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The Thief
What you do in childhood may come back to haunt you.
Stealing things from people who had upset her was something Polly did quite a lot.
There was her Aunt Pauline; a girl at school; a boyfriend who left her. And there was the man on the plane . . .
Humiliated and scared by a total stranger Polly does what she always does. She steals something. But she never could have imagined that her desire for revenge would have such terrifying results.
Stealing things from people who had upset her was something Polly did quite a lot.
There was her Aunt Pauline; a girl at school; a boyfriend who left her. And there was the man on the plane . . .
Humiliated and scared by a total stranger Polly does what she always does. She steals something. But she never could have imagined that her desire for revenge would have such terrifying results.
86 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
13 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Rendell
457 books1,627 followersA.K.A. Barbara Vine
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 66 reviews
October 24, 2016
This is my first experience of the writing of Ruth Rendell and I was quickly taken by her style already planning to read more.
A fast paced novel that reminded me a little of the programme 'Tales of the unexpected' with it's rather quirky plot. The lead character Polly is impulsive and struggles to control them. When she is angered her impulses take over and she is driven to seek revenge by stealing their possessions and destroying them. These impulses threaten to take control of her putting everything she deems important at risk.
My one criticism is that I thought the climax could have been a little stronger.
A fast paced novel that reminded me a little of the programme 'Tales of the unexpected' with it's rather quirky plot. The lead character Polly is impulsive and struggles to control them. When she is angered her impulses take over and she is driven to seek revenge by stealing their possessions and destroying them. These impulses threaten to take control of her putting everything she deems important at risk.
My one criticism is that I thought the climax could have been a little stronger.
September 1, 2020
the central character of Polly is amply fleshed out: after a problem childhood during which she exacted spiteful revenge on anyone who crossed her, she has gradually found happiness and stability, until she reverts to her old habits and her world begins to crumble. Despite her tendancy to steal precious objects from her perceived enemies, she is surprisingly sympathetic, and we share her fear and despair when events spiral out of control.
December 22, 2016
I've read Rendell's novella and short stories, now this...a novella. A story about a young woman who steals as a means of revenge and happens to be a pathological liar. Until she meets the right man and wants to give up her lying stealing ways. Until she meets the wrong man to steal from. This wasn't as dark as some of Rendell's psychological fiction, but it certainly has most of familiar traits, especially the innate, occasionally cripplingly so, British politeness. It is that precise quality that gets our protagonist into her predicament in the first place, her impotent rage over a man's rudeness gives way to nabbing his luggage to spite him, leading on a terribly destructive path. Some of Polly's actions were definitely straight out of the WTF bin...washing of the stolen clothes for instance, but then again she isn't meant to be a criminal mastermind, just an average person with some particular predilections. Interesting in the way of culture clash contrasts, can't imagine a cripplingly polite reticent American. Entertaining quick read.
August 28, 2016
This book was a pleasant surprise! There was a little suspense, a little mystery, and the protagonist was a kleptomaniac and compulsive liar. The ending was abrupt but this was a great read!
February 15, 2013
Stealing something from people that upsets Polly is something she does quite a lot. And what you did in your childhood may come back again to haunt you is the premise of one of Ruth Rendell’s standalone novella. Polly avenges on some people like her Aunt Pauline, a girl at school and a boyfriend who left her. But then one day she met the man of her dreams and promises herself to behave and cut her childhood habit. With her husband’s virtues and good intentions and for the things he continuously showers Polly with, comes to a decision that her actions and impropriety must come to a stop. And there was the man on the plane.
Humiliated and degraded by a total stranger, Polly once again does what she does. She steals something to avenge her dignity, and never had imagined that her revenge for something would have caused her such terrifying results.
I’ve read a lot of reviews about the novel and the negative ones usually came from Polly’s being afraid to defend herself against the stranger. Well, she does promise herself to behave accordingly, and I guess the inevitable will come into action if she fights back and that’s what she is avoiding. I think it is safe to say that some of our childhood habits remain subconsciously in our minds and is just waiting to be performed again, and that’s what drives Polly to perform her scene, this time promising it’ll be the last.
As part of the Quick Reads series -to promote and encourage reading to people who do not often read and to discover the joy of books- The Thief is an exciting and fast read from a writer I admire for years. Even though in just 20,000 words, Rendell still manages to put her signature story telling and creepy narratives to make you read the novella in just one sitting (and it’s not just because it only contains 86 pages). One can predict that the consequences of the protagonist behavior will end in tragedy –for Polly, lessons are learned in a hard way to make her realize her actions- I am much saddened by Polly’s fate, and thus it makes her unforgettable. Well, one should learn something life-changing from their fallacious actions right?
