Hey there!
You know what's annoying? When book two in a series doesn't come out for SO LONG after book one that, by the time you can read book two, you've already forgotten literally everything about book one.
Among Thieves came out in 2021. Thick as Thieves is releasing now, in 2023. If you're anything like me, in those two years, your brain has scrambled details, forgotten characters, or just gotten fuzzy on what the heck happened in book one by now.
FEAR NOT!
I'm here to help!
I've put together a little quick guide to refresh your memories on what happened in book one so you're ready to rock and roll as soon as book two gets into your hands!
🛑WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!🛑
It should go without saying, but juuuuust in case. This is a full recap of Among Thieves, complete with spoilers. So. If you haven't actually read Among Thieves yet, this is where you're gonna want to bow out of this post :)
THE CHARACTERS:
Ryia Cautella
Arguably the most "main" of our main characters, Ryia is also known as the Butcher of Carrowwick. She is a ruthless mercenary working for Callum Clem, but hiding a deadly secret: thanks to her father's twisted experiments, she is uniquely magical, possessing the powers of both an Adept Senser (able to detect danger) and Kinetic (super-speed, super-strength, some have telekinetic powers).
Claudia Nash
Claudia Nash goes simply by "Nash." She is a smuggler and ship captain working for Callum Clem. She has a complicated relationship with Ivan and an even more complicated thought about the Adept: her sister was taken by the Guildmaster's men when she was just a child, so she always wonders how "inhuman" the Adept can truly be.
Tristan Beckett
Tristan Beckett is mysterious. No one in the Saints knows his real background. He is young, charismatic, and a gifted pickpocket and swindler with the cards. He also has a very hopeless crush on Ryia. He wants nothing more than to get away from Callum Clem, and his greatest fear is his actual identity being discovered.
Callum Clem
Most often called simply "Clem," Callum Clem is the ruthless and cunning leader of the Saints of the Wharf, one of the syndicates on the docks of the city of Carrowwick. He is unstable, unpredictable, and ambitious. He clawed his way up from the dirt to claim the power he has... and he'll do anything to keep it.
Ivan Rezkoye
Ivan is from the northern kingdom of Boreas. He is a disguise master, forger, and a skilled actor. His skills come from his time with a rebel movement in Boreas - a movement that failed, leading his brother to be captured by the King of Boreas and held in his prisons. Ivan will do anything to rescue his brother from his fate.
Evelyn Linley
Evelyn Linley was a Captain of the Guard in Carrowwick... until Ryia inadvertently ruined her reputation and got her kicked out. She's now hell-bent on ruining Ryia in hopes of putting her life back together. She signs on to work with Clem when he promises to hand her Ryia in return for her help. Her feelings for Ryia begin to get a bit... complicated as the story goes on, though.
Wyatt Asher
Asher is the leader of the Kestrel Crowns, a rival syndicate in Carrowwick and the person originally hired for the job our motley crew takes on in Among Thieves.
The Guildmaster
The Guildmaster is the puppet master over the entirety of Thamorr. He is the man who rules the Adept, and if the kings and queens of the mainland want access to magic, they need to keep him happy. He's the mark of the job in Among Thieves.
PLOT SUMMARY:
Wyatt Asher is hired by the King of a neighboring kingdom, Edale, to steal something from the Guildmaster - a magical quill. Asher quickly refuses the job, but Ryia Cautella overhears the conversation and brings the news back to her boss, Callum Clem, that a lucrative job is now open for the taking.
However, Ryia doesn't truly plan to help Clem get this quill and sell it - she has deduced that the quill is the item that lets the Guildmaster track down the Adept children in the kingdoms. It is also the item that has allowed the Guildmaster to continually track her down, keeping her on the run for years. She plans to betray Clem at the last minute and destroy the quill to win her own freedom.
Clem takes the bait. He decides to put together a crew to steal the quill. Ivan is the first to learn of this new job. He agrees to sign on, but he secretly plans to make off with the quill on his own in the end, planning to trade it for his brother's life and freedom.
Clem recruits Evelyn Linley, promising she can have Ryia's head on a platter if she helps him get the quill. Evelyn agrees to join the crew for the sole purpose of taking Ryia in and winning back her position within the guard.
Nash and Tristan are the final additions to the team. Nash, of course, will transport the team to the island. She is the only member of our heist team who truly plans to work with everyone and complete the job as designed (my sweet, sweet Nash. I love her).
Tristan is cornered on the street immediately following the meeting by a member of Wyatt Asher's crew. They've discovered his true identity and they plan to blackmail him with that information... unless he gives them what they want. He is now compromised, and will do anything to keep his secret safe.
The job on the island does not go smoothly. Ivan and Nash are almost made while trying to scout out the location they believe the quill is held. Ryia and Evelyn lose track of Tristan, and they believe he has been taken prisoner by the Guildmaster's men.
Nash agrees to forsake her original part of the heist plan, instead choosing to go try to rescue Tristan from the Guildmaster's dungeons.
Meanwhile, Ryia, Evelyn, and Ivan do their best with the original plan. Ryia and Evelyn manage to get to the quill. However, Evelyn sees Ryia performing magic - Ryia's secret is out.
Nash gets to the dungeons and finds that Tristan is not there. Where is he?
Ryia and Evelyn fight over the quill, Ryia trying to destroy it and Evelyn desperate to stop her. They are interrupted by an associate of Wyatt Asher's. The other woman makes away with the quill, her escape aided by none other than the missing Tristan Beckett... a boy who is revealed to truly be the lost Prince of Edale... son of the man who wants the quill.
Ryia and the gang manage to make it off the island by the skin of their teeth. Forced to return to Clem empty-handed, they make a plan to make one last run at the quill - attempting to steal it while it changes hands between Wyatt Asher and Tristan's father, the King of Edale.
However, there's more betrayal afoot. Evelyn has learned the nature of the quill and now agrees with Ryia that it needs to be destroyed. The pair of them scheme to destroy the quill while Clem formulates a secret plot with Ivan and Nash to make off with the quill on his own rather than selling it to anyone.
Chaos ensues!
Tristan is held hostage. He breaks free and tries to lay hands on the quill. As he does, he reveals a previously unknown power of the quill - not only does it find the Adept, it is what allows someone to control them.
Tristan loses his grip on the quill and is then captured and sold back to his father, who we learn is abusive and tried to have Tristan killed. Fighting breaks out, and we lose sight of the quill more than once. However, in the end, we believe Ryia and Evelyn have ended up with the quill! They destroy it, then run off together, intending to rescue Tristan from his horrible father, even though he betrayed them.
BUT SURPRISE!
In the epilogue we see that Clem had Ivan forge a false version of the quill. Ryia and Evelyn only destroyed a replica. Clem ended up with the real deal. He has faked his death and is on his way out of Carrowwick with Ivan and Nash, planning to use his new weapon to take over Thamorr.
THE END!
There you have it! That's the Cliff's Notes of Among Thieves! Hopefully that's enough to jog your memory before you dive into Thick as Thieves, giving you all the baseline info you need to enjoy the sequel as much as you would have if you'd been able to read it the day after you read book one!
Happy reading!!
