A clever plot with a likeable protagonist who skillfully "acquires" anything from groceries to jewelry & crystal from his carefully selected clients. Then he feels to help a client resolve a personal issue - which leads to another act of kindness, a new girlfriend and a truly dangerous rescue operation. Very engaging and different. ( )

I stopped on page 81. The premise is good, but there is too much description and not enough action for me. ( )

B.A.B.A.E.L.

If there was something missing from my life before, it was this book. Har, har,
har. I'm so funny. Ahem....

Sorry.

I've been raving about this book to anyone who will listen to me. Creative, engaging, funny, outrageous -- Something Missing is one of the most interesting and satisfying stories I've read for months.

So, the premise: Martin is a somewhat antisocial oddball (the blurb says OCD, but I'd say more detail-oriented and methodical than true OCD... or neurotic, maybe). He has few friends. He has no pets. He has no girlfriend. He lives alone in a house left to him by his dead mother.

Oh, and he's a thief.

But not your usual thief. Oh, sure, he makes the occasional high-dollar "acquisition" (to use his term) from what he thinks of as his "clients" (a carefully developed list of people he steals from, and studies). But mostly he sticks to a roll or two of toilet paper, a few Advil, or a little bit of laundry detergent. Things his clients never miss and that he needs to get by.

Things change for Martin, though, the day he drops a client's toothbrush in the toilet.

From there, Martin's carefully ordered, cataloged life, becomes increasingly chaotic. And, Martin realizes, increasingly worth living.

Martin is a charming literary hero, and not just for a thief either. I don't know how Dicks does it, but a character that should have been boring and offensive was outright loveable. Some may consider seeing the world through his eyes a little tedious, but I found it a detailed delight. Meanwhile, the story brims with humor and compassion.

And then, once you hit a certain point (and you will know it when you see it) you will find the book impossible to put down. ( )

The premis for the book is one of it's best assests. Martin is a concientious thief. His first rule when conducting buisness is never take anything that will be noticed missing. A half container of detergent here, five asprin there...He has morals and standards and seems to genuinly care about integrity and fair play, thinking of the people he steals from as "clients." Martin is hard to get close to as a character as a reader because his obsessive compulsive behavior is deeply embedded into the text. The pages of detail can make for some difficult reading, though I understand it ads to the believability and authenticity of the narrative from his world view. The glimpses the reader gets into his deeper self are that much more enjoyable when they pop up, like Martin flashing a funny lovable side by talking about his relationship with a pet bird in a clients house. The only critisism I have of this book is that I could of used a little more space for this side of martin.
Otherwise the book was very well done, Smart and genuinly endereaing characters. Painfully endulgent to detail perhaps, but also very effective to sweeping you into Martin's world as he walks through it. ( )

I'm still laughing my butt off at some of the scenes in this book, as I type this review.
So if you find any misspellings blame the author please!

For a while I didn't think I was going to be able to appreciate this novel. It reads so much like a cookbook for criminals. Yet after a few chapters you have to really let Martin's sociopath tendencies and slight OCD take over for your own moral compass and let the story reveal itself slowly and deliciously, much like a meal being cooked in a crock pot!

Martin is a thief, but not just any kind of thief. He thinks of his victims as clients and sometimes he`s been stealing from them for so long that he thinks of them as friends. Not only does he steal the requisite silver, diamonds, crystal etc...he also treats these peoples pantries as his own personal grocery store or even a department store, it depends on what he needs and how much the `client has in stock! (he steals towels from two different `clients' to make up his own set *chuckle*) He makes massively lengthy lists, plans and timetables. He is a master at planning, he has every base covered, or does he? Just when the book starts to get a tad boring, Martin found himself in a situation he had planned for but really never expected to be in and it is hilarious and goes to prove that Martin isn`t a true OCD sufferer. A bit anal and overly cautious perhaps, but I don't see him as a true sufferer of OCD.

This book ends magnificently on a great note with such a surprise ending, that if I don't stop here I may give it away.

It may be slow to start and a bit frustrating at times, but it's never boring. Martin and the secondary characters are very well fleshed and believable. I was thrilled with the setting that is in my home state, yet Mr. Dick never gets too bogged down in the details and makes this seem as if it were written to be about Anytown, USA.

I kind of thought that this could be compared a bit to Tim Dorsey's novels featuring Serge a. Storms, but with no murders (just mayhem) and a lot less drinking and drugs!
You may not like reading what amounts to a recipe for B&E, but I promise you'll fall in love with Martin Railsback and absolutely enjoy the ending. ( )