunity. The conflict in the story also is resolved abruptly because he’s overpowered he gains one incredibly powerful ability after the other and by the end of the book he’s teleporting all over the world, solving issues for any kingdom than has them.

His magic also has no consequences. He can use it whenever and however, he wants what this means is that all the conflicts are meaningless because he takes care of them almost instantly with no trouble. There are no fight scenes, just him executing the bad guy.

On the formatting side, the novel frequently jumps from one scene to the next with no Dedication. What I mean by a scene is if the character suddenly finds himself in a different location with no explanation from one paragraph to the next, that is a scene jump to me.

There’s also a lot of “telling” instead of showing. The author use a significant amount of very choppy statements to explain , which isn’t terrible. However, there’s so much of it that it makes it hard to be immersed in the story. Add on the lack of any real conflict or difficulty, and the story gets kind of boring.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a kingdom building story line but instead of a kingdom the MC builds a life. I have read books 1 & 2 and in 1 the "kingdom" is essentially built while in 2 it is defended and expanded.

The MC has a lucky encounter in jail and receives "shadow gloves" (I don't recall if that is what the book callse them or not). As the abilities granted by these gloves are otherwise unknown in the world the MC has a great deal of power almost immediately but proceeds cautiously. Still the MC, thanks to his abilities and a few random encounters, quickly finds himself drawn into the workings of generals and kings.

While I greatly enjoyed this story it does have one major negative. The author was unwilling to write a story where his MC had to actually investigate and figure things out. As a result every bad guy the MC kills has a journal or otherwise leads directly to the next piece of the puzzel. This really moves the story along but at the cost of exceeding simplicity. To be fair the over all story for both books is complex due to the number of players and one really great thing the author did was show how simple plans can be virtually impossible to deduce from the outside because of independent actions taken by others. Personally I think that list bit alone makes these books worth the read.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out with intriguing magic, but then as the story went along, everything just kept getting handed to the main character until he became ludicrously overpowered, with not a lot of explanation behind the magic system except that it was magic and could do anything. He just stumbled across the ability to walk in a side realm and easily bypass everything and everyone, and became a one-man show that could topple kingdoms and armies single-handedly, especially when he woke up from a coma w extra, unexpected mage abilities, viola! Also, the killing of the majority of the side and filler characters was too blasé for me, to the point that they all felt like puppets just filling the scenes and not real people, because how could one person so casually murder so many people and still have any humanity? Or have the reader like and/or identify with the main character at all? I didn’t really like him at all for how casually cruel and cold he was with all the killing and torture, and wasn’t sure why the love interest at the end, or anyone else, would really like him. So while it started out interesting and creative, not my favorite read.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 2 out of 5]

“A Thief's Gift” is an odd read.
At first I though it was a variation on some kind of litRPG.
And it is, though without any regard to levelling-up.
The main character starts as a thief, comes into possession of powerful artefacts ideally suited to his profession, and, as the story progresses, everything he needs more or less falls into his lap.
There is a story of sorts but it is mostly a compendium of events.
One oddity is that he meets others who have similar powers but the non-magical world seems completely oblivious to what they can do. Bank vaults, for example, aren't protected and Jamethorn Trent can simply waltz in and take what he wants without fear of being caught.
Another problem, how to store very large amout of good, is revolved by a plethora of magical endless storage devices.
It's actually quite readable but it isn't very good.
2.5 Stars, brought back to 2 Stars.

[Cherry Mischievous · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Thoughts:
The book started with the thief in the medieval prison. It wasn't the most riveting of introductions! I had a hard time getting into the story, at all! But, this being a James Haddock work, I know that this is going to be an enjoyable read. And it is!! And I plodded on...

The thing is, Ani's history was never told, was it? Where did she came from? Where is her family? And I want to see Michael and Tilly get married!!

So, same powers. Same theme. Same ideas and same elements to the story from James Haddock's previous works. But different place and different names. Same old tune, different day. But you know what? I still enjoyed every minute of it!!

After all that moaning, this book still gets a 5 out of 5 with me.

Quantitative Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 4
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 5
Plot = 4

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

[Sean P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Written OP Protagonist Mystery

The characters were a bit one dimensional, but the mystery and story kept me turning pages. I prefer a single protagonist story and that is what you will get. The MC was very OP and did not really have to work to get his powers, but I stilled enjoyed the story.

