To Catch a Thief

Dungeons & Dragons: Endless Quest

by Matt Forbeck

Welcome to the Forgotten Realms Endless Quest books, where you don’t just read a fantastic tale. You become the hero — and choose your own fate.

When you tried to pick the pocket of a civilar in the night-shrouded streets of Waterdeep, you never thought she’d catch you — and you never dreamed she’d force you into her service. Now you must find the baby griffon stolen by the beholder Xanathar, leader of the city’s powerful Thieves’ Guild. And if you should fail . . . you can count on spending the rest of your life behind bars, rogue.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Dungeons and Dragons, Gaming, Childrens, Choose Your Own Adventure, Forgotten Realms

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2018

About the author

I'm an award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author and game designer and happily married father of five, including a set of quadruplets. For more on my work, see Forbeck.com.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dungeons & Dragons gamebooks have intergenerational appeal, and Matt Forbeck's additions to the Endless Quest series beginning in 2018 were of interest to both longtime fans and kids with no experience questing in the fantasy realm of Faerûn. You are a seasoned pickpocket in To Catch a Thief, but the story doesn't start well for you. Caught attempting to rob Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, you face the prospect of being thrown in the dungeon to die. But Lord Silverhand has other ideas. Tonight a prized possession was stolen from her home: a baby griffon. Lord Silverhand's chief suspect is the Xanathar of the Thieves' Guild. The Xanathar wields enormous power in Skullport, where unsavories of all kinds conduct dirty business in the streets. Lord Silverhand has a proposition for you: retrieve her griffon, and your attempted crime will be forgotten. Are you up for a mission in the worst part of Waterdeep?

How you approach the task is up to you. Disguise yourself as Marune the Masked if you wish, a legendary but anonymous thief. Skullport is crawling with villains and only some are connected to the theft of Lord Silverhand's griffon; you can go down a number of rabbit trails that lead you away from your assignment. Freeing child slaves, chasing an eerie luminous skull above the rooftops, and matching wits with a gang of river pirates are a few possibilities. If you earn the ire of the Thieves' Guild or fail in your quest for the griffon, you can skip town rather than face Lord Silverhand. You might have better luck starting a new life in another region.

If you want to directly confront the Xanathar, head either to his house or place of business. You'll need to think fast to get the best of this monster. Absconding with the griffon isn't difficult, but perhaps you'll choose instead to join forces with the Xanathar and double-cross Lord Silverhand. What recourse does she have if the Thieves' Guild backs you? Treachery is rewarded as reliably as honesty in this book, provided you're shrewd enough. In Faerûn, a good thief can rule the underworld.

To Catch a Thief lacks focus, evocative writing, and any deep sense of intrigue, but the illustrations are tremendous. They do more to stimulate one's imagination than any other aspect of the book. I wasn't captivated by the options for adventure in To Catch a Thief, but I'd rate it one and a half stars; I like the setting, and I look forward to questing again in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. This series has potential.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone rather invested in Waterdeep as a writer (2 novels, several game supplements) and reader (everything), I was skeptical that Matt Forbeck could make me feel like I was in MY City of Splendors. I'm very glad to say I was wrong and this book swept me along the fog-shrouded streets of the Realms' most fabled of cities.

Matt's characters and scenarios and backdrops are always evocative and draw the reader into the story almost immediately. As someone rather picky about how Forgotten Realms books feel/sound to me, I'm happy to say this book is among the most fun reads I've had in Waterdeep in a long time.

Alas, the Netgalley copy I received for a review failed to allow the branching choices to alter the narrative flow while I read this on my Kindle, so I can't comment on the choose-a-path nature of the story.

[Angela Blount · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally reviewed for YA Books Central: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yaficti...

4.5 Stars

Nostalgic parents rejoice!

Told in second-person present-tense, this fantasy is styled after the beloved choose-your-own-adventure books of yore. It also features a vast array of renowned D&D art, with works ranging from sepia to full color.

The story opens with you knowing just two things: That you are a halfling rogue… and that you’ve been soundly caught with your hand in the wrong pocket. The woman who’s ensnared you has a problem. A baby griffon has been kidnapped and is in need of rescuing, before it becomes the personal pet of an already powerful Beholder. Now you have some choices to make. Be pressed into the service of a civiler, refuse and be imprisoned, or try to connive your way out of what will surely be a treacherous mission…

Will you be a hero? A coward? Or something more opportunistically in-between?

The larger print, abundant imagery, and vagueness in regard to violence all culminate to make this material ideally suited to the lower range of Middle Grade. Readers are given no background on the main character in question outside of race and class, so it’s easy enough to insert oneself into the storytelling. Fortunately, not all roads lead to a gruesome death! But… a few of them might.

