Aztec Code

Thieves Like Us #2

by Stephen Cole, Ursula Höfker (Translator)

Jonah is feeling the pressure. A valuable artefact has gone missing, something that Nathaniel Coldhardt, criminal mastermind and Jonah's boss, desperately wants to get his hands on. Then a member of their elite team of thieves is kidnapped from under their very noses.

Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Action, Childrens, Crime, Fiction, Mystery

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

See also: Steve Cole.

Stephen Cole (born 1971) is an English author of children's books and science fiction. He was also in charge of BBC Worldwide's merchandising of the BBC Television series Doctor Who between 1997 and 1999: this was a role which found him deciding on which stories should be released on video, commissioning and editing a range of fiction and non-fiction titles, producing audiobooks and acting as executive producer on the Big Finish Productions range of Doctor Who audio dramas.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right from the beginning, there was a lot of action. Tye got kidnapped, they almost killed Jonah in the attack, and they are on a crazy mission involving a human sacrifice. I found Tye really annoying in this one because she is defending a guy who is obviously not worth it. He put himself first in the past, and then he did it again when he ran off like a coward. Overall, it was an interesting book. May or may not read the next one.

[Nolan]

I cannot remember a time when I have read a book with so much detail and so little excitement.

The Aztec Code is a novel written by Stephen Cole. The name suggests an interesting tale but the book doesn’t back up the title. Jonah Wish is in an elite team of teenage thieves lead by master criminal Nathaniel Coldhardt. Coldhardt plans every mission with absolute precision. So when Jonah and the rest of the team break into a highly secure compound to steal a precious sword, they can't quite believe it when they discover that someone has beaten them to it. Is Coldhardt losing his touch?

But there's worse to come. A member of the team is kidnapped - from their secret base, no less. Who has taken her and why? And is her abduction linked to the missing sword? There have been rumours in the underworld about a shadowy organisation called the Sixth Sun, who have shown interest in the sword, and now it's time for Jonah to do what he's best at: put the pieces together and decode the mystery. Literally.

In a mission which takes him from Guatemala to the jungles of Mexico, Jonah must rely on his unusual talent for codebreaking to try and decipher the connection before it's too late.

To be honest I didn’t enjoy this book because of how boring the action was. I cannot relate to this story because I am not a criminal but this can relate to the real world as their is plenty of gangs with kids my age and up. I would recommend this book to people who have too much time on their hands or fans of Stephen Cole. Other than those people I wouldn’t recommend this book as people who enjoy to read actual action books where you can imagine the story taking place in your head. You would be very disappointed.

[Utkrisht Fella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stephen Cole's "The Aztec Code" delivers a fast-paced, thrilling adventure. As the second book in the "Thieves Like Us" series, it plunges readers into a world of ancient mysteries and modern-day espionage. Expect non-stop action, clever puzzles and a race against time. A quick, engaging read for fans of high-octane thrillers and historical intrigue.

[Savita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books.
So. Dang. Much.
They've got everything--the sultry girl, the tougher girl, the sensitive boy, the pervy boy, and the Goth-ish boy. And they're all theives!
Tons of action, just a slight hint of romance, lots of crude humor...I couldn't be happier.

[Yas (whatifitsbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finds lustig, dass die immer noch so tun, als ob Übernatürliche Dinge total abwegig sind. Habt ihr den ersten Teil vergessen? 😂😂😂

Anyway, der Teil hat mir mehr gefallen als der erste! Ich mochte es, mehr über Tye zu erfahren :) Aber ich hoffe, dass die Gang im nächsten Teil öfter zusammen sind und wir auch mehr über Motti, Con und Patch lernen!

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Filled with potential, it ruins itself

[Kurisu · Rating 2 out of 5]

IT is pretty rare for me to not read a book through but I just didn't enjoy the voice of this book. DNF

[Red Tide · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

This is obviously a British book because of the writer's reluctance to introduce guns and gunfight to the action. I'm not a big fan of guns in my reading but I realized reading this book how used I was to them.

The action included a helicopter chasing a truck and I kept thinking why don't the good guys have a heavy machine gun if not an air to surface missile. They are not too surprised that they are facing a helicopter but they aren't armed for it. They're rich and criminals and in the U.S. where ordnance falls off the back of military vehicles and manufacturer's trucks all the time.

It says more about me than the writer. That example is a sample of the only thing that threw me about the action scenes. I got over that pretty quickly and without too much self-examination. The characters are interesting but it felt as if most of the main characters were fleshed out in the first book. Coming into the second book, left me with background gaps.

Why are the good thieves all teenagers working for an old, rich master criminal. The story felt like a combination of Scooby Doo and a British adventure (Indiana Jones with a knighthood maybe).

For the rest, The characters were adequately drawn and the dialogue made sense and fit the circumstances. The plot was twistier than it needed to be and felt contrived. Questions left unanswered are fine but some elements seemed to show up out of the blue.

The writing was great compared to a lot of science fiction that I've read over the last year but only adequate against things from Gamon and Stephenson and Moorcock.

No complaints really. Just my observations and I want to read the other book, soonest.

[FaithReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the first book in this series this second one was just alright to me. This heist was just way less interesting to me for some reason. I still really did enjoy the characters, although there wasn't a lot of character development. I am always team Con and Motti and until they get together I will be losing my mind, I totally missed their dynamics that we saw from the first book. The edgy and sexual jokes always surprise me, no one would dare to write anything like that anymore in YA. Will be reading the third book.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 3 out of 5]

The crew is back in action. This time they are looking to steal the sword of Cortes. Then find the secret of the eternal life. This was just as action-packed as the first, but the actual heists were not as cool. The Aztec storyline was a little uncomfortable, with its focus on human sacrifice. The lack of sensitivity was very early 2000s lit, but overall I enjoyed this ride.

[ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was so agonizingly boring. i do not like it. too much detail on little things that don’t matter. the storyline felt jumbled up without a clear direction. meh. wish i didn’t read. i had to force myself to finish it.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because my cousin gave me this. I felt removed from this story but I did enjoy they ending. I also enjoyed the characters for the diversity but not for who they were. I just could not connect.

[Pattie Kuhns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good YA series

I like this series, looking forward to reading the next. The teens make a good team. Coldhardt leaves something to be desired.

[Reich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está bien, he pasado un buen rato, aunque siento que la parte más interesante y entretenida ha sucedido en las últimas 50 páginas.

[Ashwini Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like Uncharted meets Mission Impossible.

[Petit-lips · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://lectures-petit-lips.blogspot.f...

- L'équipe de Nathaniel Coldhardt est envoyée en mission afin d'infiltrer un bâtiment militaire sous haute surveillance, pour y récupérer une épée que leur employeur veut à tout prix. Cependant l'épée n'est pas sur place et Tye, l'une des cambrioleurs d'élite, est kidnappée peu de temps après.
Jonah Wish et ses 4 collègues vont découvrir que cette épée a quelque chose de particulier et qu'une sorte de secte appelée le Sixième Soleil est à sa recherche pour accomplir une prophétie aztèque. Cette épée est celle d'Hernan Cortes, qui a conquis l'empire Aztèque avec seulement six cents hommes.

- Les personnages m'ont beaucoup plu. Ils sont adolescents et ont tous été recrutés par Nathaniel Coldhardt pour leurs capacités hors normes. Ils sont cinq surdoués du crime. Jonah est un pirate informatique, Motti est un spécialiste de la sécurité, Connie parle plus de 8 langues et est très douée en hypnose, Tye était dans la contrebande, tandis que Patch se débrouille en tout. Malgré la diversité des personnages, on a le temps d'apprendre à les connaître et de s'attacher à eux. J'ai une petite préférence pour Patch, ce jeune de 14 ans à l'oeil de verre incroyablement bien fourni en gadgets.

- J'ai adoré ma lecture. C'est un roman bourré d'action, de suspens, et d'humour. Stephen Cole nous offre un livre à mi chemin entre Mission Impossible et Indiana Jones et j'adore ce mélange des genre. Les personnages sont très intéressants et attachants. L'intrigue est bien menée jusqu'au bout. Ce livre est le deuxième d'une trilogie, et même si je n'ai pas lu le premier, ça n'a pas gêné ma lecture.
Désormais, j'ai envie de découvrir ce fameux premier tome, ainsi que la suite des aventures de Jonah et ses amis.

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice, action-adventure type book. I always like those types of stories where there's a group of people with different talents working together to go against the bad guys (hello, LEVERAGE =P). Although this is aimed at younger readers, there are still quite a few references to violence and sexual innuendo, though nothing too bad.

I had read the first book a few years back and only now got to this one, but I didn't feel like I was missing much by not really remembering a lot about the first book. You could probably even read it without having read the first one at all.

There's a nice little paranormal-twist in there, where you're not sure if it actually is something paranormal or still contemporary with people just thinking there's some higher powers at work. I think that this is quite refreshing since you have to decide for yourself (at least at this point, I'm not sure if they change anything during the last book of the series) whether you want to believe that something otherworldly might be going on or if it's just delusions.

I hadn't bought the last novel so I'm not sure if I'll finish this trilogy or not. There is no cliffhanger or anything at the end of this book so I guess one could be happy with simply ending it at this point...

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Computer Wiz, Jonah Wish is on a heist with his group of friends for his boss Nathaniel Coldhardt. Coldhardt has sent Jonah and his friends to find Cortes's sword which is related to the Temple of Life from Death and can supposedly grant immortality but, another organization, called the Sixth Sun, is also looking for the sword. One of Jonah's friends gets captured by this organization and reunites with a person from her past. Jonah quickly deciphers the location of the temple and Jonah, Coldhardt and their group disrupt the communication with the goddess. In the end, the temple had started sinking into the ground, leaving most of it's treasure behind, but Jonah, Coldhardt and their group made it out alive with the chance of immortality left inside and a modest pile of treasure.

I picked up this book because it was the sequel of a book that I have previously read.

I finished the book because it really got me wondering what was going to happen next for each event.

I would recommend this book to teenagers because the book has a little swearing in it.

