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Theft: A Novel
Willa Robbins is a master tracker working to reintroduce the Mexican wolf, North AmericaOCOs most endangered mammal, to the American Southwest. But when Colorado police recruit her to find her own brother, Zeb, a confessed murderer, she knows skill alone will not sustain her. Willa is thrown back into the past, surfacing memories of a childhood full of intense love, desperate mistakes, and gentle remorse. Trekking through exquisite New Mexico and Colorado landscapes, with Zeb two steps ahead and the police two steps behind, Willa must wrangle her desire to reunite with her brother and her own guilt about their violent past.
In this remarkable debut, LorenOCOs lyrical prose gives voice to the wildlife and land surrounding these beautifully flawed characters, breathing life into the southwestern terrain. Within this treacherous and mesmerizing landscape, "Theft" illustrates the struggle to piece together the fragile traces of what has been left behind, allowing for new choices to take shape. This is a story about family, about loss, and about a search for answers."
In this remarkable debut, LorenOCOs lyrical prose gives voice to the wildlife and land surrounding these beautifully flawed characters, breathing life into the southwestern terrain. Within this treacherous and mesmerizing landscape, "Theft" illustrates the struggle to piece together the fragile traces of what has been left behind, allowing for new choices to take shape. This is a story about family, about loss, and about a search for answers."
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2012
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537 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
May 7, 2012
BK, I really liked the book. I'm like Borges. If I don't like a book, I don't finish it. In fact I can't. I've had a book on the shelf for 20 years written by a good friend of mine, with a handwritten dedication, and I can't get past the first chapter. Yours was full of passages that made me stop just to admire them. The whole thread about fishing, slipping the hook, and Jesus the fisherman: the evocation of Nature and our place in it and our relations to other creatures in so many places: the riffs on memory and storytelling: lines like "I don't think anyone ever does someone else's dying right". Believe me, my wife's dying can support that with 20 anecdotes.
"Because there's more truth than the actual facts of a story can ever tell." If you can sum up your thoughts about a book and put them down concisely, either it wasn't a good book or you didn't get it. Cliff's notes and New Yorker long form reviews aren't the book. I'm just overflowing with reactions to Theft and keep thinking of more faster than I can type.
My dog is more important to me than almost any person in my life, she's 8 and a half, not in any sort of crisis, but the thought of her dying is unbearable to me, always with me, and makes me doubt my ability to go on without her when the time comes. I've had a lot of well-meaning advice from friends, other dog owners, my brother, my doctor and yes, even a therapist. None of it at all relevant or useful to me. Theft gave me some peace. Muchas gracias.
"Because there's more truth than the actual facts of a story can ever tell." If you can sum up your thoughts about a book and put them down concisely, either it wasn't a good book or you didn't get it. Cliff's notes and New Yorker long form reviews aren't the book. I'm just overflowing with reactions to Theft and keep thinking of more faster than I can type.
My dog is more important to me than almost any person in my life, she's 8 and a half, not in any sort of crisis, but the thought of her dying is unbearable to me, always with me, and makes me doubt my ability to go on without her when the time comes. I've had a lot of well-meaning advice from friends, other dog owners, my brother, my doctor and yes, even a therapist. None of it at all relevant or useful to me. Theft gave me some peace. Muchas gracias.
March 19, 2016
Theft by B.K. Loren is like a clenched fist that eventually splays out the fingers and palm revealing what has always been there. I thoroughly enjoyed the reveal of the telling by a very remarkable writer.
The threads of the story are intertwined within the lives of brother and sister, mother and father, unstable neighbors, Native American influences, and the case for the Mexican wolves. There is so much simple, and yet complicated, humanity within these pages. How much are we influenced by the past and just how much of the past is influenced by us?
It is not a lengthy read, but there is so much weight between these pages. The story walks across Colorado and into New Mexico with just enough of a feel for both. I think that you will long remember this one after putting it down.
