The Thunder Heist

An Epic Pirate Fantasy Adventure (Twisted Seas Book 1)

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Pub Date 19 Oct 2021 | Archive Date 27 Apr 2021

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Description

A relentless thief. A magical device. And a heist to change everything.

Kef Cutmark is the greatest pirate in the Twisted Seas. Just ask her – she’s more than happy to talk about her exploits. She’s a woman of sharp wit and an even sharper sword. She’s killed sea monsters, toppled kings, stolen priceless artifacts, and made a hefty sum of gold along the way.

But her charming, roguish exterior hides a dark past. As a child, she was a slave in Zorith – a tangled jungle of a thousand boats, all lashed together to make a floating city-ship. After a life spent running from her past, she’s had enough. Now, it’s time for revenge.

Zorith is powered by a magical device that draws energy from lightning. Mysterious, unique, and locked in an unbreachable tower, it’s the envy of Zorith’s rivals.

And Kef? She’s here to steal it.

To do that, she’ll need a water-breathing mutant, a grumpy architect, and a deaf alchemist. If Kef can take the device, it will cripple Zorith, and serve out justice for what the city did to her. But with all the odds stacked against Kef, failure looks more likely. And if she fails, she’ll never find peace again.

The Thunder Heist is a fast-paced fantasy tale of deception, thievery, and revenge. If you enjoyed The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Gutter Prayer, or Mistborn: The Final Empire, you'll love The Thunder Heist.

A relentless thief. A magical device. And a heist to change everything.

Kef Cutmark is the greatest pirate in the Twisted Seas. Just ask her – she’s more than happy to talk about her exploits. She’s...


Advance Praise

"A top-notch setting. Rife with alchemic pollution and political turmoil and populated by humans, a second citizenry of indentured mutants, and the Honourborns living richly off the suffering of both races, the seedy city-ship of Zorith is a great backdrop for nautical crime." - Grimdark Magazine.

"A terrifically fun heist adventure in a unique and fascinating world." - Booknest.

"Kef struts across the pages with the bluster and bravado of a weather-beaten sea-dog who’s seen far too much, her dialogue cynical and sarcastic. Herne however, manages to give her much more depth beyond this so that she doesn’t come across as one-dimensional. Behind the wise-cracks is someone who cares, someone who bears emotional scars, and someone who is determined and completely self-reliant. [...] Oh and the internal art is AMAZING!!" - Bookends & Bagends."

"A top-notch setting. Rife with alchemic pollution and political turmoil and populated by humans, a second citizenry of indentured mutants, and the Honourborns living richly off the suffering of both...


Available Editions

ISBN 9780648681953
PRICE US$2.99 (USD)

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Average rating from 28 members


Featured Reviews

Morally grey characters pull off a heist in a fantasy world where monsters roam the seven seas.

I have to say, I read the book the whole way through. I’m not always into mortally grey protagonists, and Kef’s actions sometimes made it hard to root for her, but it was overall an enjoyable story.

(Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Unrelenting, fast paced action a la "Indiana Jones."

Really first class world building. Here is a world where monsters keep people off the land, so cities are vast concatenations of vessels of all types, travelling around dangerous seas. Mutations randomly affect percentages of the population, giving them wings or gills -- or other, more esoteric abilities. The descriptions are evocative but crisp, not getting in the way of the story or annoying you with "fantasy overload" -- that tendency of some authors to make up so many words, names and things that the reader loses any sense of identification with a new world. I was right there in the world of the Twisted Seas, with all five senses engaged. As an added plus, there are excellent illustrations.

In the first few pages, Kef, sentenced to death and in chains, manages to explode into action as she lays the groundwork for her Thunder Heist and she really doesn't quit till the last page. Kef is one of those tragic but tough villain-heroes, you come to understand what made her the way she is, but you never quite like her for it. However, since she is carving her way through people, seas, walls and doors with reckless abandon you don't really have time to worry about that.

The pace of this story is great, I never found myself bored.

Personally, I prefer a bit more humor to leaven all the guts and gore and conflict. Kef is deadly serious about everything she does and while she makes smart remarks from time to time, you get no sense she thinks anything is funny or there is a lighter side. She's a woman on a mission and everyone else is just a means to an end, even those she seemed to care about. You could argue that the horrible things that led her to this heist justify that easily, so if you like a tragic story, where the protagonist fights against impossible odds, you will like this. No funny sidekick here, all the characters were serious/tragic as well. To be fair, it wasn't unrelentingly depressing, there was plenty of relief from the spectacular fantasy and action elements like monsters, storms, super fast boats, alchemy and mutant abilities.

