James Matlack Raney

Title: Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves
Author: James Matlack Raney
Release Date: September 28, 2012
Source: Digital Reader Copy
Genre(s): YA Fantasy, YA Adventure, Victorian London, Pirates

Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Spoilers: Low
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There are some books that you want to rush through to the end because you need to know how it ends. And then there are books that you want to really sit through and appreciate – even though you really just want to read it through to the end show more because you’re so desperate to know how it ends. For me, Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves was one of the latter. This was one of those books that was just so fun and engaging that I wanted to take my time and actually let myself enjoy it. It was my ‘getaway’ book during finals. After spending twelve to fourteen hours cramming family law and and writing papers, I was able to curl up with this book for a little while every night. It was great.

What’s sad is that if not for a chance encounter with the book on NetGalley I may never have gotten the chance to read it. Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves is an independent title and the debut title of the author - James Matlack Raney. And unfortunately a lot of the time indie books get overlooked in favor of the newest title from a a major publisher. Which is why I’m glad that I was able to get a copy and share my thoughts with you guys.

At it’s core, the King of Thieves is a book about growing up and coming-of-age. The hero of the story, James Morgan, is a nobleman’s son in Victorian England. While his father was away at sea for five years he was taken care of by his very pretentious aunt and was groomed to be a miniature version of her. The James Morgan we first meet is an ungrateful, spoiled child who demands that his every whim be met and who lords over anyone who may be considered beneath him. But then his world changes in an instant and the father he’s waited so long to be reunited with only really has time to show him how disappointed he is in the way he behaves before he’s taken away from him forever. The rest of his way of life soon follows and James embarks on a journey that will prove once and for all whether or not he can call himself his honorable father’s son.

This journey brings him into a world that he never could have imagined. James – now just Jim – finds himself confronted with gypsy magic, pirates and street thieves as he struggles to survive on the streets of Victorian London. For the first time in his life he learns what it means to have friends and he learns that the life of luxury he knew, the things he wore, and the things he owned may not have been as important as he thought they were then.

There are many things that I appreciated about this book as I read it. One of the things I liked the most was that when you first met Jim Morgan he’s not really a likeable character. So many middle grade and young adult fiction novels try to give you a character you can relate to from the beginning. Raney decides to go another route and introduces you to a spoiled brat who you know – well, you hope – will become so much more. I like that because, let’s be real. Some kids are just self-centered douches. Especially wealthy aristocrats’ kids from the 1800s. (Well, I assume.) Plus it adds some really great character development – not to mention it adds a lot to the circumstances in the story when a character is faced with something unpleasant and approaches it from some sort of overblown sense of entitlement. It can be nice to see those characters knocked down a peg and to see them start to realize what really matters in life.

Another thing that I really liked about this book was that the fact that it’s got a fantasy edge isn’t too obvious and the magic isn’t just thrown at you. It’s subtle. It doesn’t really guide the story so much add to it. Towards the end the magic and lore get a lot more intense but save for a bit of a run in with a gypsy woman, the magic remains pretty low key and unobtrusive. The story is able to build itself up and the characters are allowed to operate within a sort of Dickensian world that we know and recognize. Meanwhile you get a few hints here and there of something more. Just not until it’s absolutely crucial for the story. I’m a sucker for historical stories – and while there are plenty of inaccuracies – the magic isn’t a problem at all. It works really well with the story Raney is telling.

The characters were all pretty great and the little world he built in this past London was well explained and established. I liked the King of Thieves and his court and particularly the Brothers Ratt. They were quite adorable and Lacey, obviously, was a great female character who didn’t let the boy just have their way.

Over all, Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves is just a really good book.

It’s the sort of book that I would love to read to kids someday. It’s that sort of book that you can read with them at night chapter by chapter before bed. I’m not sure I’d put it on par with Harry Potter but it’s definitely very much in the same vein as the original Percy Jackson series and the Septimus Heap series. There are great characters, great action scenes, and there really isn’t any down time or dead space anywhere in the story. It keeps you reading, it keeps you interested, and it keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next.

I highly recommend it and it has earned it’s four star rating.

As always, leave your questions and comments below and if you’ve got the chance, check out this book! And check back on May 21st for your chance to get a copy of your very own. If you can wait that long to read it yourself, of course. show less

4 STARS

This is second in the series and it draws you into the story of Jim Morgan right off the bat. I was going to skim over the first book again to remind myself all about the story. Next thing I had reread Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves all the way through again. Pirates of the Black Skull is more fantasy adventure. It has some of the same characters plus new ones to like and hate.

The plot deals with revenge, pirates, magic, friendship, mermaids, fairies, sea monsters, harpies, show more giant owls and pirates battles. It goes from one adventure to another. It is not boring at all. Just when you thinks things are looking up for Jim Morgan and his friends trouble happens again.

Jim has to make choices, with vengeance, friends, love, power which way will he go.
Count Cromier and Bartholomew are back and want the treasure for themselves. Bart wants Jim dead for something is father did.

All the different characters both good and bad you never know what Jim, Lacy and the Brothers Ratt will run into next weather they will be friends or foes to them. It is rich with the different creatures around each corner. As they race to find the Treasure of the Ocean.

The setting is one year since we saw Jim and his friends in the King of Thieves. It starts out in England and then they go out to the ocean to search for the Treasure of the Ocean. Part of the story is on a secret island that is hard to find and you can only get their once a day if you stay longer than a day you will never leave.

The pacing is very fast. The story is not a calm boring story. It has many highs and lows for Jim and his friends. Every time they get out of one jam another one comes up that they have to face and overcome. Different characters save the day using their skills and special talents along the way.

It is hard to set the book down. You want to see what happens next.

I was given this book to read and asked to give honest review of it and be part of its blog tour. show less

Jim Morgan & The King of Thieves is a exciting middle school adventure. Jim is not a likeable character at the first of the book. He is spoiled brat. The last five years he has been raised by his Great Aunt, Margarita Morgan. While his father is gone on a sea voyage. James is not allowed outside to play. He told he is special, above the servants. He treats the servants badly and even fires them for no reason, because he can.

James father is due home. The whole estate is getting ready for the show more welcome home celebration. James demands to ride his father's horse and looses controls ruins everything. His father returns in time to stop the horse. He realizes how spoiled his son is. He plans to change that. Before he can he is poisoned by Margarita and others. They plan to kill James too but his father's manservant Hudson steps in and tells him to run.

Now the pampered life James has lived is over. All he has is a small wooden box with a letter from his father and a necklace. It has to do with a secret about a treasure his father has somewhere. So instead of being the new Lord Morgan he is lost in the forest. He is picked up by Gypsies. A old Gypsy woman uses magic to seal the wooden box till it is the right time and understanding for James to open it.

The story continues on with many lessons that Jim has to learn to survive on the street. He has lots of enemies, is box is stolen, his Aunt Margarita and friends would have him killed. She is living in his house. He only has four other children that make him feel welcome and teach him to steal for food. The King of Thieves has taken his box but if he steals enough he can have it back.
He doesn't believe in magic, talking birds even though he has seen it. His goal is to get his box back and learn the secret of his father's treasure so he can return home safely.

It is a well told story. You begin to like Jim and want things to workout for him. You want his father's murder to be caught. His friends to have a better life than living on the street stealing for the King of Thieves. Every time you think that things will be better for Jim something else happens to him. Will he ever get his box back? Be able to open it and read the last letter to him by his father?

I would read more about Jim Morgan and see what happens next in his life. I was given this ebook to read and asked to give a honest review of it.

Published September 28th 2012 by James Matlack Raney 283 pages ISBN:9780985835903 show less