The threads of the story are intertwined within the lives of brother and sister, mother and father, unstable neighbors, Native American influences, and the case for the Mexican wolves. There is so much simple, and yet complicated, humanity within these pages. How much are we influenced by the past and just how much of the past is influenced by us?
It is not a lengthy read, but there is so much weight between these pages. The story walks across Colorado and into New Mexico with just enough of a feel for both. I think that you will long remember this one after putting it down.
June 23, 2012
This is an intense novel about what the past made us, and how we go about making our own futures. It's the story a family--a distant father, an ailing mother, a teenage boy with a dark side, and a young girl trying to keep everything together. We move with them through time and events, and learn that the Colorado setting is as much of a character as any of the human players. A dramatic climax comes to the family, and we jump forward 15 or so years to the brother and sister, grown up and away, making up new lives for themselves. But the past isn't finished with them yet, and one must literally track the other in order to at last put the past to rest. Running along side the first family narrative is another family's drama, one of a father who made some bad mistakes but who now risks his life to correct them, fighting to keep a beautiful and nearly extinct animal, Mexican wolves, alive and in their rightful place on the earth. These two stories weave together into a nuanced cultural drama, written with a western backdrop of howling coyotes, smuggled wolves and silently watching mountain lions, poignant and memorable and the kind of book that,especially toward the end, you slow down reading because every word must be savored. This is a truly remarkable debut novel.
October 1, 2012
How many books have you read lately that you can say this about: "A Story That Stays With You?" Finally, a book and story of substance! I lose count of how many vapid, insipid books I've struggled through or half-finished. BK Loren's writing is so beautiful and images so vibrant that I alternated between slowly savoring the story to racing through chapters because I couldn't wait to see what happened next. My emotions ran the gamut while reading Theft. I cried, I laughed, I sat on the edge of my seat. I felt wonder. "Theft" is about family and all its complications. It's about wolves and the desert. It's about mountains and forests and American Indians. It's about disease and conservation. It's about brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers. It's about hope. If you enjoy a well-told story with gorgeous images and wonderful turns-of-phrases (many I'll quote in conversation first chance!), read "Theft." It's the best book I've read in a long, long time.
November 22, 2012
Best book I've read in as long as I can remember.
November 26, 2014
If you believe a successful novel tells you enough but leaves you wanting more, then BK Loren's Theft is a success. Personally, I'm tempted to shade this rating between a 5 and 4 because I wanted more keen observation like this:
"He also knew this: The most dangerous part of any weapon is the end of it. The blade of a knife is half as damaging as the point. The middle of a chain is soft when it wraps around you, though the end of it can shred the skin. It was against all instinct and human intuition, but Zeb had learned over the years that when someone attacked you, moving in, not backing away, was always the best defense."
In that short paragraph, Loren tells us a lot about Zeb Robbins, hinting at a man who may be far more violent than the sort of trickster criminal we see breaking into houses and stealing belts, decapitating parking meters Cool Hand Luke style and repricing the expensive cheese in the town deli.
It also foreshadows his strategy for evading capture after confessing to a murder, leaving a trail that can't be deciphered by the conventional-thinking cops but is clear to his estranged sister Willa, a wily tracker who has the added advantage of having been his co-conspirator in the past.
Willa is brought in to locate Zeb, and she agrees mainly to save his life. The real search, the hard one that thrums in their shared blood, is for their authentic selves. For both of them have buried their natures.
It's not too much of a stretch to say—though Loren is too skilled a writer to suggest it—that Zeb and Willa mirror two Mexican Grey Wolves in a subplot being reintroduced, rewilded or about to be exterminated.
After finding her brother (no spoilers here) Willa heads back to her remote New Mexico cabin full of the understanding that survival for her, too, means moving out of protected territory.
A spare, restrained novel with no false notes. Please, may I have another?