Also, there were a number of threads left dangling -- several times the author would leave you with a cliff hanger where you wonder what choice Kef is going to make or what this has to do with the story -- but in at least two notable cases doesn't tell you, just goes on to the next part of the story. While this can be done well in a series, setting up the next installment, here it fell flat. I wondered why that bit or character was put in there at all.

Overall, a better than good read. I will definitely pick up the next in the series and I am interested in reading more of this author.

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This story gripped me right away, from page one. It opens with Kef being dragged out of her cage in prison for her execution, and she seems to be having the time of her life. Kef is snarky, she is muscly, she is capable, confident, and smart. She definitely embodies a lot of tropes, but she feels like a well-rounded and unique character nonetheless. Despite being at her own execution, she is exactly where she needs to be, and it only takes a few pages for the action to start and for her break-out to take place. This is where we get to see phase one of her heist: free another prisoner who will join her team. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. If you hadn’t guessed it from the title already, this is a heist book! And it’s a brilliantly executed one. I think heists can be quite hard to write; it’s definitely the kind of story that adapts more easily to the screen, but it’s so satisfying when it’s well-executed on page. This was one of those times.

One of the things that really kept me hooked on The Thunder Heist was the world building. Kef lives in a world in which land is not safe for humans, so they have built themselves great city-ships and live on the ocean. Some travel through the seas, and some, like Zorith, are large enough that they stay in one place and feel protected. This is an incredibly cool setting, and there are times I would forget, such as when a character was at the opera, or at a party, or in an inn and then suddenly something in the description would remind me that all of these indoor spaces were in ships and boats. It really adds to the atmosphere. There’s even a hint at one point that this world once had Star Sailors, and that some of the metal that falls down to the earth from the debris belt that surrounds the planet are part of their old ships. I was super intrigued by this detail, and I hope it’s explored more in future books.

It is unclear if this world has any sort of specific magic system, but it does have mutants: certain people seem to change as they grow older, and either become gillers -attuned to water, with slitted eyes, gills, and webbed hands and feet- or wingers -attuned to the air, with wings and hollow bones. It’s not explained how this happens, but most of these people get taken and become slaves, working for governments or richer members of society.

One of the members of Kef’s crew, a young man names Squine, is a giller, and it’s really cool to see it up close. He’s also an interesting character because where Kef was looking for a strong and competent giller, Squine is an outcast and a weakling even among his own people. This creates an interesting dynamic, and Squine is not the only atypical member of the group…

With a relatively small cast, this book was very character-focused, and I really enjoyed reading about them all. Kef, who is already very cool, scored further points with me for being twenty-nine years old, because so many of the books that exist in this vein tend to have their badass female characters be as young as possible within the context. But I liked having a character that has already lived a relatively long life for a fantasy book main character. The other two members of her team are also older than average; Gabine, the architect, is in her seventies, and she is a lovely grumpy cynic. Harold, the alchemist, is in his forties and is a kindly, rotund man who simply goes along with the heist because he cares about Kef and knows how important it is to her. These two definitely weren’t featured enough, but I know this book was quite short, and most of the character development was focused on Kef, as the protagonist.

Overall, a really good first book in this new series. Concise in its storytelling, yet still weaving an intriguing, credible world that seems to extend beyond the pages, so that you are left wondering what else might be out there. The ending took me by surprise, but was also very satisfying; it tied up the story while still leaving room for more, and I very much look forward to visiting the Twisted Seas again.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the author, Jed Herne, for providing a copy of The Thunder Heist (Twisted Seas book one). I have reviewed honestly.

The Thunder Heist features, but is not limited to, the following themes:
○ Pirates
○ Anti-heroes
○ Magic
○ Mutants
○ Heists
○ Prison breaks

My overall rating for The Thunder Heist is…

4.5 Stars!

With a setting combining the likes of Waterworld and Mortal Engines, and characters for fans of Throne of Glass and Daughter of the Pirate King, The Thunder Heist is intoxicating! And let's not forget the heist in itself! Think Six of Crows, but add the afore mentioned qualities. This book is go, go, GO from page one, which kept me riveted and excited as the tale developed. The characters were unique and quircky, but that world building was just perfection! Fans of pirates, heists and snarky female leads will devour this book.

