Thief of Lies

by Bree Moore

Love, crime, and magic don't mix.

Lee can phase through alternate realms and jump across St. Louis in an instant. What she can’t seem to do is leave her down-on-their luck thieving crew and escape her overbearing cyborg boss.

When a handsome stranger offers to help her rob a magical antique shop, she agrees. After all, he only wants one thing from the haul: the odd black stone buried at the back of the shop.

Turns out, the stone is cursed. As soon as it’s stolen, horrible things start happening to Lee and her crew. To make matters worse, she’s falling hard for the man who took the cursed stone in the first place.

Can Lee find a way to destroy the ancient stone before it ruins them all? Or will her growing feelings keep her from doing what needs to be done? Thief of Lies is a prequel novella in the Shadowed Minds series.

121 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Bree Moore lives in Iowa with her amazing husband and six children. When she's not busy homeschooling or folding laundry, she sneaks off to write more urban fantasy.

Bree has a passion for pregnancy and childbirth, which influences her female-led stories. She loves shopping for groceries like other women like shopping for shoes (no, seriously), movies that make her cry, and Celtic music. She likes both her chocolate and her novels dark.

Get THIEF OF LIES: A Shadowed Minds prequel for free when you sign up for her newsletter. Go to www.authorbreemoore.com and click on "Get a Free Book".

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this fun little Novella, Lee meets the Cy-borg that will become her boss and the crew she will fall in love with. There is a bit of action and adventure, but not a lot more than that. It IS a novella after all.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept. To me it felt like there was a bit too much telling, too much just stating/info-dumping of information in the first few chapters of this novella, but overall the characters and abilities and setup were intriguing enough to keep me reading and get me invested. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Lee next. I'm looking forward to reading the first full-length book in this series, and hopefully even getting through the second book before the release of book three at the end of February.

[Chad Barrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lee is a thief who has been gifted with magic but it comes at a terrible cost. While casing out a joint she meets a boy like her who is also a thief but knows who and what she is. In the heist to come she takes the stone he wants and bad things start to happen. Through it all she falls in love with him but the stone once again comes between them leading to tragedy.

This is a prequel to a new series by Bree where earth has been given magic from aliens and some people have been infected with it. People have unearthly abilities but in Lee’s case the magic in her is killing her unless she can find a cure.

It’s an action adventure that young people especially will enjoy since it’s about their age group. In a world where crime seems rampant, some with these special powers have resorted to theft to survive. I recommend it as one you’ll enjoy.

Perhaps as the series progresses we’ll find others who may be using their magic for good to benefit society instead of taking from it. Lee is a thief with a conscience though who is just trying to survive in a world where she seems to not fit in. Perhaps she will in time. We shall see.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bree Moore is doing the economy a favor with the way her readers get punched in the gut and left crying. I won’t spoil anything but I am sincerely looking at trademarking a recovery kit complete with tissues and maybe eye drops…a cooling eye mask. She’s MEAN! She needs to be sat in a corner to think about what she’s done. Yet, I remain hooked. Which is why I will be reading the next book as soon as my heart rate returns to normal

[Norman Hirschman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic can be good or it can be your downfall. Lee felll in love with SHawn and stoled a magic item. But upon receipt it only brought them bad luck. In a group effort the other crews attacked their crew thinking they had the magic stone. Shawn had not destroyed it as they had thought and now they might die if they did not give it up. What choice did Lee and Shawn have? Well worth reading.

[Jennifer Hubble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Left you longing for more

This isn't my typical genre but it didn't disappoint. Before I knew it the book was over and I wasn't emotionally ready for that! The main character, Lee, is very relatable and you get attached to her early on. Excellent read!