A riveting and an entertaining fast read from the master of psychological suspense.
Opening Sentence: The first time she stole something Polly was eight years old.
Ending Sentence: She lay there, unconscious, her arms stretched out and the diamond on her finger winking in the dying light.
Humiliated and degraded by a total stranger, Polly once again does what she does. She steals something to avenge her dignity, and never had imagined that her revenge for something would have caused her such terrifying results.
I’ve read a lot of reviews about the novel and the negative ones usually came from Polly’s being afraid to defend herself against the stranger. Well, she does promise herself to behave accordingly, and I guess the inevitable will come into action if she fights back and that’s what she is avoiding. I think it is safe to say that some of our childhood habits remain subconsciously in our minds and is just waiting to be performed again, and that’s what drives Polly to perform her scene, this time promising it’ll be the last.
As part of the Quick Reads series -to promote and encourage reading to people who do not often read and to discover the joy of books- The Thief is an exciting and fast read from a writer I admire for years. Even though in just 20,000 words, Rendell still manages to put her signature story telling and creepy narratives to make you read the novella in just one sitting (and it’s not just because it only contains 86 pages). One can predict that the consequences of the protagonist behavior will end in tragedy –for Polly, lessons are learned in a hard way to make her realize her actions- I am much saddened by Polly’s fate, and thus it makes her unforgettable. Well, one should learn something life-changing from their fallacious actions right?
A riveting and an entertaining fast read from the master of psychological suspense.
Opening Sentence: The first time she stole something Polly was eight years old.
Ending Sentence: She lay there, unconscious, her arms stretched out and the diamond on her finger winking in the dying light.
February 12, 2016
Many different emotions rushed through me in the short period of time it took me to read this book. Curiosity, anxiety, a sense of suspense, frustration, pity and disappointment are a few of them. While the story started off as gripping and with an interesting premise, I couldn't help but feel that I didn't want to keep on reading. I knew something unpleasant would happen, and even though at the beginning of the book I thought something unpleasant would be more than fitting to this self-centered and arrogant protagonist called Polly, this feeling of anxiety wouldn't go away. The moral of the story became pretty evident, but this story just wasn't for me. I felt like wanting to get inside the book and scream at the stupidity the characters' actions were led by.
What stayed with me after finishing reading this was that, ultimately, human nature is impossible to change, no matter how much one strives for it.
What stayed with me after finishing reading this was that, ultimately, human nature is impossible to change, no matter how much one strives for it.
May 25, 2023
I tried my best to keep reading but I couldn’t. It wasn’t very well written and quite cringey.
April 22, 2019
The first thing I noticed about Rendell's style was it's strong sense of character.
I feel we get an honest intrepretation of the protagonist Polly from her vengeful kleptomania to her timidity at being misunderstood. Meanwhile the character of Lant is suitably unsettling for plot conflict personified, though also a little hammy with it. Alex, Lucy's partner, was inevitably a wet blanket, mostly there for Polly to lie to and look quietly hurt by it.
The plot itself is very simple: a hasty act of retaliation is repented for roughly forty pages. Rendell set this up well but, I'm afraid, she couldn't quite keep up the tension all the way through. As for the ending, while thematically pertinent, it was much to abrupt to be satisfying.
I will keep an eye out for more by Rendell though, going off this book, I don't think I'll be in a rush to read it. That being said, I do hope that her longer works have much more going on and so can handle the suspense better.
I would recommend this book to those who are fans of Rendell's work and those who want to catch their breath a bit as they travel.
I feel we get an honest intrepretation of the protagonist Polly from her vengeful kleptomania to her timidity at being misunderstood. Meanwhile the character of Lant is suitably unsettling for plot conflict personified, though also a little hammy with it. Alex, Lucy's partner, was inevitably a wet blanket, mostly there for Polly to lie to and look quietly hurt by it.
The plot itself is very simple: a hasty act of retaliation is repented for roughly forty pages. Rendell set this up well but, I'm afraid, she couldn't quite keep up the tension all the way through. As for the ending, while thematically pertinent, it was much to abrupt to be satisfying.
I will keep an eye out for more by Rendell though, going off this book, I don't think I'll be in a rush to read it. That being said, I do hope that her longer works have much more going on and so can handle the suspense better.
I would recommend this book to those who are fans of Rendell's work and those who want to catch their breath a bit as they travel.
December 31, 2017
Ik vond het boek niet heel diepgaand, maar het las lekker weg.
April 28, 2019
Not my normal read but good story. Let’s just say revenge is sweet but don’t do it to the wrong person
March 26, 2018
When the tables turn on Polly she learns some harsh life lessons.
