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    As a Thief in the Night
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    As a Thief in the Night
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    As a Thief in the Night
    Ebook342 pages5 hours

    As a Thief in the Night

    By Chuck Crabbe

    2.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Threatened by the consequences and turmoil resulting from abandonment by his father and the subsequent and untimely death of his mother, Ezra Mignon is taken in by three aunts (modeled after the Bacchae, the female devotees of the Greek god Dionysus) in Ontario, Canada; and although he lands within the safety of a nurturing family, his dual nature begins to emerge at an early age and he takes refuge in fantasy, solitude, and strange rituals. Ezra struggles to find his place among his peers, but as he matures he is drawn further into his morally conflicted, disturbing, and often beautiful vision of the world.

    When his family moves to a small French Canadian town Ezra’s conflict with the moral system and religion he is surrounded by intensifies. A charismatic new friend soon leads him into a world of crime and dangerous taboos. The Christian God, as well as the father who abandoned him, haunts Ezra as he wrestles with the temptations of this dark new path. Is the dreamy image of his ghostly mother (always accompanied by a strange and mysterious goat) somehow leading him toward liberation, or are these specters the symptoms of an impending psychiatric breakdown?

    Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. Only an act of shameful impiety offers Ezra Mignon escape and eventual salvation. But can he betray, and even murder, the God that his community worships? And can he live with the divine blood on his hands?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Books
    Release dateFeb 15, 2014
    ISBN9781310211348
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for As a Thief in the Night

    2.5/5

    9 ratings5 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I did not get interested in this book, and that's one of the reasons why it took me so long to review it. The religious overtones were distracting, the language too highbrow, and fails to incite the reader to want to care about the characters. Such a shame, because I believe Crabbe has potential.
    • 3/5
      The Goodreads summary of Chuck Crabbe's As a Thief in the Night strongly suggests that religion plays a significant role in the plot:The Christian God . . . haunts Ezra. . . . Only an act of shameful impiety offers Ezra Mignon escape and eventual salvation. But can he betray, and even murder, the God that his community worships? And can he live with the divine blood on his hands?Nothing could be further from the truth. As a Thief in the Night is a rather pedestrian coming of age tale. The "act of shameful impiety," (view spoiler) is dealt with casually, by both Crabbe and his characters. Ezra's vision of the world is described as "conflicted, disturbing, and often beautiful," but the revelation of this vision through his dreams and fantasies is actually the weakest part of the book and is too disjointed to add true depth to his character.I was particularly annoyed by Crabbe's effort to be cute in naming the Anglican bishop who presides over Ezra's confirmation, Bishop Wrychuss. Wrychuss = Righteous. Get it? Ugh.Crabbe can write beautifully on occasion, as in this spot-on description of the teachers chaperoning Ezra and his classmates on a graduation trip to Boston: "With their schedules and routines they manage to suck the life out of history giving the students no hands-on experience, no opportunity for exploration, and only a stale story full of dead words." There are not enough of these gems, however, to elevate As a Thief in the Night above average or to offset some significant plot holes. (view spoiler)I received a free copy of As a Thief in the Night through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      'As a Thief in the Night' is an ambitious first novel. It opens boldly with a pairing of Biblical and philosophical quotations, and it is clear from the outset that Crabbe is aiming high in terms of style and sophistication. Though in many ways the story of Ezra Mignon is a classic coming of age tale, it's gracefully narrated and there's poetry in the backdrop of vineyards and dreams. It's occasionally overwritten, there are one or two structural problems and the intermittent authorial interventions are a potential distraction, but on the whole it's a beautifully controlled, absorbing and rewarding read. Crabbe is clearly an author with a lot to say - I suspect we'll be hearing more from him before too long.
    • 4/5
      This coming of age tale is set in Ontario, Canada. Teenage Ezra struggles with the normal angst moments but then falls in with the bad boys who commit petty crimes for kicks. The type of criminal activity escalates into theft of monies and destruction of church property. Ezra gets off with community service and gets an opportunity to rethink his life path. He is plagued with seemingly mad dreams of past horrors, including the death of his mother. A near disaster in vineyard of his grandfather is the turning point for a new attitude. My thanks to the author and LibraryThing for a complimentary copy of this book.
    • 1/5
      A coming of age tale which was a bit distracting and I could no warm to the protagonist at all