Meet weird teenager Jonah Wish, a genius computer hacker, caught, thrown and sentenced for one year into juvenile hall. And only into the start of his second month he is broken out by a couple of unknown criminal gang members for some apparent reason, changing Jonah’s life for good.

He was brought to an unknown criminal hideout where he found out that the gang members that snuck him out of custody were under the command of a man called ‘Nathaniel Coldhart’ who recruits teenagers with unique talents like Jonah, who has special cyber hacking abilities.

Jonah does not realize what sort of a life he was getting into due to the distractions from all the materials provided by Nathaniel. All he knows is that once he is in the gang, there is no getting out.

As Jonah was recruited into the gang, Patch, Con, Motti and Tye would soon be sent onto a risky and secret mission assigned by Nathaniel Coldhart.

I really enjoyed this book because it was about criminal teenagers, and I felt that I could relate to what they were feeling throughout the book. I could not put this book down sometimes because I was completely engaged with the story and its interesting lines and wanted to know what would happen next. The descriptive language, engaging storyline of the book and traits of the characters, which Steven Cole assigned to the book, made it easy to make up scenarios within my head as to what was happening in the book.

 Angelo, Year 9

…….

      Have you ever wanted to know what it would be like to be a computer hacker in your teenage years and then thrown into a juvenile centre?  If so, then Thieves like us by Stephen Cole will let you know what it’s like.

A teenage boy by the name of Jonah Wish is sentenced to one year in a juvenile detention centre where, in only his second month, he is busted out by an unknown pair of criminal gang members and Jonah’s world will never be the same again.

Jonah is taken to a criminal hideout where he and five other teens are under the command of Nathaniel Coldhart, who recruits teenagers with special talents like cyber hacking. Jonah doesn’t know what type of life he has been plucked into. All he knows is that he is in a teen gang and there is no getting out. Jonah and the others, Patch, Con, Motti and Tye, are about to be sent on Coldhart’s most important assignment yet.

I really enjoyed this book because it was about teenagers, and I felt that I could relate to what they were feeling throughout. I could not put this book down because I was completely engaged with the story and wanted to know what would happen next. The descriptive language, engaging storyline and traits of the characters, which Steven Cole assigned to the book, made it easy to make up scenarios in my head as to what was happening in the book.

I would recommend this book for teenage boys from around 14 to 18 years old who enjoy reading a thrilling, adventurous book with an intriguing creative plot with plenty of great cliffhangers; one you’ll be unable to put down.

Louis H, Year 9

……………….

Nathaniel Coldhardt is a rich, master criminal who recruits teenagers with special talents to undertake his deeply planned out crimes. These crimes take place in remote places all around the world, from Egypt to France. So far he has recruited four teens and has taken them in and given them a home. Although Coldhardt has put together a very special group, he needs another employee for his next crime. This employee is stuck in an institution. Jonah is his name and he has an immense interest in computers and solving puzzles.

Jonah Wish was an orphan who had a massive curiosity about computers. His gift was a vast knowledge of the electronic world and hacking. Jonah once tried to help one of the families he most loved with his talent, but ended up angering them and getting sent to the Young Offenders Institution. He was sentenced to the institution for a numerous number of years, until he was broken out by a group of teenagers. These teenagers weren’t normal though. They each had a special talent that had to do with solving puzzles and robbery. Even though they used their talents for immoral reasons, they’re all competent, nice teens that had a story as to why they do this for a living. These teenagers are Con, Tye, Patch and Motti. Jonah was welcomed into the group and met their boss, Coldhardt. He agreed to the offer to join the group. After this they were assigned a mission. They didn’t know this mission was the start to a huge operation. They travel the world to steal and figure out an ancient artifact.

This book was an action packed, mysterious, suspenseful and overall a different type of book. I liked the fact that the characters were a mystery until the middle of the book. Also the story line kept me on my heels. The plot made me want to know what happened next and made wanting to read more. This book was meant for people between the ages of 13 and 19 because of its language, setting and storyline. I recommend this book highly to read. I rate the book 4 out of 5 stars.  Jason, Year 9