"He also knew this: The most dangerous part of any weapon is the end of it. The blade of a knife is half as damaging as the point. The middle of a chain is soft when it wraps around you, though the end of it can shred the skin. It was against all instinct and human intuition, but Zeb had learned over the years that when someone attacked you, moving in, not backing away, was always the best defense."
In that short paragraph, Loren tells us a lot about Zeb Robbins, hinting at a man who may be far more violent than the sort of trickster criminal we see breaking into houses and stealing belts, decapitating parking meters Cool Hand Luke style and repricing the expensive cheese in the town deli.
It also foreshadows his strategy for evading capture after confessing to a murder, leaving a trail that can't be deciphered by the conventional-thinking cops but is clear to his estranged sister Willa, a wily tracker who has the added advantage of having been his co-conspirator in the past.
Willa is brought in to locate Zeb, and she agrees mainly to save his life. The real search, the hard one that thrums in their shared blood, is for their authentic selves. For both of them have buried their natures.
It's not too much of a stretch to say—though Loren is too skilled a writer to suggest it—that Zeb and Willa mirror two Mexican Grey Wolves in a subplot being reintroduced, rewilded or about to be exterminated.
After finding her brother (no spoilers here) Willa heads back to her remote New Mexico cabin full of the understanding that survival for her, too, means moving out of protected territory.
A spare, restrained novel with no false notes. Please, may I have another?
August 5, 2012
Every once in a while a writer comes along who takes us on a journey that connects us to a place inside that we've managed to skip or ignore altogether, and we are turned over, like muddy soil. Can you tell that I loved this story and the masterful writing?
September 29, 2012
Theft is a multi-layered book. At its heart, it examines two related questions: First - What does it mean when the things we count on are taken from us? And second - What is the impact of our response to that loss? Is it good or bad to try and restore balance to the universe by interfering with God or nature or the legal system?
Underpinned by these 2 questions, the author is able to tell a story that touches on our most pressing 21st century concerns - family relationships, disease, love, poverty, hope, wishful thinking, the human impact on ecosystems, murder, endangered species, and marginalization.
That long sentence gives the impression that Theft is a "message book." And on one level it is. But fine writing and a good story make give the novel a life beyond that.
I learned something about Mexican wolves and their scary level of endangerment. But mostly I did what I do when I read any book worth reading: I found Truth in my fiction.
Underpinned by these 2 questions, the author is able to tell a story that touches on our most pressing 21st century concerns - family relationships, disease, love, poverty, hope, wishful thinking, the human impact on ecosystems, murder, endangered species, and marginalization.
That long sentence gives the impression that Theft is a "message book." And on one level it is. But fine writing and a good story make give the novel a life beyond that.
I learned something about Mexican wolves and their scary level of endangerment. But mostly I did what I do when I read any book worth reading: I found Truth in my fiction.
April 16, 2014
There's a lot to discuss with THEFT, by BK Loren. Loren has "created a world," a story that she seems intimately familiar with, but one that is probably foreign to most of America. Set in the Colorado prairie, as well as the desert of New Mexico, and touching on an Indian Reservation, her setting is an integral element of this novel. Essentially, this is the story of Willa, a woman called in to search for Zeb, her older brother who's running from the authorities. Loren expertly weaves in flashbacks from 1980, the tumultuous and pivotal year of their childhood days. Now Willa hasn't seen Zeb for decades, and of course she's torn: She wants to see him, but she does not want to turn him over to the authorities.
Normally, Willa tracks wolves on a New Mexico National Forest. Her goal is to reintroduce them to the wild. She works with and against the authorities at the same time. At the beginning of this novel, she is tracking two particular wolves. Loren intertwines this subplot with Willa and Zeb's story. It's a good parallel, and works well, but maybe a tad didactic. It feels like Loren wanted to educate readers on a serious issue so she wrote it into her story. A wild animal lover might have been ecstatic about this part of the book.
