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The Heart Thief (The Rhapp's Barren Triptych Book 1) by [S. Lee Benedict, Karen Robinson]

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S. Lee Benedict

The Heart Thief (The Rhapp's Barren Triptych Book 1) Kindle Edition

by S. Lee Benedict (Author), Karen Robinson (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition

24 ratings

Book 1 of 2: The Rhapp's Barren Triptych

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Ezra Keene is an artistic sixteen-year-old who wants nothing more than to settle in at his new school and put the tragedy of his brother’s death behind him. He awakens one night, reeling from a hazy dream, to find his fingers blackened with pencil lead and a new drawing in his sketchbook—a drawing that depicts the grisly murder of someone he knows. The next morning he is shocked to learn the picture has become a reality.

Ezra has reason to believe the father of a classmate, an eccentric German scientist, is somehow involved in the slaying, but he needs something tangible to bring to the police. He sets out to discover the truth, but what he finds instead is that something much more sinister than murder lies at the heart of this mystery. Monsters exist, magic is real, and sometimes there are worse things than death.

The Rhapp's Barren Triptych:

The Heart Thief
The Undead Realm
The Arcane Device (Coming Early 2016)

Print length

370 pages
Language

English
Publication date

November 21, 2014
Reading age

13 - 18 years
File size

920 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Next 2 for you in this series See full series

Total Price: $4.98

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00Q0MB542
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 21, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 920 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 370 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #2,358,523 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #49,685 in Paranormal & Urban Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #53,706 in Horror (Kindle Store)
- #81,734 in Paranormal & Urban Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
24 ratings

About the author

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S. Lee Benedict

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When not writing, S. Lee Benedict spends his time watching movies, reading, playing video games, and immersing himself in geek culture. He enjoys attending conventions and is relatively well-traveled. He has been to China four times.

A writer most of his life, The Heart Thief is his first foray into publishing and full-length fiction. His literary heroes include Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, Jim Butcher, J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, C.S. Lewis and China Miéville, among many, many others.

Originally a California boy, he is currently in exile somewhere in the rural south.

He has a Siamese cat named Scully.

Subscribe to the S. Lee Benedict newsletter at http://sleebenedict.com/mailing-list

Customer reviews

5 star		53%
4 star		25%
3 star		15%
2 star		7%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Nicholas G Crawford

Richly Detailed Urban Fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

The Heart Thief is an urban fantasy that follows teenage Ezra as he simultaneously adjusts to a new city, new love, and newly discovered magical powers. Ezra must race to gain control of his magical abilities before a maniacal necromancer unleashes Lovecraftian terrors into his world.

I particularly enjoyed The Heart Thief's magical action sequences. Whether it's a giant albino spider battling Puritans in an underground cavern (hint, read the first few pages of `the look inside' book preview), underwater clashes with reanimated corpses, or warlocks brewing arcane spells, S. Lee Benedict describes these scenes with unusual vividness.

The Heart Thief is well written and I think ideal for a late middle grade / early teen audience. There were numerous times where I thought "Dang, my 13 year old self would have LOVED this book."

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Charlotte

Great Read!!!

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2015

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‘ The Heart Thief ’ by S. Lee Benedict is an exciting and thrilling tale about Ezra, the new kid at Rhapp’s Barren High School No. 5 and his new friends’ Emma, and Wolfgang.

One day a monster appears and slaughters the officials at the school. The night before, Ezra had a confusing dream about the event. He records his dream in his trusty sketch- book that he’s never without.

S. Lee Benedict writes with such grace that the book flows and reads smoothly. I highly recommend this book. Great read!

J. Summers

One person found this helpful

Helpful

April

I liked it. I'll read another by this author

Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

Not a book for young teens, due to gore, but the allusions brought me back. I liked it. I'll read another by this author, I just can't teach it in my class. I'll pass it on to friends though.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lynne Yost

A page turner for sure!

Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

Very entertaining and a great story. I love the nods to Star Wara and Lord of the Rings.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Cynthia

Just, okay

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

Predictable. Not a page turner. The worst part was the ending which really was not an ending at all if you know what I mean. However, certainly parts of this book were very creative and I do appreciate that the story is unique.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

E. Ekaireb

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

great book

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Great characters and the makings of a fantastic urban fantasy series.

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

I went into this book cold, only knowing it was a novel categorized as YA urban/fantasy. I've read my fair share of YA series and a lot of them start off with too much "I REALLY REALLY WANT YOU TO LIKE MY CHARACTER" nonsense and it's just poor writing. This author's writing style expects that you're not an idiot and develops the characters naturally and I came to care about them as such. The story is solid, is tied together tightly, and isn't pandering. I really look forward to the next book.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Quella

Magic, mayhem, and mixed thoughts

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2016

Per the author's request, I will include the following statement at the beginning of this review. Disclaimer: I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher, and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

I will say this book is not what I had expected from the description and was somewhat surprised from start to finish. I had believed it would be more a YA coming of age story with some form of fantasy elements with the potential of some time travel, etc. Boy was I wrong and will say up front that books of this genre are not of the type I would listen too if given the chance.

With that said, the author did a good job of telling his story. The ability to describe the locations and action was very well done. I felt engaged within the story along with his characters having body and depth to them, they were not your typical cardboard characters found on other books like this. A few of the more minor characters felt flat to me, such as the detectives, but the main characters overall were likable and had some good back stories keeping me wondering what would come next. The more you learn the more strange and bazaar the book becomes.

I was a bit confused as to how I would classify this book if asked. In most cases I would place it in the Horror category geared more towards adult readers. I do have to give the author credit for not having to stoop to using vulgar language or overly done gore to shock readers as your normal horror book may. Even the points where there was gore, it was not the central point of the event and used more to describe the scene. I can see the authors influence of many of the great authors of the horror genre such as Steve King and Lovecraft. The book for me was a mix of the Shining, Adams Family, and Frankenstein with a smattering of crime drama elements. Sounds strange, but in many ways it worked.

There also seemed to always be an element of creepiness throughout the book, and much of this is resolved at the end; always with an opening for more in the series. At times you say a normal family and then the author would throw in something, without telling you why, that would make you wonder how or when you will learn why. More that anticipation of the Shining.

If I had the ability to change the story to make it more enjoyable for me, I would remove some of the more stereotypical "kid" or pop-culture language found in a small number of places. For example when two kids were talking to each other, they spoke in a way that seemed unnatural or stuck out when it was read. It just did not fit. Another place where there were references to Jeopardy (the game show), etc. These seemed more forced and often would take me out of the storyline. I'm unsure if the book needed them at all, and maybe the author was using such as a way of releasing tension from the reader.

In relation to the narrator of the audiobook, I will say I enjoyed his ability to bring the book to life while also keeping that creepiness that runs throughout the book. The narrator was able to voice the many different characters well and did not attempt to do the female voices in an unnatural voice. The tension level was held and in times of excitement or action the narrator was there to support it using his voice.

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The Heart Thief (The Rhapp's Barren Triptych Book 1) Kindle Edition

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S. Lee Benedict

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