Rating: 
Summary: a great book for all ages - a 13 year old's perspective
Review: A wonderfully, creative story.
Funny, thrilling, and a refreshing change from typical adventure stories. The four main characters - Flavia, Nubia, Johnathan, and Lupus - share adventures in Ancient Rome. Nubia was a slave girl who Flavia, the daughter of a ship captain, rescued from an otherwise grueling life. Lupus was a beggar boy who Johnathan's father took in. The four inadvertently uncover a plot devised by an unlucky young man with gambling debts to gain wealth.
An excellent and witty story.
Rating: 
Summary: A CAPTIVATING READING
Review: Bookstores are awash with detective/thriller stories boasting female protagonists. Yes, we have met quite a few brave, clever gals who can solve a mystery without chipping their manicures. However, I venture to say there are none like Flavia Gemina, introduced in Caroline Lawrence's debut novel. You see, Flavia is a Roman sea captain's daughter who lives in 79 A.D. She's a carefree young miss who lives with her Dad in the port city of Ostia. She's also an animal lover, so when the dogs on her street start dying she is bound and determined to find out who is killing them and why anyone would perpetrate such senseless acts. Kim Hicks, a very talented Brit who has performed in praiseworthy one-woman shows, gives captivating voice to Flavia and her buddies - including neighbor Jonathan; Nubia, a slave girl; and Lupus, a mute beggar boy. As the group sets about solving the mystery they uncork a genie's bottle of adventures, escapades, and narrow escapes. Listeners will particularly enjoy the setting of this tale as they learn something about life in ancient Rome. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: A CAPTIVATING READING
Review: Bookstores are awash with detective/thriller stories boasting female protagonists. Yes, we have met quite a few brave, clever gals who can solve a mystery without chipping their manicures. However, I venture to say there are none like Flavia Gemina, introduced in Caroline Lawrence's debut novel. You see, Flavia is a Roman sea captain's daughter who lives in 79 A.D. She's a carefree young miss who lives with her Dad in the port city of Ostia. She's also an animal lover, so when the dogs on her street start dying she is bound and determined to find out who is killing them and why anyone would perpetrate such senseless acts. Kim Hicks, a very talented Brit who has performed in praiseworthy one-woman shows, gives captivating voice to Flavia and her buddies - including neighbor Jonathan; Nubia, a slave girl; and Lupus, a mute beggar boy. As the group sets about solving the mystery they uncork a genie's bottle of adventures, escapades, and narrow escapes. Listeners will particularly enjoy the setting of this tale as they learn something about life in ancient Rome. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: Anxiously awaiting future episodes!
Review: I read 'Thieves' in one sitting, and loved the fast-paced adventures of the young band of Roman friends!
Falvia Gemina, the smart young Roman girl, is joined by a group of friends as a mystery unfolds in her own home town in Italy.
Each page is filled with the sights, sounds, smells, and cultural authenticities that bring this story (set in 79A.D.) to vivid life. The book is exciting for younger adults (but not for the very young...), and adult enough to offer something for everyone.
I am a fan of a good mystery, and this first of several episodes kept me guessing and gave me a terrific introduction to this fresh and well-written series.
I am awaiting the next in this series of tales of long,long ago.
Rating:
Summary: Buffy meets Ben Hur?
Review: Or Nancy Drew meets Gladiator? Take a feisty female detective like Nancy Drew, put her in Ancient Rome among gladiators, slave-dealers and pirates, give her a 'scooby gang' of flawed but loveable allies, pit her against dastardly bad guys, then season with paganism, christianity and judaism. What have you got? Something completely new and very tasty: The Roman Mysteries. This series is going to be HUGE!
Rating:
Summary: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
Review: The book I am reviewing is a fictional story.
It is an adventure / mystery set in Ostia the port of ancient Rome in the year 79 AD. The main characters are four children, Flavia Gemmina a Roman sea captains daughter, Nubia an African slave girl, Jonathan a Jewish boy and Lupus the mute beggar boy who become friends. The book is about who is killing the dogs of Ostia. My favourite bit of the story is when they found that there were only two people that could have done the killings of the dogs but they don't know witch one did it and when they discovered the tomb of the Girl that was killed by a mad dogs bite. I feel quite sorry for them because they are always in dangerous situations. My favourite character is Lupus because he's the bravest. I'd really like to meet them in real life because I'd get myself into big scary adventures. This book is 195 action packed pages long together with maps and my one is signed by the author. I would recommend this book for age seven and upwards. To Boys and Girls, especially if you are interested in history. Anyone who is of a nervous disposition, pregnant or if you have a weak stomache or has heart-disorder
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!!!! By
Ollo Weguelin
Rating:
Summary: The Thieves of Ostia
Review: The book The Thieves of Ostia should rank up there with the Harry Potters for young adults. It is historically accurate, and includes many interesting facts about Roman life, culture, and contrasts. It gives one an inside look at the mind of a young girl at the time and her inner debates as Roman culture clashes with what she thinks is morally right. The mystery that appears in the midst of all this forms another section of the marvelous quilt that Lawrence weaves with her words. The story of Flavia and her friends will keep you guessing until the climactic end.
Rating:
Summary: The theives of ostia
Review: The Theives of Ostia is the first of an amazing series of 6. It begins in Ostia, port town of rome in about 90 ad. 4 children meet up to solve a mystery, this book contains many cliffhangers and shocks that will send your mind reeling. Secrets and lies tangle up in this book and at the end all ends meet. The Theives of Ostia contains magnificent historical detail, many classic teachers use these books as reference for their teaching. This book also shows how the tension mounted between pagans, jews and christians in the great roman empire. This book is marvellously entertaing as well as educative! The most entertaining part in the books is when you expect something to happen but it always happens in the opposite way that you would have imagined. The theives of Ostia even contains slight humour. But this book is not all about adventure and small children, it has love and the feelings of rejections. Some deaths in this book have brought me to tears, this is a truly emotional novel. The reason I chose this rating is because this book contins a touch of every style of writing possible and merges it together, it combines the best with the best! A competiter worthy of J.K. rowling. A must read for all children intrested in the roman empire!
Rating:
Summary: Good summer book
Review: The Thieves of Ostia has just the right amount of complexity. It's not so complicated that you have to give all your thought and consentration. Yet, it has enough to keep you glued to it till the end. That's why it's relaxing.
Rating:
Summary: Great, But Not the Best
Review: The Thieves of Ostia is a pretty good book. Not the best, I have to say, but pretty good. It's about 4 children: Nubia, a slave girl; Lupus, a mute beggar boy; Flavia, a Roman sea captain's daughter; and Jonathan, Flavia's new neighbor. Dogs on Flavia's street are being killed and Flavia is determined to find out who killed them.
During the search, Flavia discovers more about her street and has a suspect. But her suspect commited suicide and the dogs are still dying.
Her search causes her to meet up with Nubia, Jonathan, and Lupus. They soon form a group that will solve any case that comes their way.
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