May 22, 2020
I was so happy! Ruth Rendell! Yay! And one I hadn't read before, woohoo! Well. I read this over a pot of tea and the only good thing about the whole experience was the pot of tea. Polly, Polly, Polly. Get a grip. Engaged to Mr. Humourless Control Freak, allowed to escape to a wedding overseas, stuck in an airplane seat with Mr. Smarmy and Abusive. What do you do? You stick up for yourself, seek revenge, regret it, and backpedal to the point of self-destruction. Sadly the author is no longer with us to write a redemptive Part II where Polly regenerates a spine and makes a success of her brassy and forthright self. I sometimes donate my books to a local women's shelter but those women deserve better than this depressing and pointless shemozzle.
October 15, 2012
finished in about an hour. it is a short story with kind of a message in it(what goes around comes around like "karma")
writing is fine nothing confusing. nothing surprising or suspense in the plot. no nail biting moments. just easy read for and hour.
cheers
writing is fine nothing confusing. nothing surprising or suspense in the plot. no nail biting moments. just easy read for and hour.
cheers
November 10, 2016
Obsession and deceit, revenge and retribution, all Rendell's usual themes are present in this dark tale. A good quick-read for Rendell's fans.
September 17, 2024
Polly is a young woman living in Britain who has one great flaw - when wronged, she feels it necessary to steal from the wrongdoer. This specific immorality in the past had given her some feeling of karmic justice but because she has to lie to keep from being caught, and because she's a bad liar, her childhood acquaintances don't find her trustworthy.
Polly, an adult now, is traveling to a wedding when the world's biggest jerk makes her plane ride quite horrible and she finds a way to get her payback by, you guessed it, stealing from him, but the theft's karmic rewards don't quite land where they did in her past.
Verdict: A short and easy read, Rendell's examination of behavior and morality face off in an interesting and tense way. A smart examination of the consequences of taking due justice into our own hands and rationalizing immoral behavior for what we think is the greater deserved good.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
Polly, an adult now, is traveling to a wedding when the world's biggest jerk makes her plane ride quite horrible and she finds a way to get her payback by, you guessed it, stealing from him, but the theft's karmic rewards don't quite land where they did in her past.
Verdict: A short and easy read, Rendell's examination of behavior and morality face off in an interesting and tense way. A smart examination of the consequences of taking due justice into our own hands and rationalizing immoral behavior for what we think is the greater deserved good.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
March 1, 2024
BOOK REPORT
Well _that_ was one completely and totally anxious-making novella, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Even if it did leave me feeling weirdly guilty.
And I do mean weirdly, because—to the best of my recollection—I’ve never been a vengeful kleptomaniac and/or compulsive liar. Nor have ever I menaced anyone on an airplane.
Ah, I know what it is! I did make some of those awful prank calls when I was an adolescent, not saying anything, just breathing. To one phone number in particular, the home of another middle-school girl who was regularly mean to me in gym class.
Whew, glad I figured that one out now so as not to have to fixate on it at 3 o’clock in the morning!
Well _that_ was one completely and totally anxious-making novella, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Even if it did leave me feeling weirdly guilty.
And I do mean weirdly, because—to the best of my recollection—I’ve never been a vengeful kleptomaniac and/or compulsive liar. Nor have ever I menaced anyone on an airplane.
Ah, I know what it is! I did make some of those awful prank calls when I was an adolescent, not saying anything, just breathing. To one phone number in particular, the home of another middle-school girl who was regularly mean to me in gym class.
Whew, glad I figured that one out now so as not to have to fixate on it at 3 o’clock in the morning!
August 14, 2021
RA
Classic Ruth Rendell: the unreported crimes of ordinary people; the elusiveness of redemption. The tension was sustained being inside the protagonist's head as she fought her own demons. There were two errors: her aunt hadn't hit her in the garden and she broke her boyfriend's CD after he said he was leaving her. Nonetheless the story was a brilliant exploration of how impossible it is for a compulsive liar to be believed. It also showed the danger of a perfectly natural, even justifiable, desire for revenge. "Isn't life one risk after another?" A shrewd observation by a great writer.
Classic Ruth Rendell: the unreported crimes of ordinary people; the elusiveness of redemption. The tension was sustained being inside the protagonist's head as she fought her own demons. There were two errors: her aunt hadn't hit her in the garden and she broke her boyfriend's CD after he said he was leaving her. Nonetheless the story was a brilliant exploration of how impossible it is for a compulsive liar to be believed. It also showed the danger of a perfectly natural, even justifiable, desire for revenge. "Isn't life one risk after another?" A shrewd observation by a great writer.