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Now I love good heist story, and when I saw this book on NetGalley, I was immediately intrigued because I am someone who has grown up loving movies like Ocean's 11, The Italian Job, Now You See Me (just the first movie) ,and I'm a lover of just the heist genre in general. So when I got the opportunity to read another fantasy heist novel, I jumped at the opportunity.

Now this is unlike the other fantasy heist novels that we usually see like Mistborn, and Six of Crows because this is, at its core just a good old heist story.
Ok, if I talk about the things I like about this book, first of all- it starts off with a BANG! It's a very cinematic opening. It reminded me a ton of heist movies, just like that first scene that throws you into the action and sets you up for the whole ride. I really liked seeing that, since it set me up for what the rest of the book was going to be.


Also I loved the world building in this. It's very cool. It's just while idea of cities at sea. The land is filled with monsters and it is un-inhabitable. No one can go on it, so the people have created City Ships by latching together a ton of ships, so it became just like, cities floating around.

And I really liked that. I thought it was very cool. Even if you're not a big urban fantasy gal, I think this type of world would still appeal to you.
This is obviously a non-spoiler review so I won't get into any details, but there is this one scene right at the end which I like to call a classic heist shenanigan, and I mean that in the best possible way! There's just this moment between two characters and they’re talking, and I am like, “Yes! this is what I'm talking about. This is what I'm here for!”

Things just clicked for me in that moment. There was this fulfilment of expectations, which is not burdensome or predictable in any way, but just a genuine, good pay-off of what makes heist stories what they are. And I really enjoyed that!

I also really liked the female representation in this book. The main character is female, but beyond that as well, the rest of the crew is half and half...there is a female mob boss, and a lot of roles that are associated with males were kind of flipped on their heads.
If we talk about other books, there are often complaints about how there is only one female character in Mistborn, and even in movies, other than Ocean's 8, there aren't really many female leads in any of the heist movies I love. So I appreciated that this book changed it up a little bit without feeling force or trying too hard.
It's a great first entry into a series and I also appreciate that it is a pretty contained story.

I find that to be a positive actually because as I was reading, it it felt very complete. It felt like the series is maybe gonna be a bit more serial in nature, like the Dresden Files. It didn't feel like it had a ton of loose ends, like in a trilogy, and that's turned out to be a positive for me as sometimes I enjoy reading a book where I don't have to worry about getting through 5 more books to know what happens.
So overall if you or someone who likes heists, s and particularly really action-packed and fast-paced stories, you’re really gonna love this book.


I do have some negatives to talk about though. So I'm just gonna mention a few things that didn't work for me as much.

Honestly, the biggest criticism I have about this book is the main character. My biggest problem was that I couldn't really get a grasp on her. I never really understood who Kef Cutmark really is. It wasn't really like a journey or discovery with her. It felt like she was two different characters merged into one. The front that she put up in front of her crew members went up and came down in ways that didn't necessarily make a lot of sense to me.
Another thing that I felt was lacking was that, unlike the usual crew leaders in heist stories, Kef wasn't charismatic. I mean, there's Danny in Oceans 11 and Kelsier in Mistborn who are essentially known for that; but Kef was I think intentionally made an unlikeable character. And yet unfortunately it didn't work for me.

Moving on, this point actually gives way for my second problem, which is the camaraderie, or lack of it there of, between the crew members. One thing that I’ve reali about myself is that one of the reasons I like heist stories so much is because of the banter and the camaraderie between the characters.

There’s also the saying that “a crew is as good as its weakest member.”, but this book didn't really have that and it's something I sorely missed. All the characters are strangers, they don't have any team feeling or camaraderie among them, which really bummed me out.
I’d also like to take a moment to appreciate the cover art and the supplementary illustrations sprinkled throughout the book. They’re so fantastic, and they just give the story a whole new life!