What I liked most about THEFT was the characters. They were conflicted in many ways that felt very natural. From a young girl's fears and sadness over her mother's battle with Parkinson's, to a grown man's frustrations with an overbearing government and the true value of right vs. wrong, Loren did an excellent job of fleshing out true emotion.
The title, THEFT, also deserves a little discussion. The novel is not about a physical robbery; it is a metaphor for multiple things that are stolen from us in life. I love the title. It's punchy and enigmatic at the same time.
THEFT is a novel of layers. There are many themes woven in the plot and subplots. I think this is a book that would continue to unfold with subsequent readings.
Four Stars
Normally, Willa tracks wolves on a New Mexico National Forest. Her goal is to reintroduce them to the wild. She works with and against the authorities at the same time. At the beginning of this novel, she is tracking two particular wolves. Loren intertwines this subplot with Willa and Zeb's story. It's a good parallel, and works well, but maybe a tad didactic. It feels like Loren wanted to educate readers on a serious issue so she wrote it into her story. A wild animal lover might have been ecstatic about this part of the book.
What I liked most about THEFT was the characters. They were conflicted in many ways that felt very natural. From a young girl's fears and sadness over her mother's battle with Parkinson's, to a grown man's frustrations with an overbearing government and the true value of right vs. wrong, Loren did an excellent job of fleshing out true emotion.
The title, THEFT, also deserves a little discussion. The novel is not about a physical robbery; it is a metaphor for multiple things that are stolen from us in life. I love the title. It's punchy and enigmatic at the same time.
THEFT is a novel of layers. There are many themes woven in the plot and subplots. I think this is a book that would continue to unfold with subsequent readings.
Four Stars
February 13, 2013
This was a great book. It was written from the point of view of a woman who had a tough childhood filled with lots of love and loss. She grows up to be a tracker, tracking endangered Mexican wolves. The title has a double meaning. One of the characters steals things as a child, sort of a broken Robin Hood character, but Theft also refers to humans stealing habitat from wolves. There are a lot of parallels between the tenuous relationship humans have with dangerous animals and dangerous people. This book deals with love, loss, redemption and fate and trying to find your path in life when guilt threatens to drag you down. After the main character loses someone close to her..."The thing I notice: When a part of you empties out, it feels hollow, for sure, but it also feels good, the wonder of what will fill that place, in a different way, but all the same." Very powerful. BK Loren excels at writing from different points of view and obviously knows Colorado and the desert south very well.
August 25, 2012
BK Loren is a good author and I really enjoyed the writing style. Use of language was good and I liked that she wrote I the natural language of the speakers. This particular book was meant to be departure from all the pop fiction I have been reading and it was not a disappointment. E last third of the book was very tough to read and Loren did a fantastic job of keeping the characters in line and not succumbing to a fantasy ending.
This is a book readers book. It is somewhat complex in the point of view and the characters are not cardboard cut outs. My only issue was that, living in Colorado, I was lost as to where this was supposed to take place. Also, I think names of government agencies were changed for some odd reason. That bothered me because it felt something was being whitewashed in such an honest story.
April 21, 2014
This is a slim novel, so I thought it would be a quick read. But only a few pages in, I realized this is not a book to be read quickly.
With vivid imagery and deep wisdom, the author introduced me to a handful of characters with complex lives, emotions and challenges. I found myself lingering in dramatic descriptions of the Southwestern landscape, digesting the many layers of symbolism, feeling the struggle of characters trying to make sense of the past and find peace in the present. Some of the scenes are violent, gritty, heartbreaking, though only enough to have made me feel the heartache, not so much as to make me set the book aside.
If you enjoy thematic, thought-provoking, literary works about nature and life, and about the choices we make (or don't make) and how we live with the consequences, I highly recommend this brief, absorbing novel.
