The Thief
- Author Fuminori Nakamura
- Narrator Charlie Thurston
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 1 March 2012
- Run Time 4 hours and 1 minute
- Format Audio
- Genre Crime and mystery fiction, Thriller / suspense fiction.
Click to open directly in the xigxag app.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only $7.95.
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price p/Title
- $13.95
- $12.95
- $11.95
- $10.95
- $9.95
Listen to a sample
What to expect
The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in his tailored suit, he weaves in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn’t even remember the snatch. Most people are just a blur to him, nameless faces from whom he chooses his victims. He has no family, no friends, no connections … but he does have a past, which finally catches up with him when Ishikawa, his first partner, reappears in his life, and offers him a job he can’t refuse. It’s an easy job: tie up an old rich man, steal the contents of the safe. No one gets hurt. Only the day after the job does he learn that the old man was a prominent politician, and that he was brutally killed after the robbery. And now the thief is caught in a tangle even he might not be able to escape.
Critics Review
“A minimalist sliver of Tokyo noir…An intelligent, compelling, and surprisingly moving tale, and highly recommended.”
“Strangely, compulsively readable for its portrait of a dark,
crumbling, graffiti-scarred Tokyo—and the desire to understand the mysterious
thief.”
“More Conrad than Connelly…A breath of fresh air for readers looking for something beyond the procedural.”
“I defy you not to finish the book in a single
sitting.”
“We get all the way to page 53 of…before we learn the name of its protagonist narrator…By then a reader may feel no special need to know what this nervy fellow is called, so well has Mr. Nakamura caused us to view the world through the thief’s hypersensitive mind.”
“His grasp of the seamy underbelly of the city
is why Nakamura is one of the most award-winning young guns of Japanese
hard-boiled detective writing.”
“I was deeply impressed with The Thief. It is fresh.”
“Fast-paced, elegantly written, and rife with
the symbols of inevitability.”
“More than a crime novel, The Thief is a narrative that delves
deep into the meaning of theft and the nature of justice…Japanese crime fiction
has a new star.”
“The drily philosophical tone and the noir
atmosphere combine perfectly, providing a rapid and enjoyable ‘read’ that is
nonetheless cool and distant, provoking the reader to think about (as much as
experience) the tale.”
“Compelling…Nakamura’s memorable antihero, at once as believably
efficient as Donald Westlake’s Parker and as disaffected as a Camus
protagonist, will impress genre and literary readers alike.”
“Disguised as fast-paced, shock-fueled crime
fiction, The Thief resonates even
more as a treatise on contemporary disconnect and paralyzing isolation.”
More from the same
About xigxag
Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.
Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.
Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.