THE GOOD THIEF

THE GOOD THIEF recounts the sojourn of spunky, one-armed orphan Ren and the quirky characters who are part of his odd life in nineteenth-century New England. Reminiscent of Dickens's OLIVER TWIST, Tinti’s novel has a range of wildly unlikely personalities who somehow lend Ren's tale a heroic plausibility. William Dufris rises to the challenge with a daunting range of voices, delivered with intensity and irony. Dufris has a striking interpretation for all: monk, drunken sailor, con artist, farmer, thief, kindly woman, dwarf, giant, and Ren himself. After leaving the orphanage, Ren is adopted by Nab, who claims to be his long-lost brother, and the pair travel throughout New England from adventure to adventure. But finding his supposed brother brings Ren no closer to solving the mystery of his origins—a predicament that revs up the story’s suspense to a dazzling pitch. A.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2010]