With vivid imagery and deep wisdom, the author introduced me to a handful of characters with complex lives, emotions and challenges. I found myself lingering in dramatic descriptions of the Southwestern landscape, digesting the many layers of symbolism, feeling the struggle of characters trying to make sense of the past and find peace in the present. Some of the scenes are violent, gritty, heartbreaking, though only enough to have made me feel the heartache, not so much as to make me set the book aside.
If you enjoy thematic, thought-provoking, literary works about nature and life, and about the choices we make (or don't make) and how we live with the consequences, I highly recommend this brief, absorbing novel.
July 7, 2012
B.K. Loren describes emotions with stark honesty. Her characters do the unexpected and respond in unexpected ways. Theft, explores the complex, interwoven relationships of people, animals, and the landscape of the American West. What have we stolen from each other, the wilderness, the native people and animals of our wilderness? Is it possible to right the wrongs of the past? Whose vision of the future is more valid? Stripped of convention, what is the essence of love? We steal things from ourselves, from each other, from our planet without recognizing our theft. Loren's characters force us to explore what and how we take from each other.
December 22, 2014
Willa and her brother Zeb had a rough childhood. Their mother was very ill and as an effort to support the family, Zeb begins breaking into houses and stealing. After a traumatic experience, Zeb flees his childhood home. Willa is offered a chance to reunite with her brother by tracking him as part of a police investigation. Overall an interesting read, but not my favorite.
September 3, 2012
Fluid writing. Believable characters. Need half stars on Goodreads!
November 23, 2012
Gorgeously heartbreaking. Heartbreakingly gorgeous. Definitely in the "Damn, I wish I wrote that" category.
February 18, 2015
I loved this book so much. It's a short book, but with really deep meanings about family, loss, wilderness, and the new and old approaches to understanding the West. Read it, you will love it.
July 30, 2017
Theft är en välskriven tunn (ca 200 sidor) roman med en alldeles speciell stämning. En styrka med boken är miljöskildringarna, både vad gäller natur, fauna och djuren. Närheten till naturen präglar männinskorna i Theft. De lever ett enkelt liv, anpassar sig till naturen, men plågas också av att inte passa in. Miljön spelar stor roll och jag tror den här skulle passa för att bli film, då skulle känslorna kunna komma fram genom starka bilder.
Theft är mycket välskriven, men språket är intensivt och ”tätt”, och jag tyckte bitvis att den var svårläst. Inte så att orden i sig var svåra att förstå, utan mer för att varje ord och mening hade någon betydelse. Trots det angelägna temat så upplevde jag den som trög att komma in i. Jag avbröt t.o.m. läsandet ett tag för att läsa en annan bok. För mig var den här boken annorlunda och speciell, men ändå på något sätt vacker i både språk och tankar.
BK Loren verkar inte ha skrivit någon mer skönlitterär bok, och även om hon gör det lär jag inte läsa fler böcker av henne. Trots skönheten och styrkan i boken var den inte riktigt min typ av bok.
Omdöme: Välskriven och intensiv om ett naturnära liv.
Betyg: 3+
https://lottensbokblogg.wordpress.com...
Theft är mycket välskriven, men språket är intensivt och ”tätt”, och jag tyckte bitvis att den var svårläst. Inte så att orden i sig var svåra att förstå, utan mer för att varje ord och mening hade någon betydelse. Trots det angelägna temat så upplevde jag den som trög att komma in i. Jag avbröt t.o.m. läsandet ett tag för att läsa en annan bok. För mig var den här boken annorlunda och speciell, men ändå på något sätt vacker i både språk och tankar.
BK Loren verkar inte ha skrivit någon mer skönlitterär bok, och även om hon gör det lär jag inte läsa fler böcker av henne. Trots skönheten och styrkan i boken var den inte riktigt min typ av bok.
Omdöme: Välskriven och intensiv om ett naturnära liv.
Betyg: 3+
https://lottensbokblogg.wordpress.com...