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What do you get if you mix one part Waterworld, with a touch of Mad Max, a sprinkling of steampunk, a dash of Oceans 11 and a soupcon of Jack Sparrow? You get Jed Herne’s ‘The Thunder Heist’.
The story revolves around pirate with a past, Kef Cutmark, the greatest pirate in the Twisted Seas. Not only is she a Pirate with a past, she’s a pirate with a plan. A very dangerous plan that could topple the city ship of Zorith. The city that held her enslaved as a child, and now she is all grown up, she has put together an elaborate plan that will see the ship and the government sink to the bottom of the twisted seas.
Sorry (not sorry) but I make no excuses for my love of pirates. It’s going to get me every time. And add to this a bit of a heist theme set in a world that has mutants and big assed ships and I am in.
There is no doubt about it, Jed Herne’s ‘The Thunder Heist’ is a fun little read. And clocking in at under two hundred pages, the story is a no frills thrill ride right through to the end.
It starts with our titular hero imprisoned on a prison hulk called Blackrake prison, waiting to be executed for her many crimes. However, everything is not as it seems. For one, she put herself there. For two, she fast tracked her own execution, and for three, this is Kef Cutmark.
From the explosive first chapter, the pace hurtles along like a person careering down a zip wire and it doesn’t let up. Jed Herne doesn’t bother with any meanderings. He goes from A to B with the minimum of fuss.
However, don’t think that it is a one horse caper novel. There is a whole lot of stuff going on in the book. The Thunder Heist is set in a world with some interesting little quirks. The setting is based around city ships. Great hulking ships that have other ships, pontoons, and other seaworthy vessels all around them. Not only that, this is a land that is populated by mutants. Like Gillers, who are able to swim beneath the polluted sea, Wingers who are able to fly and Crystalcoats, who resemble the stone men in the Gutter Prayer.
The book has fantastic energy and playfulness. However, it is not all fun and frolics. There are some dark edges to the story, that add to the texture of the book.
As it is a short book, and it is a heist book, some of the characters are there for one purpose and don’t really get expanded on, like Gabine for instance, who is the architect of the story. However, like I said, this is a heist story and that normally happens.
The main star of the book is Kef Cutmark, and let me tell you she owns the story. She swaggers her way through the plot, and I liked her a lot as a character. Additionally, Jed Herne gives her a little bit of a steely edge that adds to her character and just enough self-doubt to make her seem realistic rather than a nihilistic parody.
So, if you are in the market for a sparky fun read that delivers its punches, you can’t go far wrong with The Thunder Heist.

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Kef has a plan, one fifteen years in the making, and nothing is going to stop her from seeing it through.

This was an intense, read, utterly gripping, and action-filled from the get-go! Said action is always fantastically described, such that I was able to fully picture every moment of each fight as if I was watching a film, and never feeling like too much. The world-building was equally amazing: Information is never spoon-fed to you and yet you find yourself quickly grasping the finer points of life on these city-ships, with many hints and allusions to the greater world and its many people and creatures. Enough is spoken about Kef regular crew to keep me interested in her next adventures as well. As for the heist itself, it is masterfully orchestrated by the author, with Kef spending the first two thirds of the book gathering up a 'crew' and preparing, and the execution going flawlessly, which doesn't feel cheap at all given we are told she has returned to the city many times to do reconnaissance over the last fifteen years. I have to admit, I'm curious as to what her plan would have been if she hadn't met the rich and greedy Nicholas and gotten him to handle the tattoos portion of the plan. Finally, while Kef is a very smart and strong charactrer, almost Jack Sparrow-esque at times, her characterisation, and that of every character is always consistent, even down to her unrefined language even when pretending to be a spy for the High Captain in front of Nicholas.

My only gripe with this book, and sadly it is a significant one, is the death of a key cahracter. While I can understand that their death was most likely a way to amp up the tension and tease the threat of betrayal to make the threat at the end more real, which admitedly it probably did, it felt more like a cheap way to get drama, or to feel daarker/grittier. After everything Kef goes through to 'recruit' them, all the importance that was assigned to their role, they were very easily replaced in the end, with barely a dent in the plan, especially thanks to Nicholas' somewhat preemptive recruitement. The tension and threat of betrayal could've been achieved differently, andthey very much felt like exactly what they were: a throaway character. This is unfortunately a pet peeve of mine, and I have to remove a star from what would have been a perfect review. Given, however, the importance paid to them after their death (a whole chapter!), I am willing to hold out hope that it actually becomes relevant in the sequel. If it does then you may feel free will ignore the above.

In all, a brilliantly executed heist story set in a dystopian, water-logged society, with some intense scenes and themes. I would very much recommend it to older/YA readers, though would be more careful with younger readers.

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Meet Kef Cutmark. Pirate, monster-slayer, scourge of the Twisted Seas.

