The Toy Thief – D W Gillespie

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?

My thanks to Flame Tree Press for my review copy and to Anne Cater at Random Things for the chance to join the blog tour.

The latter part of 2018 has seen me reading more horror tales than I had anticipated. This is largely due to a wave of fantastic releases from Flame Tree Press – each book I read from their collection leaves me wishing another would not be too far away.

The Toy Thief sports a deliciously creepy cover and was a distinctly eery read.

This is Jack’s story, she is not the Toy Thief from the title but she is very much the star of the piece. Jack lives with her father and older brother – the family are ‘getting by’ but the loss of Jack’s mother (who died while giving birth to Jack) casts a long shadow over the family.

At age of 9 Jack becomes aware of a late night visitor to their home. A creepy encounter which Jack only became aware of due to a missing toy and a video camera accidentally left running.

The quest to find a missing toy and explain understand the images captured on camera will change Jack’s life (and the lives of her family) forever.

D.W. Gillespie gives us a tense take on innocence lost, unwordly terrors and family bonds. Another great find from Flame Tree Press.

 

The Toy Thief releases on October 18th and you can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Toy-Thief-Fiction-Without-Frontiers/dp/1787580474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538523279&sr=8-1&keywords=the+toy+thief