Item - Hunted

Shadow Thief Book 2: Hunted by David Lowrie is the second in a trilogy of interactive books in which the reader takes the part of 'Shadow', a young yet skilled thief in the city of Amaldi. As with the first book in this series, Jailbreak, the reader will find themselves using dice to resolve skill checks and combat as they attempt to survive in this dangerous city.

The story follows on directly from Jailbreak as Shadow must make his way into the central portion of the city before trying to locate what few allies he has left. This leads to several encounters, both friendly and not-so, as well as several opportunities for chase sequences as well as using the thief skills you must pre-select before reading (or use the skills you carried over from Jailbreak if you have already read that one). There is even a medieval pub crawl in which Shadow must try to hold his liquor while attempting to locate an important person's whereabouts.

The writing is as focused and exciting as Jailbreak, though one creative decision threw me briefly for a loop when the reader bears witness to a scene across the other side of the city where Shadow isn't present. It was all so sudden I thought I'd turned to the wrong section in the book, but after a couple of reads through the first paragraph, I was able to work out what was going on. It's a minor quibble, but worth mentioning.

If you have already read Jailbreak and decided to carry over your character and decisions from that book, you will find several instances where those decisions affect outcomes in book 2. This creates an atmosphere of continuity between books, and after one or two unexpected twists in this one, it should be interesting to see what the author has in store for us in book 3.

A recommended purchase if you like your gamebooks dicey and action-packed.

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