An orphan, a missing hand, a con man: With these ingredients Hannah Tinti cooks up a delicious treat of a novel. When Benjamin Nab spies Ren at St. Anthony's Orphanage, he sees a one-handed meal ticket with instant sympathetic appeal. When Ren walks out the gate with Benjamin, he sees a loving connection to a family he's never known. What follows shakes both of their assumptions. Ren quickly transcends sympathy and shows that he is eponymous "thief" in their little outfit. Meanwhile, Benjamin's true intentions become more and more mysterious as his schemes become more and more ambitious. Memorable characters, authoritative narration and seemingly inexhaustible intrigue make this a book you'll want to read all at once.