August 8, 2016
I only found this book moderately interesting. The story centers around Willa, a now grown woman whose childhood was characterized by her mom's struggle with Parkinson's, her brother's penchant for stealing, and her Dad's aloofness. Willa's viewpoint is primary in the book, but time is also given to her brother, childhood friend, and mentor. There are two plot elements that propel the story to its climax: (1) Willa is called in as a tracker to find her brother who is hiding in the woods after committing a crime, and (2) she must abandon the pair of endangered wolves she's been following/protecting as they enter a new region of territory. My reservations about the book stem from the effectiveness (or lack there of) of these two plot devices. That the police would contact Willa and hire her to help find her brother while he's on the run seems implausible for many reasons. That aside however, this plot is supposed to have weight because it recalls such important and vivid memories for Willa and company of their families. But these memories are not sufficiently fleshed out. The author reminds us frequently that there is some connection between Willa and her brother, like a string tied between them. But the flashbacks don't really manifest this feeling (besides mentioning it explicitly). The same goes for the natural setting of her childhood and the importance of the wolves. There's this almost Abbey-like attitude about pristine nature that permeates the book and comes across as less considered than it should be. Overall, the story was a fun and easy read; however, at a little under 200 pages, I feel the author had the space to make the childhood flashbacks compelling and settle into a view of nature with a bit more nuance. If you're relying on sentimentality to produce reactions in your reader, you can't tell the story of 4 characters (as this book attempts to do) convincingly in under 200 pages. (Side note: The story not told in the book...that is, how Willa establishes her logical family in the southwest...would be an interesting read.)
August 31, 2014
THEFT offers the reader several things. A good story. I found myself turning pages, frequently surprised by the way things panned out.
The story also offers us an insightful point of view on humanity’s role in the ecosystem. The major characters, each in their own way, give their lives to the land–to something bigger than themselves.
THEFT is a thoughtful narrative. The themes of the book, namely conservation, are controversial in our society, as the conversation often pits the needs of human beings against the needs of other species–such as the wolf. THEFT offers a meaningful contribution to the dialogue by suggesting that this framework might be a false dichotomy. The story suggests that without the wolf (that is to say, without the other species), the land cannot be well. And if the land, meaning the ecosystem, is not well, then neither can we be well.
Above all, the story is about healing. The land, yes. But the brokenness that THEFT explores has a much wider lens. It is as if the broken nations, the broken families, the broken selves that are the subject of this narrative are but a symptom of a larger problem: things are out of balance.
The endangered Mexican grey wolf represents that lack of balance. The protagonist, Willa, is desperately trying to save the species from being hunted to extinction. Willa also tries to save her own mother from Parkinson's disease, she tires to save her estranged brother–and, most importantly, she works to save herself.
The environmental themes of the story are the setting for this larger event: Willa’s attempt to make sense of her traumatic childhood, of her shattered family, of her own need for connection to other human beings. In this sense, the story is resolved not once the fates of those she intended to rescue are settled, but when Willa finally embraces love–represented by Christina. Something, for good reason, she had been afraid of.
The story also offers us an insightful point of view on humanity’s role in the ecosystem. The major characters, each in their own way, give their lives to the land–to something bigger than themselves.
THEFT is a thoughtful narrative. The themes of the book, namely conservation, are controversial in our society, as the conversation often pits the needs of human beings against the needs of other species–such as the wolf. THEFT offers a meaningful contribution to the dialogue by suggesting that this framework might be a false dichotomy. The story suggests that without the wolf (that is to say, without the other species), the land cannot be well. And if the land, meaning the ecosystem, is not well, then neither can we be well.
Above all, the story is about healing. The land, yes. But the brokenness that THEFT explores has a much wider lens. It is as if the broken nations, the broken families, the broken selves that are the subject of this narrative are but a symptom of a larger problem: things are out of balance.
