THE THIEF is the sixteenth book in J.R. Ward's Black
Dagger Brotherhood series. This book can't be read as a
standalone book. After reading the previous books in this
series, I was hungry for some major girl power. THE THIEF
delivers. Whether using their powers for good or evil,
the female main characters are all intense and extremely
focused on achieving their goals. The two major couples
in THE THIEF are Marisol Carvalho aka Sola Morte and
Assail -- a human and a vampire, and Vishous and Jane -- a
vampire and a ghost. J.R. Ward is really terrific at
telling parallel love stories, and this book is a great
example. In addition to the dynamite romance in THE
THIEF, there is a villain or two in the mix, with some
sinister magical weirdness to bedevil the good guys.
Sola and her grandmother are on the run when Assail's
cousins lure her back to Caldwell as a last ditch effort
to bring Assail back to the land of the living. Being a
coke fiend fried his system and love seems to be the only
thing that brings Assail back from the abyss. There are
just one or two very critical, and seemingly necessary,
lies that are told to Sola. She doesn't know that Assail,
and just about everybody in his world, is a vampire and
she is led to believe that he is recovering from cancer.
In spite of all the obstacles in their relationship, the
threads that connect their hearts together seem to be too
strong for either of them to walk away. The all-consuming
emotional connection between Assail and Sola is matched
perfectly to their electric sexual chemistry. Sola's
matchmaking grandmother adds a little levity to the
relationship drama. I'm a details kind of girl, so I
can't help fretting about the logistics of a relationship
between a human and a vampire, but there is a wonderful
blending of love and families at the end of this book
that makes me hopeful for this relationship's
sustainability.
I love, love, love what J.R. Ward does with the
relationship between Vishous and Jane in THE THIEF. For a
few books, their relationship has been on very shaky
ground. As a reader who loves those characters, and loves
them together, I was incredibly worried about how things
would get resolved. This book happily changes the
trajectory for this couple. There is a whole lot of
talking and sexual healing in THE THIEF. In my opinion,
this is the best Jane and Vishous have ever been. J.R.
Ward cleverly gives them a shared mission and the
intimacy is built back up between them. Their scenes
together had me cheering every time.
THE THIEF is sensual, saucy, and sinfully delicious in
every way. THE THIEF is amazing from start to finish and
a gift from this author to her longtime fans. I'd love to
see more of Assail's cousin Ehric in other stories. I'm
excited to see where J.R. Ward takes these characters in
future books.
Sola Morte, former cat burglar and safecracker, has given
up her old life on the wrong side of the law. On the run
from a drug lord’s family, she is lying low far from
Caldwell, keeping her nose clean and her beloved
grandmother safe. Her heart, though, is back up north,
with the only man who has ever gotten through her
defenses: Assail, son of Assail, who never meant to fall
in love—and certainly not with a human woman. But they
have no future, and not just because she doesn’t know he
is a vampire, but because he is not about to stop dealing
arms to the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Fate, however, has
other plans for them. When Assail falls into a coma and
lingers on the verge of death, his cousins seek out Sola
and beg her to give him a reason to live. The last thing
she wants is a return to her past, but how can she leave
him to die?
As a lethal new enemy of the vampires shows its face, and
the Brotherhood needs Assail back on his feet, Sola finds
herself not only a target, but a mission-critical force
in a war she doesn’t understand. And when Assail’s truth
comes out, will she run from the horror . . . or follow
her heart into the arms of the male who loves her more
than life itself?