The Toy Thief

By D. W. Gillespie

"The author has incredible talent for creating a tense, atmospheric world for his characters, and I was on the edge of my seat for every page of this book." - Magnolia Reads

Jack didn’t know what to call the nameless, skeletal creature that slunk into her house in the dead of night, stealing the very things she loved the most. So she named him The Toy Thief…

There’s something in Jack’s past that she doesn’t want to face, an evil presence that forever changed the trajectory of her family. It all began when The Toy Thief appeared, a being drawn by goodness and innocence, eager to feed on everything Jack holds dear. What began as a mystery spirals out of control when her brother, Andy, is taken away in the night, and Jack must venture into the dark place where the toys go to get him back. But even if she finds him, will he ever be the same?

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

• Language: English
• Publisher: FLAME TREE PRESS
• Release date: Oct 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781787580497

D. W. Gillespie

D.W. Gillespie has been writing dark fiction in one form or another since he was old enough to hold a pencil. He's been featured in multiple horror anthologies, both in print and online. His books include, The Toy Thief, Still Dark, and Handmade Monsters.

Reviews for The Toy Thief

[thereadingmermaid · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story...In this book our main character, a female named Jack, is telling the story of her life and how a horrible force became a part of it one night as it crept into her home. Will she ever be able to overcome this? or will it haunt her forever even as an adult?Okay I am torn with this book. I really want to love it because the story is so original. However I just can't get into the writing style. The narrative is written in first-person from Jack's point of view and it is basically her telling the story of her life. In a sense it is a coming-of-age novel with a horror setting. It jumps around from scene to scene and makes it so you're so scattered at times you don't even know where you are during the storyline. I also found Jack the main character is very unrelatable and unlikable even as she comes off as very annoying and whiny in her narrative.I give the author props for coming up with an original story. As a horror fan I am always glad to tip my hat to those who can come up with new and original ideas in my genre. I just thoroughly feel that I would have enjoyed this book a lot more had it been written in a third-person perspective instead of first-person like she's telling a story to someone sitting in front of her. a play-by-play sort of narrative would have been a better way to approach this story in my honest opinion.I can't say that I would really recommend this book, perhaps for the originality of the story but not much more.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a strange, dark, twisted book. Menace at every step, enhanced by the sometimes disjointed narrative given by the main character. It was a book I didn't always like to pick up, not because it's a bad book (it's not) but simply because it was so darned creepy.Many thanks to Flame Tree Press for the ARC.

[sumisbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story...In this book our main character, a female named Jack, is telling the story of her life and how a horrible force became a part of it one night as it crept into her home. Will she ever be able to overcome this? or will it haunt her forever even as an adult?Okay I am torn with this book. I really want to love it because the story is so original. However I just can't get into the writing style. The narrative is written in first-person from Jack's point of view and it is basically her telling the story of her life. In a sense it is a coming-of-age novel with a horror setting. It jumps around from scene to scene and makes it so you're so scattered at times you don't even know where you are during the storyline. I also found Jack the main character is very unrelatable and unlikable even as she comes off as very annoying and whiny in her narrative.I give the author props for coming up with an original story. As a horror fan I am always glad to tip my hat to those who can come up with new and original ideas in my genre. I just thoroughly feel that I would have enjoyed this book a lot more had it been written in a third-person perspective instead of first-person like she's telling a story to someone sitting in front of her. a play-by-play sort of narrative would have been a better way to approach this story in my honest opinion.I can't say that I would really recommend this book, perhaps for the originality of the story but not much more.