Chuck CrabbeRezensionen

A coming of age tale which was a bit distracting and I could no warm to the protagonist at all

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.

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.

The novel starts out almost as a sociological study of a good boy turning bad. The disrupted family, the bullying, the move to a new city, rejection by all but the corrupting influences, the innocuousness of religion---all lead him along the path of criminal formation.

The reader is led to expect either a tragic ending or a miraculous turning-point experience. Instead, we have a story of a soul emerging in the nature of Jungian integration and individuation. It is a story of one young man gradually building the courage to turn away from family, religion, school, career -- all that calls for conformity and offers pre-packaged identity -- and beyond all conformity and rebellion there emerges an entirely new life map, or rather, an invitation to draw his own life map.

I am amazed at the depth and credibility of the author's portrayal of the journey: a rich sequence of dreams, an encounter with the book, Demian, by Herman Hesse, and some time with his grandfather who becomes a (non) model for letting his authentic self emerge. This novel is a bold and creative piece, with fresh and surprising insights into the heart of life.

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.

'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.

Chuck Crabbe has written an unforgettable coming-of-age story in his ebook, "As a Thief in the Night"! Main character teenage Ezra Mignon and his younger brother Layne have been raised by his mother's sister Elsie and her husband Gord after their father runs off and their mother, Moira, is killed.In their present hometown of Walpurgis, Canada,Ezra finds himself an outcast,then is attracted to a local church but can he keep himself away from teens who favor thrill-seeking crime? Well-created characters who are honest in the often-imperfect way they go about their lives, a superb and thoughtful plot, believable dialogue and an honest portrayal of the often rocky road to adulthood make "As a Thief in the Night" a book that readers everywhere will not even think of putting down!