The endangered Mexican grey wolf represents that lack of balance. The protagonist, Willa, is desperately trying to save the species from being hunted to extinction. Willa also tries to save her own mother from Parkinson's disease, she tires to save her estranged brother–and, most importantly, she works to save herself.
The environmental themes of the story are the setting for this larger event: Willa’s attempt to make sense of her traumatic childhood, of her shattered family, of her own need for connection to other human beings. In this sense, the story is resolved not once the fates of those she intended to rescue are settled, but when Willa finally embraces love–represented by Christina. Something, for good reason, she had been afraid of.
September 29, 2013
Theft is a novel that, looking at its plot alone, would be very easy to classify as "adventure," and gripping adventure at that - quite easily workable into a serialized cliffhanger, maybe. Yet the author weaves this quite short (3316 loc) tale into something far different. This story rife with death (even murder), loss and disappointment (in a word "theft") is, in essence, a toughly warm-hearted portrait of love, told with feet planted firm on the dry, dusty ground and in a voice that from the moment it begins is intrinsically trustworthy in its unshowy economy of style and emotion. My favorite part of B.K. Loren's writing is its poesy. It's the kind of poesy that you've taken in before you even realize and, as with the very best of literature, is unaffectedly simple in a way that - going back and rereading it - is truly masterly.
The comparable book that most readily comes to mind is The Call of the Wild, but Theft is more explicitly human in its focus. Speaking of the non-human heroes of the story, wolves, the narrator of the story says: "The only truth they know is hunger; their only right or wrong is survival; their only belief is the day as it comes to them. It's not how I want to live. But I need them to live that way, to remind me that everything beyond this is gravy." There is wisdom of this kind throughout Theft that, even when voiced, never comes across as tired or folksy, but is clearly 24-carat stuff mined from a life well lived.
Finally, I thank Theft for pretty much curing me of what I admit was a tendency to publishing house snobbery (pity about some glaring spelling mistakes here and there, though). Let me say here, too, that Theft is the first book I've ever read twice in less than a year.
The comparable book that most readily comes to mind is The Call of the Wild, but Theft is more explicitly human in its focus. Speaking of the non-human heroes of the story, wolves, the narrator of the story says: "The only truth they know is hunger; their only right or wrong is survival; their only belief is the day as it comes to them. It's not how I want to live. But I need them to live that way, to remind me that everything beyond this is gravy." There is wisdom of this kind throughout Theft that, even when voiced, never comes across as tired or folksy, but is clearly 24-carat stuff mined from a life well lived.
Finally, I thank Theft for pretty much curing me of what I admit was a tendency to publishing house snobbery (pity about some glaring spelling mistakes here and there, though). Let me say here, too, that Theft is the first book I've ever read twice in less than a year.
September 26, 2012
For such a relatively short book, there is so much going on in this one, I am not sure where to start. The main characters are a young woman and her older brother and the book flashes between the present and their childhood. They grow up in a poor family. Their father works several jobs to make ends meet. Their mother has Parkinson's disease and the brother begins breaking into homes and burglarizing them ostensibly to help pay for their mother's medical needs. He teaches his sister the tricks of the trade.
In the present, the brother has confessed to a murder he committed as a juvenille but has fled into the mountains of southern Colorado. The police contact his sister, who has become an experienced tracker, to help find him. (She understands him and 50 percent of tracking is knowing who or what you are tracking.)
That is about all I can say without giving away the entire story. However the author does discuss the relationships between parents and children, siblings, friends, abusers and their victims, humans and animals, and people and the environment.
A side story is the plight of the Mexican Grey Wolf in the American Southwest. I learned a lot about the art and science of tracking by reading this book.
In the present, the brother has confessed to a murder he committed as a juvenille but has fled into the mountains of southern Colorado. The police contact his sister, who has become an experienced tracker, to help find him. (She understands him and 50 percent of tracking is knowing who or what you are tracking.)
That is about all I can say without giving away the entire story. However the author does discuss the relationships between parents and children, siblings, friends, abusers and their victims, humans and animals, and people and the environment.
