Accidental Thief

A Fun Listen

Hal Dix is the unluckiest guy in the world. He's stuck in a boring IT job with a bully for a boss and a successful wife who makes parenting look easy. Hal plays role playing games for fun, and he's just been duped into spending all his spare cash for a bootleg version of a game that doesn't exist yet. Except when Hal tries the bootleg disc, it works. And it transports him bodily into the world of Fantasma.

Hal awakens in the game and immediately runs into trouble. Framed for the murder of a powerful city warden, he's arrested and sentenced to death. He needs to use all his wits and the points he's allocated to his luck stat to survive.

This is a solid LitRPG, an enjoyable listen. Hal is a good MC to follow, a bit awkward at times but not a sad sack. He's just reacting to events in the beginning, but soon takes control and becomes someone to cheer for. The action was fast paced. The game mechanics were incidental to the story, they didn't play a major role and it would be a fun fantasy listen even if you're not into LitRPG. The stat sheets are very short and aren't repeated too often, and Hal doesn't spend any time agonizing over point allocation. Although this is book one, it ties everything up neatly and can be read as a standalone.

The narration is really well done! The narrator performs subtle voices for the various characters and kept me listening and immersed in the story. If you're looking for a LitRPG for a teen or young reader, this book doesn't have any sex or swearing, but there are fight scenes and some references to adult themes. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

24 of 27 people found this review helpful

good narrator. bad story

the excellent narrator is the only thing saving this horribly cliche story with little to no character depth

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Loved this book! A great first novel

I really liked this book a lot. Hal was fun, and Kay? (sorry on audible so not sure if it is just K) was great. The book is about a normal guy who likes to play video games that is sucked into a fantasy world. The world translates things to him in game format, so that he understands it. So he levels and picks powers just as if he were playing at home. In fact, there is a point where he isn't sure if he is playing or if it is real.

The only beef I have is that his one singular ability, his luck, never failed. I would have liked to have seen him flub a few tries, because it got to a point where you knew he was good if he heard the slot machine sound in his head. A minor plot point. I just have to be honest.

I eagerly await book 2, and hope that next time he's not an accidental thief, but an intentional one. Go get this book, it will make a fine addition to your audible library. Oh, and Robert Scarloto does a masterful job of keeping your attention with his inflection, emotion, and pacing. I'd happily listen to him again and again.

9 of 12 people found this review helpful

Trite, tropey, and predictable

The book followed a typical d&d plotline. No big surprises; I felt reluctant to continue listening.
Finishing became a tedious task, at least for me. I've been reading fantasy for over a decade ave have read a lot, so perhaps I'm spoiled - a newcomer to fantasy works and to role-playing games might enjoy and learn from the book.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Classic case of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'

So...Accidental Thief is not really indicative of what the story is about. Accidental Rogue would have been better. That being said, I LOVED this book. Just like the character in the story, I got sucked in from the very beginning and took a grand adventure. I, personally, have never played a RPG type video game, but I have watched and been entertained. This guy really got into his character! I definitely NEED to listen to the book 2!
I listened to the audiobook version of the story and Roberto Scarlato is the narrator. LOVE his voice. Everything about it. The timber, the cadence of the narration, and he brings the characters to life! I could easily envision the story as it unfolded just like when I listen to a movie on the tv while doing something else.
I recommend this book/audiobook to all!

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Nah...shouldn’t be litRPG

Just giving this one guys star summary once per chapter fdoes not make it litRPG! For those of us in the genre, we like to see our characters progression over time, what the level of enemies are and have there be logic to the giving of skills and where stats are out. This is a fine (not great) general adventure story, but damn, there are so many things that bug me I will not be going on in the series. What you ask? I’ll try to list a couple...First...he is the only character with stats described and despite all kinds of knifework, backstabbing, stealth and other stealthy things, they are all lumped under a couple general skills. Well actually he never gets a skill in the weapons area. Second, His allies and opponents never seem to have levels for the reader to see what kind of opponent he is facing (you must assume by the amount of experience he gets) Third, the equipment never really has stats either. There is reference to how it was an enchanted weapon, but we the reader have no comparison. Fourth, the guy puts all his stats into luck to start. Ok fine if he is going to go that route he should stick with it, but then he just puts them into strength when he levels. Most of his fighting is sneaky and requires dexterity, but he never puts points into it but somehow gets better and better as measured by the seemingly more difficult guys he must be facing (again assumed by the experience given). I dunno, it was just a bit shallow for me. I vote it’s not really a litRPG except for the compulsory being stuck in the game part and the describing of his individual stats.

11 of 19 people found this review helpful

loved it

I loved it so much I got the audio book to review after buying and reading the book myself!! one for my audio collection

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

great story

I can't wait to hear more from this author. his style was so unique. I would say if you love litrpg you will like this book

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

it's okay

not bad overall. nice little story. not sure if rpg books are my thing. if you like them, you should give it a try.

To Easy

I wanted more suspense, more action. It seemed like a stroll in the park, everything was too easy