The Good Thief (novel)

The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti, is a debut novel published in 2008 by Dial Press. It is the story of Ren, an orphan adopted by a pair of gentleman rogues in early American New England and led willingly into a life of crime. Ren, who is missing his left hand, is taught to lie, steal and run confidence games by his new mentor, Benjamin Nab, and they travel to the city of North Umbridge, where a mousetrap factory owner reigns supreme using his army of hired thugs ("hat boys") and the unmarried, dowdy girls who work in the factory ("mousetrap girls").

The Good Thief is the winner of the American Library Association's Alex Award^[1] and the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize.^[2]

Reviews

• "Some Dissembling Required", The New York Times
• "An Orphan Becomes a Novice Grave Robber and Unearths Some Surprises", The New York Times
• "Great Expectations", The Washington Post
• "The Good Thief", Entertainment Weekly
• "Hannah Tinti's 'Good Thief': twist on Dickens", San Francisco Chronicle
• ""The Good Thief": Coming of age with some seedy role models", The Seattle Times

References