Ian Minot the protagonist of Adam Langer's newest novel "The Thieves of Manhattan" is, to be blunt, annoying. He whines, he mopes, he pities himself. He needs to get a life. Thankfully, in "Thieves," that's what Langer forces Ian to do.
As the novel begins, our narrator is leading the tortured existence of a hipster barista/aspiring writer in New York City. He serves up fancy coffee, chips away at his inheritance and writes stories that are too "small" (read: boring) to be publishable. Quite frequently, he lashes out at successful and, Ian believes, phony memoirist Blade Markham, who has achieved acclaim for his poorly written prison memoir. He also seeths with envy as his girlfriend comes into her own as a successful writer, both commercially and critically.
Passive and stagnant and utterly trapped in a state of literary famelessness, Ian expounds at length about why his novels are somehow "true" and genuine, whereas Markham's "Blade by Blade" ("To All My Homies Still Livin' Under the Gun Right Here in Amerikkka. You Know Who You Are. Keep Runnin', Keep Gunnin'") is phony bologna already an obvious distinction for most readers. Thankfully, more original insights await.
Enter "confident man" Jed Roth. The sullen and mysterious man, sweeps the plot-challenged Ian off his feet with stories of intrigue in the publishing industry. Whereas nothing extraordinary transpires in Ian's stories, which are largely based on his quiet Midwestern upbringing, Roth's life has been action-packed. After working his way up at Merrill Books, Roth had quit his job in the name of dignity when his boss chose to publish "Blade by Blade." The vilification of Markham is, of course, quite appealing to Ian, particularly after Markham snatches up Ian's Romanian girlfriend. When Roth proposes a plan to get back at the dolts who run Merrill Books and make some cash on the side Ian agrees.
The plan is simple: Ian will pitch "A Thief in Manhattan," an action-packed epic penned by Roth, to literary agents as his own memoir. Once the book's success launches Ian to the status of poster-child of the memoir genre, he will announce that the book is actually completely fabricated. Mayhem will ensue. Publishers will be shamed and, meanwhile, Ian will remain rich and famous, if morally compromised.
If "Thieves" ended there, it would still be an entertaining read. Rather than merely weaving a neat yarn, however, Langer gets tangled up in his story's ebb and flow. The result is an extremely riveting, yet slightly convoluted, tale of adventure oftentimes thanks to the intrigure of some of Langer's supporting characters.
Because, from Roth to Blade Markham to Ian's various love interests, these supporting characters are never quite what they seem. The innocent are revealed as guilty, and the guilty as surprisingly innocent. In every chapter, we encounter an unexpected turn of events or change in character.
Granted, some of these "twists" can be spotted a mile away. But an unsurprising turn of events is not necessarily an unexciting one. About a third of the way through "Thieves," when the major and most expected plot twist is revealed, the novel hits its stride. Tension escalates, plot lines crescendo, characters converge and "Thieves" becomes a novel as epic as the fabulous fictions and fabricated memoirs described within its pages.