December 22, 2020
🌞BOOK REVIEW🌞
This book is definitely a random read, but it has a moral behind the whole thing! Lying really doesn't get you anywhere in life, destroys trust and could definitely destroy your future. For such a short story it definitely has a bigger impact! I definitely recommend if you're looking for a quick read! The truth may hurt but could never hurt more than a big lie ❤
#ruthrendell #booklove #bookstagram #literature #words #booknerd #bookaholic #bookstore #reading #bookaddict #read #reader #instagramanet #readingtime #books #text #book #bookme #bookworm #instabook #instatag #readingfestival #booknow #stories #booklover #instareal #bookshelf #literatura
This book is definitely a random read, but it has a moral behind the whole thing! Lying really doesn't get you anywhere in life, destroys trust and could definitely destroy your future. For such a short story it definitely has a bigger impact! I definitely recommend if you're looking for a quick read! The truth may hurt but could never hurt more than a big lie ❤
#ruthrendell #booklove #bookstagram #literature #words #booknerd #bookaholic #bookstore #reading #bookaddict #read #reader #instagramanet #readingtime #books #text #book #bookme #bookworm #instabook #instatag #readingfestival #booknow #stories #booklover #instareal #bookshelf #literatura
January 11, 2020
buduci da nam je za čitateljski klub bilo neko djelo Ruth R. odlučila sam uzeti najkraće... i pogriješila. Ili mozda ne. Ako su sva njena ostala djela ovako losa, nedovršena i čudna, drago mi je da nisam gubila vrijeme. Niti stil pisanja, niti potencijalno s početka zanimljiva radnja i tematika nisu me nimalo oduševili. Kao da je pisala neka trinaestogodišnjakinja na svom prvom tečaju kreativnog pisanja.
December 30, 2018
Got me through a sleepless night. A great build up of tension but without the cathartic release of a good ending. Also got me thinking about how I don't like these kind of Boy Who Cried Wolf stories because they seem to value honesty over the truth, which is absurd.
Added it to my list after seeing it on a list of short crime novels and novellas from CrimeReads, I think.
Added it to my list after seeing it on a list of short crime novels and novellas from CrimeReads, I think.
April 13, 2019
I love novellas and I found this one a very satisfying read. It is years since I last picked up a Ruth Rendell and was delighted to find this gem in a local charity bookshop. Well worth a look to see the protagonist get her comeuppance. I love a book where you find yourself rooting for the antagonist.
October 24, 2023
This is one of the most bonkers books I’ve ever read. It was like a weird cautionary tale but I have no idea what the moral was supposed to be? If you’re bad you’re bad forever?! And the bf was totally toxic with his jealousy, paranoia & controlling nature.
I thought Ruth Rendell was supposed to be a good author, this was just weird trash.
I thought Ruth Rendell was supposed to be a good author, this was just weird trash.
November 20, 2023
This is one of the Quick Reads books that were released to encourage more people to read, and I picked it up super cheap at the book exchange at my local Morrisons.
It’s a pretty fun little read about a woman who’s a habitual liar and who has a penchant for stealing people’s things and destroying them if they upset her. She’s an unlikeable protagonist, but at least she gets what’s coming.
It’s a pretty fun little read about a woman who’s a habitual liar and who has a penchant for stealing people’s things and destroying them if they upset her. She’s an unlikeable protagonist, but at least she gets what’s coming.
August 27, 2021
This was a beatiful short read but the end was so depressing. I liked the suspense in it and the story generally, but I had to read another novel directly after finishing it so I don't fall in depression.
I recommend this so much if you want a quick beautiful read filled with suspense 😗
I recommend this so much if you want a quick beautiful read filled with suspense 😗
December 25, 2022
A good short read. Karma comes back around, and Polly experiences this the hard way. As revenge for making Polly feel bad, Polly steals. It originates when she was a child and she didn't like being told off, so she stole. As an adult, the consequences are a lot dire and truths are finally revealed.
January 26, 2024
The Thief started with decent pacing, quickly establishing the protagonist's flaws and character. However, the main plot point led to illogical actions from the protagonist, and the ending felt unsatisfying.
August 24, 2025
Моя перша книга, прочитана англійською. Текст простий і зрозумілий. Книжка невелика, але тримає напругу. Авторка добре показала, як кілька імпульсивних рішень можуть перетворити життя на повний хаос. Хоча персонажі, які не можуть вчасно все проговорити, іноді мене дратували.
August 1, 2017
A quick read indeed about a woman who acted out by stealing from the people who wronged her.
November 11, 2017
An entertaining quick read in which Polly finds that her lies come back to bite her...ouch!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 66 reviews