Book Review: The Cursed Thief by Matt James

Scooby Doo x National Treasure x Tomb Raider In Island Hopping Caribbean Adventure. With Pirates. This is a really fun tale that keeps you on the edge of your seat thinking that one event is going to happen, particularly at one point in the tale, and... well... you'll have to read the book to see if it actually does or not. ;)

The action is tight and intense, whether it be as spectacular as a Laura Croft/ Tom Cruise free climbing scene (always intense to me, and at the front of the tale here) or as "produced by Michael Bay" as some of the chase scenes herein can feel at times. This is supposed to be a fun adventure, not something that takes itself too seriously or that expects you as the reader to take it too seriously, and it does a solid job of adhering to general genre expectations there. Including in the back third or so, when (as so many of these types of tales so often do) it takes a bit of a scifi jaunt.

But really the heart of this tale is the titular Charlee Flynn and her parents, and this is the strongest part of the tale, showing depth, growth, heart, and humor. This serving as the "you think you know what is going on?" introductory tale, it really works well in its introductions of each of the three characters and their interactions throughout the tale.

Overall a fun tale that fans of the genre will enjoy and even fans of more family-oriented tales that perhaps haven't really tried out the adventure genre may well find quite a bit to enjoy here as well... while still being a solidly action/ adventure tale first and foremost, simply with a strong relationship component to anchor it.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Cursed Thief by Matt James was originally written on July 2, 2026.