The Shadow Thieves (The Cronus Chronicles, #1)

by Anne Ursu

Something extraordinary is about to happen to Charlotte Mielswetzski.

It's not the very cute kitten that appears out of nowhere. It's not the arrival of her cousin Zee, who believes he's the cause of a mysterious sickness that has struck his friends back in England. And it's not the white-faced, yellow-eyed men in tuxedos who follow Charlotte everywhere. What's so extraordinary is not any one of these things. It's all of them.

When Charlotte's friends start to get sick, Charlotte and Zee set out to find a cure. Their quest leads them to a not-so-mythical Underworld, where they face Harpies that love to rhyme, gods with personnel problems, and ghosts with a thirst for blood.

Charlotte and Zee learn that in a world overrun by Nightmares, Pain, and Death, the really dangerous character is a guy named Phil. And then they discover that the fate of every person -- living and dead -- is in their hands.

• ISBN10: 141690588X
• ISBN13: 9781416905882
• Publish Date: 22 August 2007 (first published 1 May 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Atheneum
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

At first I fell in love with the type of voicing this story had, with its intense sarcasm and all, but it grew a little old when the story didn't have more to offer. In the really intense, dark parts, the humor could have been more well-crafted. It brought me right out of the tension, and so later I had to think "Oh yeah, this is a scary part, I forgot!" and had to place myself back in, which shouldn't be.

The villain was also a bit cliche, and I would've liked more motive on his part. And character. Sure, he's a bad guy who acts like a gentleman, gets angry at all the right times, but he's just another cardboard villain.

There were some good scenes, though, and I did like the mystery of everyone getting sick in the beginning (although I was a little angry when the reason was just told to us, instead of letting the audience try and figure it out for themselves.

Anyway, a decent book. I can understand why some people would love the action and the voice, but it didn't really do it for me.