A side story is the plight of the Mexican Grey Wolf in the American Southwest. I learned a lot about the art and science of tracking by reading this book.
December 1, 2012
I couldn't put this book down. The rich set of characters, behaviors, motivations, passions, attachments kept me enthralled. And the subtle metaphoric linkages as well. The writing is deft (though there were occasional awkwardnesses and typos that threw me out of the story, alas). Some of the descriptions took my breath away. I am considering suggesting this book for my book group--and I usually agonize over that choice. This would be an easy one. So much going on. Beautiful book, and highly recommended.
December 9, 2012
This was a fascinating story of four interwoven characters, the main character Willa, her brother Zep, their friend Brenda and Brenda's father Raymond. There is the back story of when Zep and Willa were growing up as kids and burglerizing houses. Then the present day stories 30 years later when Willa is saving wolves in New Mexico and Zep and Brenda are living in Colorado in the back country. Things spiral out of control when Zep confesses to a murder 30 years ago and goes on the run. Willa is called in to track him. Lots to think about. Beautifully written. A very nice first novel.
January 20, 2013
This is a beautifully written, compelling story. There are multiple layers of meaning here, woven together in a brother-sister relationship which endures despite family secrets, rash acts, and years of separation. Willa and Jeb are characters you won't soon forget, and as wolf-tracker Willa is called upon to track her own brother, their connections to each other, their shared pasts, and their natural surroundings grow clearer and stronger. B.K Loren has given us a fine piece of reading here, one of the best I've experienced in the last year or so.
October 25, 2015
BK Loren's novel is a quiet and exceedingly lovely book. Each of the three main characters is wounded and adrift, orbiting around the others, continually pulled together by the memories of the childhood they shared. Loren is a deft writer who clearly loves and craves the natural world and weaves it carefully and meaningfully throughout the story. It is at times spare, at others dense, and all of it works together gorgeously. If you like Terry Tempest Williams, you will find similar tones in Loren's writing, and yet she's altogether unique as well.
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May 14, 2017A captivating read that is hard to put down; except to allow the reader a moment to breathe. The two main characters, a brother and a sister, both feel quite real. Ms. Loren's writing pulls the reader into their childhood. Though gritty in some parts, this book is not so visceral that it cannot be read at all. It leaves the reader feeling that a person could survive anything and come out better than just "OK." –Kassandra V.-
December 22, 2012
A Must Read!!! Written by BK Loren.
It is her first fiction novel. It takes place in Northern New Mexico and Souther Colorado. Willa is a tracker and is currently following the reintroduction of the Mexican wolf to the area. She is asked to track her brother, Zeb, who has confessed to murder. The story weaves her and her brother's past with current events. This is a story filled with rich characters and theft is all around.
It is her first fiction novel. It takes place in Northern New Mexico and Souther Colorado. Willa is a tracker and is currently following the reintroduction of the Mexican wolf to the area. She is asked to track her brother, Zeb, who has confessed to murder. The story weaves her and her brother's past with current events. This is a story filled with rich characters and theft is all around.
February 6, 2014
Theft possesses gorgeous language, vivid characters brimming with soul, a haunting and lyrical story, and strong sense of place--everything I look for in a novel. Theft most deservedly won the Willa Award for contemporary fiction in 2013, and I am honored to be mentioned in the same breath as the finalist in that category. (A Growing Season, co-authored with Mare Pearl) Kudos to BK Loren! I can't wait to read future books by this talented, inspiring writer.
July 19, 2015
A little non-climactic. The story is what would happen if chic lit met Tony Hillerman, but without the Native American influence. The violent law breaker in the story dies a rather mundane death and everybody's okay with that in the end. Not very believable. However, I did enjoy some of the insights the author made about living and dying and losing one's youth. It also made me want to go to New Mexico and wander around. Not a bad read, just not bone shaking.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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