The Toy Thief by D.W. Gillespie REVIEWED.

Oh, damn it.

I've gotta figure out a better way to do this.

I typed a whole bunch of this review already, but had some things to take care of, so I had to put it aside. I saved the draft and now...

I come back to it to find it completely empty.

I suppose one could argue that I am "professionally" reviewing books now, yeah? So, I should be a professional about it, yeah? Not throw a tempertantrum and say "SCREW THIS!!", YEAH!?

Well, SCREW THIS.

The Toy Thief is a book by the fledgling new horror line, Flame Tree Press, which as I have alluded to in previous reviews as something I am excited about.

My excitement is starting to wane.

Not because the books are particularly bad or anything. I'm just yet to read anything by the publisher that has that "wow factor". So far, things are pretty by-the-numbers and The Toy Thief is no exception. There's a good amount of small press putting out tons of "wow" level titles and with the advent of online shopping...there's no reason to waste time. Unless, of course, you're a total nerd like me, who's waiting for 1988 to return and horror titles start pushing major numbers out of brick and mortar stores.

With titles as lukewarm as this being churned out, it's not looking too good for the hopeful nerd.

Like I said, The Toy Thief isn't awful. It's serviceable book, a well-written coming of age tale and character study of sorts, an autobiographical account of how a woman suffered as a child at the hands of a monster who steals toys. I read it relatively painlessly and moved on.

But there was nothing that sticks, no mesmerizing moments, no "mmph". Beyond that, it's hardly a horror novel, far more focused on the life and times of a fairly unlikable, but appropriately portrayed traumatized woman.

A novel that's all build-up and no pay off. This one goes in the "for a different type of reader" pile. Essentially, it's a horror novel for people who don't like horror novels.

I hope it's fairly obvious by now that I really like horror novels...

2.5/5

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