I was brand new to this series and so just as the final book in the trilogy releases I read and reviewed all three. Please feel free to only read up to where you are in the series to avoid potential spoilers when the later books are discussed. I’m going to colour coordinate the synopsis and reviews. Green for book 1, Amber for book 2, Red for book 3.  

About the Books 

The Light Thieves 

The Earth has shifted on its axis and a dark mark has appeared on the sun – the whole world is in peril! But billionaire tech genius Howard Hansom has a plan…

When Grain’s sister goes missing he’s convinced she has run off to Hansom’s new city to help save the world. But where Grain and his friends Jeffrey and Shelli track her there, they find nothing is quite as it seems. Why is everything so secret? Where is the mysterious Area 13? What does Howard Hansom want with all the people he has enticed to live in his city? 

And what’s really happening to the sun? 

The Light Thieves and the Search for the Black Mirror 

The sun’s light is being stolen. It’s a catastrophe for the planet and every living thing on it!

Friends Grian, Jeffrey and Shelli are desperately trying to work out what’s happening. They know tech genius Howard Hansom is behind the theft and they’re determined to stop him. But they can’t use any of Hansom’s smart technology in their quest as it will track them wherever they go. 

The three young heroes need to find a strange black mirror to help them save the sun. 

Time is running out. Can kids really save the world? 

The Light Thieves and the Terrifying Dawn 

The third and final action-packed eco-techno-adventure in The Light Thieves series from Helena Duggan, bestselling author of A Place Called Perfect.

 

People know that the sun is being stolen by tech-billionaire Howard Hansom, who’s been spinning everyone a massive lie.

 

The only person who can stop him from plunging the world into darkness is the mysterious White Rose. She must keep her identity a secret, so she’s been sending out coded letters hoping good people will find them and work out what’s going on. Young heroes, Grian, Shelli and Jeffrey have been deciphering her letters and are close to solving all the puzzles. But they need one more set of clues to help them in their quest.

Can they find the White Rose before it’s too late?

About the Author 

Helena Duggan is a children’s author, graphic designer and illustrator from Kilkenny, a medieval town in Ireland, which was the inspiration for A Place Called Perfect. She writes in a treehouse built by her husband Robbie and his brother in the bottom of their garden. She lives in a small house with Robbie, their daughters Jo and Bobbie and dog Tinker.

 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/helenadugganwrites

X: https://x.com/heldideas

What I Thought 

The Light Thieves 

Wow. This really was a rip roaring introduction to this adventure. From the world tilting prologue – literally- to the “what comes next” ending The Light Thieves was such an exciting read. 

The tag line is – Who would you trust to save the world, a boy or a billionaire? – I think most of us know the answer to this is the boy. Otherwise most of the world’s problems would already be solved if it was the one who actually already has access to resources! 

Our main protagonist Grian gets catapulted into adventure when his sister Solas decides to volunteer to enter The Tipping Point (a new city trying to create a critical mass of people to tip the world back onto its axis) and when his grandad subsequently also goes missing trying to locate her. With their parents away Grian has no choice other than to try and discover what has happened – whilst avoiding the creepy hovering and cloaked Proctors who try to invade his home. 

Grian starts the story friendless and at times somewhat embarrassed by his family. His sister doesn’t want to be seen near him, he doesn’t want people to know his granddad is a tilt denier and – how is his dad still a postman in this age of technological advancement? He does have a constant companion though. His Hansom smart watch he calls Bob.

Thrust into his neighbour’s backyard it turns out Jeffrey, as well as being very geeky, is also very handy to have around when technology hacking is needed. Both of them get chased out to the Wilde where eco warriors live and again – despite initial misjudgments against her – Shelli and her fox friend Nach balances out their trio with her connection with nature. Grian realises his grandad has taught him a skill that will come in super handy – how to solve complex puzzles and riddles. 

Infiltrating The Tipping Point is not easy, especially when its creator  Howard Hansom is perhaps not what he seems. If Utopia is promised is it ever likely to be real? 

Here they uncover a number of nefarious plots by using  the advanced technologies designed by the very evil billionaire they are trying to escape. Shelli’s animal whispering skills are also essential for finding Grian’s sister and Grandad? 

The Light Thieves and the search for the Black Mirror 

Just as good as book one. We delve much more into the Wilde and with our trio being public enemies nos 1-3 technology – which has tracking capabilities – is a big no no. Shelli’s skills come to the fore in this book but I really enjoyed how each of the three characters has their own way of contributing that makes the combination of them working together so much more powerful. 

There’s a couple of new characters introduced and I was a big fan of Mushka (who reminded me of a fave character in Gemina). With Mushka’s help we get an awesome heist sequence. We also get introduced to the Council of Colour, The Postal Service and the Riders of the Apocalypse motorcycle gang and there is a desperate search for letters that each contain a riddle that will lead them to knowing how to save the sun. 

Evil billionaire Howard has made the world think he died but where would the peril be if that were true? 

I love how all the plot pieces are coming together just as more power is leeched from the sun, we very much have a time restriction driving the action forward. 

A gold star goes to the postal service scenes for giving  me Terry Pratchett Going Postal vibes. 

The Light Thieves and the Terrifying Dawn 

Things I wanted to see in book 3:

To find out what happened with Shelli’s mum. 

For the three sisters to come together. 

For Grian to save his grandad. 

To have some sort of resolution with Jeffrey’s family – poor lamb. 

For Howard Hansom to be overcome by the power of nature (that can be in a good or a tragic way). 

I’m not actually going to tell you if any of that happened but I will say this is an excellent conclusion to the series. The tension increases because the trio are trapped under a dome in Quantum searching for the author of the riddles The White Rose. But once the sun extinguishes under the dome will be the only habitable place on earth. Where are the rest of their families? Can they find the White Rose, solve the riddles and save everyone. 

Howard Hansom is a super baddie, some of the scenes with the volunteers are very eerie and of course he only values the lives of the rich and famous. 

Although this series very much provides a social commentary – because the messages are so tied up in the plot it doesn’t feel like it’s done in a heavy handed way. Themes of climate change/technology/love and family make this conclusion both thrilling and emotional. 

I have had the first book from the author’s first MG series on my TBR for too long and reading this has definitely pushed it up because I know I will be in safe hands. 

But is the earth saved by Grian, Shelli, Jeffrey and Mushka. Should children have to deal with the mess that adults make at all? Personally I’d love to gift this series to quite a few adult readers!! 

A huge thanks to Bee at Kaleidoscopic tours and the publisher Usborne for the gifted copies. This wasn’t a series that was on my radar but I hope my honest review means that it is now on yours. 

Do check out the rest of the tour – book 3 is out soon, on 12th September.