From Publishers Weekly
When a 10-year-old boy wishes to be delivered from a boring afternoon, a creature takes him to the Holiday House. "Barker masterfully embroiders this fantasy world with a mounting number of grim, even gruesome details," wrote PW, "in a tale that manages to be both cute and horrifying." Ages 10-up. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Harvey, a little boy, is bored on a rainy day. A stranger with an unusually large grin appears and leads him to a house where he can have and do whatever he wants. From here the story takes a leap from this predictable storyline to a compelling eeriness. Initially, Glover's reading is as dimensionless as the story's beginning. As the story becomes creepier, Glover's voice becomes appropriately unsettling. He gives uncanny reality to the hosts of the house by delivering their sense of humor as well. Though it is even disturbing to adults, the tale never becomes graphically violent and is suitable for children. E.S.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

ANNOTATION

After a mysterious stranger promises to end his boredom with a trip to the magical Holiday House, ten-year-old Harvey learns that his fun has a high price.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

After a mysterious stranger promises to end his boredom with a trip to the magical Holiday House, ten-year-old Harvey learns that his fun has a high price.

FROM THE CRITICS

Miami Herald

Menacing demons, wondrous miracles, sinister magic, and vivid characters make Thief a compulsive, lightning-paced tales that almost begs to be read aloud.

Atlanta Journal

Spellbinding.

Today

The interplay between innocence and evil does have a refreshing familiarity.

Rocky Mountain News

Appropriate for all ages.

Denver Post