The Smoke Thief

THE SMOKE THIEF: Shana Abé: Bantam Books: Romance: 292 pages

The Carpathian Mountains are the home of many fantastical creatures. The latest breed are the drákon, humans who can transform into smoke and dragons. Driven from the mountains, the tribe in the 1700’s, now resides mostly in seclusion in rural Darkfrith, England. The Alpha of the tribe is the Marquess of Langford and he rules the tribe with a council. Christoff Langford is the current Marquess, and he has a problem. There’s a jewel thief currently burglarizing the “ton” of London and they’ve dubbed him the "Smoke Thief" because of the way he seems to vanish into thin air. Kit knows that the Smoke Thief is really a “runner” – a tribe member who’s fled Darkfrith without permission.

Clarissa Rue Hawthorne is a hafling – half human, half drákon and was tormented as a child because of it. On her 17th birthday, when she discovered she could “Turn”, the first female in four generations to accomplish this, she faked her death and fled to London. Now Kit is after the thief, and is shocked to discover it’s a woman and one who can Turn. His determination to unite with her as the Alpha female, her will to not be controlled, and the search to recover the tribe’s most valuable jewel, provide some bewitching conflicts. Believable fantasy woven with an inevitable romance make this an enchanting book!

DB