For me stories really boil down to one thing: Hold your attention and keep turning the pages. I read it in a day and stayed up past my bedtime even though I had to work early the next day. That is what I call a 5 star review.

[Joseph McRae Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contrived problems, one-dimensional characters

The story has potential but is poorly executed. One-dimensional, unemotional characters. The main character is the only one that ever does anything interesting, making the antagonists boring and not very scary. The MC is also so ridiculously overpowered that there are no challenges for him, also making HIM boring. He never makes mistakes or misjudges a situation. Yawn.
Lots of typos too, needs editing. Not quality writing, though there will be people who like it.

[Fat Frog · Rating 1 out of 5]

A thief gets 2 items, and suddenly he is a trained killer. Huh? Seriously, he just starts murdering everyone, and he seems to care nothing about it. To this guy, killing is like eating breakfast or brushing your teeth. Feels so unrealistic.

Supposedly everyone who wore the Gloves, and Cloak all died poor and alone.... HOW????? It is massively easy to steal everyone's money with these gloves.

Then he started chopping off 36 hands, with zero thought, torturing people by cutting off fingers and ears with no reaction. I'm out.

Zero tension, zero emotion, zero real plot

DNF 29%

[candel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all of his books..

And I read and listen to them frequently. I like fantasy but I want it to be fun, interesting and clean. He writes with an understanding of battle, logistics and strategy. He takes chances on iffy characters but meets betrayal head on. He treats women with kindness & respect until they prove they aren't worth it.

Good stories.

Please, please, please finish the Duty Trilogy!

[Robert Spellmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far too brutal. Grisly.

I read for education and entertainment. The grisly killing in this book is neither.

Amazon RECOMMENDED it. Amazon really needs a working algorithm. Kindle insights says I've read about 350 weeks in a row. There is ample data for recognizing my reading preferences. Unless.. hmm... Is Amazon including books I immediately returned after downloading and searching the text?

[Jim Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it pretty much straight through

I enjoyed this immensely. Characters were believable and well motivated. The epilogue was fantastic!

Did have a few spellcheck typos. My two real issues were that other hazers were seemingly unable to use the realm and the sheer (magic/mana) cost of 1000 wooden men that are individually able to execute complex orders stretches the fabric of the universe

[Volpot · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. OK for reading on the beach or on an airplane. No real plot, story, or character development. Just a simplistically told "story" which is actually just a recitation of disconnected events surrounding a period in the life of a Mary Sue thief/mage. I actually thought I had mistakenly bought one of those LitRPG books as every time the MC killed some mage/memeber of royalty he received another magic item to make him more powerful. I honestly expected to be told he had "leveled up".

[Nick Pugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book!

This book was a great deal of fun to read. I read it in one day practically in one sitting and loved it. It was a fun departure from some of the books I've read recently that have just been the main character getting his ass kicked over and over. This main character is quick on his feet, has a nimble mind able to adapt and wins more than he loses. I enjoyed the world created and so many other things in this book.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and mostly light hearted

From a set of magical gloves and a cloak, the second son of a noble grows from caught thief to a power in an unbelievably short time. The story progresses fast, details are vague and there are some predictable interactions and outcomes. If you are looking for a fantasy with magical items in a modernistic medieval setting, this is a lightly amusing read.

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast paced fun story!

This is my first books from this author and I am looking forward to reading more! This story has a fast pace and enjoyable characters. It's not a deep philosophical read, but rather a fun fast paced story with characters you find yourself rooting for. There are some editing things, like most independent authors have, but nothing that takes away from the story. You will be glad you gave it a read.

[Lyn Misselbrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rattling good read

It was hard to put down. I was immediately engaged by the principal character. Not cynical but clear eyed about political energies with a moral centre leaning towards fairness/justice. Interesting mix of technology and magic [mid-20th century sci-fi/fantasy seldom mixed these together; partly, I suspect, because one person’s magic is another’s technology ... doh!].
Looking forward to reading more of a (hopefully) long series.

[Jonny0z0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

uncertainty a good story

It was entertaining with some baffling moments . body swapping seems like a bit of an issue you might have an extensional problems with . The Romance seemed to appears out of nowhere , and seemed kinda off . The thieving seemed kinda an afterthought after the killing and intrigue , and boy does he kill and torture with the casualness of a psychopath . Beyond this the characters were intriguing and the story was good . I will continue the journey!