After a lifetime of running from her past, she’s returned to Zorith – a tangled jungle of a thousand boats, all lashed together to make a floating city-ship. Zorith is powered by a device that draws energy from lightning. Mysterious, unique, and locked in an unbreachable tower, it’s the envy of Zorith’s rivals.

And Kef? She’s here to steal it.

The Thunder Heist is the first installment in Jed Herne's explosive new series, Twisted Seas. I was so excited to start this book because its very different to the type of fantasy I usually read and it was a chance to find a new author. I knew I would enjoy reading something different but I'm still surprised by how much I loved it. It had the perfect combo of creative world building, engaging characters and explosive pacing which complimented the fascinating plot so well.

The story follows Kef's escape from Black Drake Prison and her plans for the Heist to steal Zorith's thunder which provides the city with power. I've been searching for a good Heist book for a while so when I was given the chance to read a fantasy Heist with pirates, I knew I was going to be in for a crazy and entertaining journey. I feel like it truly ticked all the boxes for me as a reader.

My favourite aspect of The Thunder Heist has to be the MC, Kef Cutmark. I absolutely loved the sass and sarcasm which lead to so many moments of laughter. Its so refreshing to have the MC as a powerful female whose an absolute badass! It usually takes a while for a character to grow on me, but in this case, I instantly took a liking to Kef and she's become one of my all time favourite characters. We also meet other really cool characters as Kef recruits her team to take on the almost impossible Heist. I also loved the idea of not all the characters being human. We have Gillers who are a mix between human and fish. It kind of reminded me of how Harry Potter looked when he eats the Gilly weed in The Goblet of Fire. There is also Wingers who are humans with wings which I thought was really cool. The level of creativity with the characters/creatures was on point.

The type of world building used was something I've never encountered in a book before. Zorith, where the majority of the story takes place, is basically a city that's made from joining ships. Its just bursting with imagination and is truly epic. Zorith is one of those places I would love to visit if I had a magic bean to create a portal.

The Thunder Heist is a fast paced and beautifully written book that has some of the most explosive and brutal fight scenes! It's a story that is truly captivating from Start to finish.

If the rest of the books are as good as this. I can see myself adding this series to my list of favourites series.

A big thank you to Jed Herne for providing me with a copy to read and review.

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A really good read. A minor niggle is the unrealistic number of times the heroine, knowing or unknowingly enters a trap which she amazingly escapes. But don't be put off, it's worth reading.

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this was such a great pirate novel, I enjoyed the characters and that they felt like true pirates. It was a great start to a series.

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"You had to play with the cards you had. And even down to her last card, Kef was a better player than most"

It's like if Six of Crows and The Mortal Engines had a child IN HIGH SEAS!
This one was so good!
An entertaining fast paced story about a heist impulsed by trauma and vengeance with likely characters, plot twists and a very cool and original worldbuilding!
We got ships that form cities and enhanced beings and so much action!
I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to see what's coming next !

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I have read a few of Herne's books before and enjoyed his creative worlds and writing style and am always left wanting more. The Thunder Heist is no different, taking place in a very inventive post-apocalyptic water world where cities made of lashed together ships are the only places safe from sea monsters. In one such city, a device is used to capture and harness the power of frequent electrical storms. Kef Cutmark wants this device and brings together a team with the right skills to achieve the feat.
The book plods along quite nicely with the plot unfolding apace, all leading up to the pulling off of the heist, with twists and turns along the way as very few things about this world turn out to be what they seem.
I had a few personal issues with the dialogue and the slightly clumsy way aspects of the world (that would be well known and second nature to inhabitants of the world) are revealed in conversation.
That aside, I found this to be an enjoyable fantasy heist tale with good distinct characters that I wanted to see overcome adversity and triumph.

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This story started immediately with a lot of action.
You get to know the world during the story, and it is an interesting and different world where people live on floating cities that are build on ships.
It was an easy and fun read.

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Who doesn't love a heist story?

We follow the adventures of Kef and his crew as they plan heist of their lifetime. The world of floating city held together by chained boats is fabulous. Add in the interesting mix of Kif's crew making up of mutants and gillers is fun and fascinating.

The prose is crisp and dialogues are to the point. There's not much fluff and the plot moves along at a fast pace.

A minor grips is that despite having interesting characters, they just have not been fleshed out enough. We hear a lot, but more insights on who they are and what drives them is missing a bit. We see a lot of Kef, but would have appreciated a bit more side characters pov just so they make a impression and not just part of background.

Overall a nice read.

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