Review: Time Thief by Anna Hackett

Posted September 27, 2012 by Gikany-Una in 3 stars, Paranormal Romance, Rating B Tags: , , , ,

Time Thief
Author: Anna Hackett 
Release Date: Aug. 14, 2012
Publisher: Self-published
The Anomaly Trilogy #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance, novella
Format(s): E-book
Book Source: Author
About the book:
Hunted for her ability to steal time, Bay North lives a life on the run. All she wants is to make the crime lord who slaughtered her family pay. But now he’s set the ultimate hunter on her trail and Bay will need all her skills to carry out her revenge and survive.
Ex-Navy SEAL Sean Archer saw his team killed by a time thief in Afghanistan and came back a broken man. He’s made a dark deal with a criminal to hunt down all time thieves and now Sean’s tracked the wily Bay North to Denver where he plans to rid the world of one more dangerous mutation.
But during a shootout, hunter and hunted find themselves depending on each other for survival. Joining forces to exact payback by stealing a priceless treasure, their reluctant alliance shatters both their defenses. Can Bay find the courage to trust? And can Sean convince a woman honed in revenge that she can have more than vengeance, blood and killing?
What G & U are talking about:
Time Thief is the first e-book novella in a new trilogy – The Anomaly Trilogy.  Although too short, it was an overall enjoyable read with a fascinating mythology.
Gikany and Una enjoyed this fast paced paranormal romance/urban fantasy novella.  The premise is promising with the existence in our world of anomalies – people with a mutated gene that allows them power.  Bay North, our heroine, has the ability to steal time.  Sean, our hero, asks Bay about this power:
“Time just stops.”  His men had looked like this.  He’d looked like this.  Lambs to the fucking slaughter.
“Time’s still progressing, just slowly.  Or we’re moving quicker.  I don’t really know.”
The Anomaly Trilogy is almost homage to X-Men, but it’s different enough that the allusion didn’t come to mind until we started writing the review. The ramifications of having people in the world who possess a mutated gene are exciting.  The existence of the anomalies and our hero’s fight to not be controlled and used had us incredibly intrigued. The interplay between Bay and Sean is compelling in Time Thief.  We enjoyed the fact that Bay and Sean had much in common.  Yet, considering they had been enemies for the past months, their overall relationship seemed to move really quickly.  
In general, everything seemed to move so quickly. Gikany and Una understand that since it was a novella, the plot did have to speed along, but it was a little disappointing that all aspects of the story had to move so quickly.  In essence, we would have loved to see Time Thief as a full length novel.  There is so much Ms. Hackett can do in this unique world and we would love to see her have the time to expand it.
If you are looking for an interesting and fun quick read, you may like to pick up Time Thief and experience what we are talking about.  Luckily, the next novel, Mind Raider is due out in October 2012 and we cannot wait to read it!
Their Rating:
Liked it, but I had some issues – recommend (B)





Purchase Info:

4 responses to “Review: Time Thief by Anna Hackett”

  1. Mama Kitty

    I like the idea that they’re doing the X-Men type story. I grew up reading the comics and watching the cartoon on Saturday mornings, so the idea of human mutations has always been fascinating to me. The idea of stopping time both terrifies and interests me. I’m going to pick this one up. Thanks for the review!

  2. Una

    Mama Kitty – same here. X-Men have a soft place in my heart. It’s part of the reason why I really enjoyed the story. Part of our low rating, in my opinion is because we wanted so much more. But I respect that this is a novella trilogy and look forward to the next book.

    Oh, and if stopping time terrifies you, wait until you hear about the Mind Raiders….