Two Good Thieves

I bought this book at a bargain price! It was on sale in a book clearance centre - was only £1.99 instead as £9.99!

Two Good Thieves is set in a city in Central America, and is about two children, Demi and Baz who are 'good thieves' - but the question is, are they good people as well. The book starts with description. In fact, I almost didn't notice it is written in present tense, that's how good the narration is.

Here are the first few paragraphs, which, trust me, helped me make up my mind on this book:

The city's burning

  The city's always burning.

  The big river is baked to a trickle of brown water. One time, the docks were busy, now the ghosts of ships moor here, hulks rusting on the mud; and though the sea's just a few miles away, only the rich go there, only the rich can go anywhere: down to the white beaches, up to their ranches or away to foreign lands; but when they are in the city they stay cool, in their cool offices behind tinted windows, in their cool gardens that hiss with water, in their cool shops with marble floors and air that streams as cool as silk against their smooth faces.

  The city is burning.

  But the uptown streets are still full of people, pushing through the heat and cars crawling slow and policemen - the hard men, in white hats and white gloves and black sunglasses - watching the cars and the people, watching for trouble, watching for scuffed-up children who should stick to their own quarter, not be hanging round up here, near the fancy shops.

  They don't see her though because she's too smart to get noticed. She knows how to dress and where to stand. She knows how to drift up through the sweating crowds, maybe sticking close to that woman who could be her mother, to that man who could be her father. She knows how to keep her face blank so it doesn't seem as if she's noticing that woman's fat purse, or that man's thick wallet bulging in his jacket. She knows how to look serious and sensible, like a good child.

  She is a good child, maybe.

*end of excerpt*

This girl is called Baz, and she is about twelve. With her sort-of brother, Demi, she steals for the woman who looks after them, Fay. One day, they steal a jewel belonging to the chief of police's wife. Then they have everyone after them.

It is somehow narrated in a way that fits the dialogue, which is usually in a sort of slang, missing out words, dropping off the ends of words, you get the picture. At first, the 'baddie' seems to be Senor Moro, but it switches to the more sadistic Eduardo, who seems nice, until he shows his true colours.

I honestly enjoyed this book.