If you, dear reader, are anything like me… you can count on needing at least a half-dozen bookmarks to note the pages you may want to return to if your storyline’s ending strikes you as less than ideal. >.> (Why yes, I did go back and try every single fork in the non-linear option tree. You live your life and I’ll live mine. ;P)

My only suggestion for future installments would be the inclusion of a character sheet at the beginning. I think this would help readers with their decision-making, as well as introduce a foundational concept that could later transfer to the tabletop game. (It would also be neat to have a playable character ready-made. Just saying.)

A great option for reluctant readers, budding D&D fans, and kids who generally appreciate having more engagement and agency in their reading material.

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the major reasons i ever got into reading when I was younger was a variety of books where you chose the path of the protagonist. Certainly the story you got was more simplistic but but was your choice that lead you down the oath and if you don't like what happened go ahead and choose the other choice until you are satisfied or give up entirely. I personally enjoy choosing the worse possible option to see how bad it can get and being a D&D book it ranges from exile to slow death/shark bait so I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Being one of the reboots of the original Endless Quest books created by TSR I couldn't help wanting to see how it changed from the original. My copy came with a nice hardcover in a dust sleeve and a delightful pine scented pages (anyone else have scented pages too or is this do to absorbing the scent from somewhere else.) The illustrations within are often nice varying between color and monochrome though I am not sure if any of it is original since I recognize many of the images from past D&D materials not that it matters. After all this is probably an experiment to see who would be interested in this sort of book. I also notice that each of the rebooted books are class oriented with this one being about a thief who picked the wrong pocket one night but is given a chance to redeem herself (or himself if you want it that way.)

My favorite part Is when they actually give you a chance to fight the Xanathar (those that don't know he is a Beholder) even though I thought the character in the story was a fairly low level rouge and actually has a chance to survive wit ha little skill and a wagon load of good luck. Be sure to find your own favorite path. :)

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

To Catch a Thief by Matt Forbeck, 122 pages. Candlewick Entertainment, 2018. $8.99

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG

BUYING ADVISORY: EL – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

You are the main character of this story, and you have a lot of difficult decisions to make as you kick yourself for the foolish choice made that is putting your life on the line. Your unsuccessful attempt at thieving will only be forgiven if you risk your life to complete a task for Lord Silverhand, which means tracking down other thieves—thieves that you have been avoiding until now.

Choose your own adventure books are the video games of literature, and some stories lines are more exciting than others. This book was not as engaging as others that I’ve read by Forbeck, mostly because the endings did not feel as satisfying to me. It was still fun, but I suggest going on some of his other adventures, too.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Elley Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment to the series. The endings in this one aren't as bad as the endings in the one with wizards and giants, though they all seem to be varying degrees of being run out of town (when they don't end with you turned into a frog, joined up with pirates, or dying....) Great for that 11-13ish age where kids are really into fighting and nasty things happening.

[TJ Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised (in retrospect I shouldn’t have been, but still) that there was an audiobook choose your own adventure style book. Yes, you have to select the track that is your chosen path. Yes, you can die after a single choice. An interesting effort, but I think not the best medium for it.

[Shannon McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one had some feel-good endings, which I appreciate and are missing from some of the other ones. Being a rogue is definitely fun, and I think middle-grade readers will really enjoy this one.

[Ashley Goddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Endless Quest! I really enjoyed the story in this one. It's probably the best one I've read so far!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! I successfully made it through one of these on the first try. That pretty much never happens. This book/story definitely has me excited for getting/running Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Mountain of the Mad Mage.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

All for a baby griffin. It's very hard to create a believable solo adventure. Beholders are not to be trifled with.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I wanted this book to catapult me back to 1985 when I was a kid and I first picked up the Dungeons & Dragons Endless Quest books. It didn’t - but I realize that wasn’t fair. I am a bit older.

But I did enjoy the book! I feel like the writing might be geared toward a younger audience than when I read them - maybe 10-11 instead of 12-13. But there is a bit of murder and minor violence, making me wonder if it’s intended to be geared toward later middle school rather than early. But it was a fun story.

I love the full color pages and the art. The throwback to D&D rounds up my 3.5 stars to 4.

I read through several times, and though I might have escaped with my life in several versions, I never was successful with the objective.

One of the beefs I’ve always had with interactive books like this, is that there’s always a measure of luck involved - but I guess that’s like real life. I wish that if you always made the right decision, you would always be successful - but that’s not always true. And it’s annoying that, for example, turning left down one street or turning right down another could be the basis to determine if you are successful in the end. But that’s my annoyance with life - not with these kinds of books!

Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for a copy in return for an honest review.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick read, definitely written primarily for 8-12 year olds. It is a great introduction to D&D, and in many ways feels like a starting D&D experience.

Some of the situations the main character gets in feel too big, with beings too powerful, to warrant the interaction of a inexperienced minor thief.

There also was no real fighting that I found in my two read through of the book. That could be because this was the thief, or it could just be the way the books are written. Lots of the character interactions are a little slapstick or campy, but I think this works great for the intended age audience.