[Sam A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thieves Till We Die
Stephen Cole

The book Thieves Till We Die, written by Stephen Cole is a book that I enjoyed. The overall lesson the author wants the reader to take from this book is being a thieve takes a lot of skill, patience, and most importantly the right team with skills.
Thieves Till We die begins by a group of thieves set on stealing a sword that there boss wants badly. Also a secret organization wants the sword for a ritual because they want to bring some god back to life to worship. So both want the sword and they have to do a lot of fighting and stealth operations to get the sword.
What I especially liked about this book is how Stephen Cole told the action scenes and characters. What I disliked was how much kidnaping happened in the book.
Overall, the book Thieves Till We Die by Stephen Cole is a book I would recommend because I think if you like thieves and action you should like the book and there is some romantic parts in the book but not a lot.

[Linda Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trust me to pick a book which is not the first in the series. I don't think it mattered though. Read it in 2 days. Great story although a little far fetched at the end.
Patch was on the streets of London from a sound age and is very good at entering properties. Jonah was picked from a Young Offenders institution and he has a gift for computers and code-breaking. Tye was a smuggler from Haiti as a young teenager. Con has a gift for languages and hypnotising people. Motti provides the muscle. They all work for Mr Coldhart. The story opens with the four breaking into a decommissioned nuclear bunker in Guatemala. The instructions are to collect Cortes' Sword and bring it back to base. Cortes' Sword is rumoured to be the very item which was used to defeat the Aztecs at the Spanish invasion.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

HS Decent demonic adventure, though I liked Horowitz's Gatekeepers series more (BOOK 5 IN APRIL 2013 - torture to wait!). Maybe too much adult content (sexual innuendo, one vague encounter, alcohol, a little cursing but the repeated word was pu**y) to be recommended to middle grades.

Group of early twenty-somethings (maybe late teens?) with theft specialties and a touch of paranormal (lockpicking, codebreaking, truthtelling and mesmerism) recruited from bad lives to work together to steal for a rich mastermind. This has been done before, yes? Aztec treasure wrapped up with vengeful goddess worshippers along with a small nuclear bomb and biowarfare. It's got plenty of action.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get ready for enough suspense to get your adrenaline shooting through your veins! This is book two in the Thieves series (will there be a book 3? This book was written in 2007.) and brings back the same crew of teenage thieves working for their "master" Coldhardt. In this novel, one of the girls, Tye, gets kidnapped. Jonah, Motti, Con and Patch all expect to receive orders to find her, but Coldhardt has other plans. Instead, the kids must recover the Sword or Cortez. While trying to find the sword, the crew also finds Tye and a group of creepy adults who believe they are ready to commune with the Aztec goddess of life and death. Very fast paced and suspenseful. A great read!

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprise, surprise. Another novel working the lode of The Da Vinci Code; ancient mysteries, cryptic codes, secret societies with nefarious intentions, this time in Mexico.Combine with this, elements of Robert Muchamore's Cherub novels but for a twist make the teenage protagonists into thieves working as a team with specialist skills. This lacks the pace of a Dan Brown thriller and the sense of pursuit is missing as well as the deep feeling of menace which Brown's villains evoke but the novel is still a compelling read, probably more for a Young Adult audience. The climax is also more "earth shattering" than a Dan Brown novel.

[isabelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

was good but only bc i read it in german. pretty boring. wouldn't recommend. hope this isn't the high point of german library ebooks! :,)
---
das war nicht schlecht. es fühlte sich sehr lang? vielleicht weil es keine Gefühle gab, und die Aktion ein bisschen langweilig war. ich mag Bücher über Spionen/Kriminelle und auch Mythologie, also das hat mir gefallen, aber das wurde auf Englisch nicht sehr gut sein. das langweiligste Aktion-Buch die ich je gelesen habe! es gab auch so viele Charaktere, dass ich vergessen habe, wer sie alle sind. (aber, für das 2. Buch in die Serie, war das sehr einfach zu verstehen). (ok also why was it so horny. maybe chill)

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as it was called The Aztec Code. I like the adventure and sometime the more far fetched story line events the better. The protagonists in this were very different to what I usually read so all in all a great concept with travel, witty repartee and character building throughout the story. Perhaps because it was very different to what I usually read it didn't really hit the spot! Still a great yarn tho!

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHOA!!!! Stephen Cole does it again! At times, I felt like this was not as good as "Thieves Like Us", but then there'd be a huge twist that would keep you hanging and just begging for more! By far, the better of the two. I would recommend this whole series to anyone, especially those who like espionage.

[Rinn B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I think he goes into too much detail as a writer but his characters sure are solid and the action scenes believable. I also love the ending scenes in both his novels and that is one of the keys to being a good writer, knowing how to end something right. I wonder if there is a next book. I sure hope so.

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Aztec Code for me was better than Thieves Like Us. I preferred the main plot in this one.
Ah, I do love these books and Patch in this one is actually just adorable. I think he has to be my favorite character of them all!

[Stefan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an awesome book.

[Amirul]

cannot find this anywhere..(yet)