"The Good Thief", a novel

by Hannah Tinti

A boy without a hand in a Catholic orphanage in the midst of the Protestant east coast gets unexpectedly adopted. But, his adopted father is a thief and a cheat who uses boy's handicap for his schemes. The boy is a willing participant in swindling and his good nature slowly turns even the people they swindled to his side. He is changing everyone and makes them better. Along the way he befriends a murderer and uncovers a secret from his own past.

Although it sounds like a book for young adults, it's not. There is action and violence in the story which is told with so much charm that I couldn't put it down. Its prose is like a good wine - it flows smoothly with sweetly rich taste, warms you up and leaves you content at the end. And, just like with wine, you wish that there's more. Among the top three books I read this year.