One fun thing is that I noticed is there seemed to be several very different end results readers could get, depending on the choices they made, which gives it a lot of re-readability.

An enjoyable and fun read, that reminded me of when I was in elementary school, reading similar D&D choose your own adventure books. I definitely will give another one of these a try, and am glad to see this is an avenue Wizards of the Coast is now exploring.

[Mr Bramley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I happened to spot this as the library and just had to pick it up and have a look!
I haven't read a choice book since I was a teen reading the Dr Who ones my local library had!

I'm a sucker for them - and I'm one of those people who likes to flick between the different options and see all the potential outcomes too.

Whilst I didn't overly enjoy this as a story, it was okay but nothing amazing, I love the concept. I read this one aloud with my wife who plays dnd with me and worked through the story together.

It would probably work best with a reader who already knows a bit about dnd, but could still be followed by someone with no knowledge at all.

I think I might start up a little collection of these. Maybe even see what other current franchises still make choice books. I think they would be a perfect way to give younger readers something different, and maybe even a good end of week read aloud story with a class, getting them to debate the choices and vote as we read along together.

[Dorine White · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are a young thief in Waterdeep and that night you pick the pocket of the wrong person. Instead of prison, you are given the chance to help find a lost griffon's egg that a Beholder guards. What will you do?



My Thoughts-

This book was classic fun. As a kid I loved choose your own adventure books, and this one is right on par. There are tons of different outcomes and I eagerly went back to the beginning time and again to find the different endings. Because this is written on a child's level, it is a tame version of Dungeons and Dragons, but it still includes well known characters and magic.



I recommend getting the book as a paper/hard copy, because I did it on my Ipad and it wasn't as cool as turning the pages. I'm giving it 4 stars. Though not a lit masterpiece, it is tons of fun and well done.

[Carolina Colleene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG
You are the main character of this story, and you have a lot of difficult decisions to make as you kick yourself for the foolish choice made that is putting your life on the line. Your unsuccessful attempt at thieving will only be forgiven if you risk your life to complete a task for Lord Silverhand, which means tracking down other thieves—thieves that you have been avoiding until now.
Choose your own adventure books are the video games of literature, and some stories lines are more exciting than others. This book was not as engaging as others that I’ve read by Forbeck, mostly because the endings did not feel as satisfying to me. It was still fun, but I suggest going on some of his other adventures, too.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

To Catch a Thief was the first of the four I read as I play/have played a good few Rogues in my time and it seemed a good place to start. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of art inside these books and reading about some of the popular characters from the Waterdeep campaign was a lot of fun. In my first read, I made it about three quarters through before I met my untimely demise but made it through the second time fairly easily. The story didn’t feel especially limited to a Rogue to me but enjoyable nether the less.

You can check out my review of the whole series at my blog: https://wordpress.com/post/fantasticb...

[Destiny Bridwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

 I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. I am always for a good choose your own adventure book. I have loved they since I was a child. I came across these by chance. In this adventure you have to recover some misplaced property and all because you could not keep your hands to yourself. Now you must recover the property and at your own peril or end up in jail for the rest of your life. Not much of a choice if you ask me. Grab a copy of this and go on your own adventure. 

[Nicole (book.quill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good introduction to those who are new or beginner to D&D, with a lot of common 5e names popping up, whether location or character. As an eBook it's a pain in the butt, given the classic back and forth flipping you need to do to follow your choices. I want to see if a physical copy makes the difference

[Bill Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little book. Read through it to see if it would be okay for the kiddos and was surprised I was entertained. Read almost like a comic as far as pacing and seemed to capture the Waterdeep feel well.

[Bret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book at all. For a YA book it is actually quite exceptional. Some ending seem a bit abrupt, but I've always felt that way about any 2nd person perspective books where you decide the story. I look forwars to reading the next one.

[Sean Camoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, old fashioned choose-your-own-adventure fun with D&D flavor. Some old favorites make appearances, and it’s set in the classic D&D settings. Some of the choices lead to random, illogical, or unpredictable endings, but that’s part of the fun. I’d say it’s great for readers 10 and up.

[Braulio Mago · Rating 5 out of 5]

La dinámica de este tipo de libros de “elecciones” siempre se me ha hecho muy divertida. Específicamente, siento que este libro engloba muy bien la esencia de DnD y lo hace muy ameno para convivir con otras personas.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute series of books. I got all four of them from the library. Saved this one for last since rogues are the best class! Fun reads.

[Ray (user2637) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I got the best possible ending on the first read! 😁

[KelceyTheLibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun. I think my skills in playing a rogue helped me survive this adventure. A great intro to d&d concepts for a younger audience!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun. Most of the paths and endings are different and interesting even when you fail or die.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow I didn’t die... woo hoo! But I also didn’t complete my quest... is this a win? Not sure.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to be a dark tall and evil person and ended up being dead read this book and see where you will end up.

[Kati · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a little silly. The choices to move the story along were pretty one dimensional and the story itself was lacking.