The Thief of Broken Toys

by Tim Lebbon

When a father loses his son and his wife leaves him, he cannot tear himself away from the small fishing village where the boy's memories reside. They're all he has left. Thinking that his life is all but over, he takes to wandering the cliffs, carrying broken things that he always promised his son he would fix, but never did.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Death, Novella, Supernatural, Speculative Fiction

146 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

I love writing, reading, triathlon, real ale, chocolate, good movies, occasional bad movies, and cake.

I was born in London in 1969, lived in Devon until I was eight, and the next twenty years were spent in Newport. My wife Tracey and I then did a Good Thing and moved back to the country, and we now live in the little village of Goytre in Monmouthshire with our kids Ellie and Daniel. And our dog, Blu, who is the size of a donkey.

I love the countryside ... I do a lot of running and cycling, and live in the best part of the world for that.

I've had loads of books published in the UK, USA, and around the world, including novels, novellas, and collections. I write horror, fantasy, and now thrillers, and I've been writing as a living for over 8 years. I've won quite a few awards for my original fiction, and I've also written tie-in projects for Star Wars, Alien, Hellboy, The Cabin in the Woods, and 30 Days of Night.

A movie's just been made of my short story Pay the Ghost, starring Nicolas Cage and Sarah Wayne Callies. There are other projects in development, too.

I'd love to hear from you!

Reviews

[Иван Величков · Rating 2 out of 5]

Красиво написана история за живота след огромна загуба. За съжаление за пореден път се убеждавам, че магическият реализъм не е моята бира. Прочетох повестта, хареса ми стила на писане (с една забележка), успях да съчувствам на главния герой, хареса ми края, но някак не можа да ме хване за гърлото. Може би е за някой по-чувствителен, предпочитащ обикновеното и човешкото читател. Заслужава повече звезди, и като стил, и като послание, ама на мен не ми се четат подобни книги, а дадеш ли три започват да изскачат в препоръчаните.
От както една сутрин Тоби не се е събудил, животът на баща му Рей се разпада. Жена му го напуска, а той става сянка на предишното си аз, мрачна, празна и измъчена. Докато един ден случайно не среща стар особняк, който поправя една от старите счупени играчки на Тоби. С всяка поправена играчка нещо просветва в живота на Рей. Това, обаче си има цена. Цена която той не е готов да плати.

[Nicholas Kaufmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was loving this spooky, haunting novella right up until the end. It was beautiful, lyrical, and melancholy, but also about hope and remembrance and moving past your grief. Lebbon skillfully maneuvers the reader through Ray's stages of grief as he inches toward coming to terms with the new reality of his life. But then that ending happens. I couldn't get into it. It's too abrupt and weirdly unforgiving for a story that's all about forgiving yourself. It's unfair to both the characters and the reader. Where the novella ends is what, in a longer piece, might be the second act crisis that launches the protagonist toward a hopefully satisfying climax. We're robbed of that here in a way that perhaps is meant to feel thematic but instead just left me unsatisfied. As always, your mileage may vary.

[Philip Athans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though billed as "horror" there's nothing scary about this brilliant and heartfelt novella of memory and loss. Matching Tim Lebbon's mature and articulate writing is Erik Mohr's exemplary design. This is a book to buy and keep.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lebbon is a master of shorter forms like this novella, and the ending of this one is devastating.

[MB Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished reading The Thief of Broken Toys this afternoon. It’s a short novel or a long novella packaged as a separate book (ISFDB calls it a Chapterbook). It’s also very good. As it’s a horror story I’m not quite sure I can say I enjoyed it, but I did find it mesmerizing.

The Thief of Broken Toys is interestingly told. Sometimes the story is a third person narrative; sometimes it’s first person, by a person (being?) close to, but not in the story; and sometimes the narrator even addresses the characters, although clearly they cannot hear or respond. Far from a disinterested omniscient observer, the narrator seems an interested near participant; someone personally knows the main characters.

The main character, Ray, lives alone in a small Cornish village. Elizabeth, Ray’s wife who left him after the death of their young son Toby, lives in the same village. Each is dealing with Toby’s death in their own way; neither have come to terms with the loss.

The first half of The Thief of Broken Toys is the simple story of how tragedy can destroy people’s lives. But then, one stormy night, Ray meets an old man on the cliffs above the village who knows more than he should. Ray’s life is about to change…

The Thief of Broken Toys is the first novel of Lebbon’s I’ve read. A few years ago I read one of his story collections, White and Other Tales of Ruin. I confess, I don’t remember the stories at all, but I must have liked it well enough, because I bought three other books by him. I suspect The Thief of Broken Toys will stay with me for quite a while.

[Lucas Garner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this story. The concept is good, but I think the problem of the story arises with the length. It is clear that this story was a short story that ran too long. So instead of cutting out the unnecessary plot points, Lebbon decides to turn the story into a novella. The story starts out fine and Lebbon's language and descriptions are quite captivating. But when the town is described to us for the fifth time, and the same cliff looking over the sea is described for the tenth time, it starts to get old. The story itself isn't particularly original, but it is different in a way. It starts out as an average story about a man who has lost a child, but then slowly gets stranger and stranger. This is another problem I had with the story, Lebbon sets up the story as if it is going to be a crazy rabbit-hole story, but I don't think he allowed himself to go full out with the plot. The ending was disappointing when the 'twist' or whatever you want to call it is revealed. And the twist is not that shocking. In fact, it could probably be guessed after reading a short summary of the book. On top of these disappointments, it is clear that the story was rushed. The book is full of grammar errors and awkward sentences, and it is apparent that Lebbon had a great story that he rushed along to make a quick buck. I would love to see him revisit the story and fully flesh it out, and make it something creative and truly special. As it stands now, it is just a boring tale that tries to pass itself off as a supernatural thriller and fails.

[William M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Lebbon, author of numerous horror and fantasy books, merges his talents into a dark adult fairytale. The Thief of Broken Toys is a painful exploration into the loss of a child and the aftermath of guilt that the parents are left feeling. For the most part, it was beautifully crafted and balanced with just enough hope to keep the main character afloat. Never overly sentimental and always honest, this story was a touching but sad novella that ranks up near the top of Lebbon’s best work.

The perspectives from first person to third person were a bit jarring at first, and I don’t think it completely worked, but the writing eventually fell into a comfortable rhythm that had me quite engaged. And while the ending was not as satisfying as I was expecting, the bigger picture Lebbon paints is what makes reading it worthwhile. As I’ve said before in other reviews, Lebbon’s strength is the novella format, much more than his longer novels. This book is a great example of that, where Lebbon nearly hits a homerun.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is copy 3 of 74 signed numbered copies.

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Lebbon's books but this one is on my not-so-much list. As a book, it wasn't long; as a story, it went on for too much. I didn't feel much for the characters. I'm not sure if shorter and tighter would have helped more or if longer with more "stuff" would have helped.

Ray is dealing with the death of his son and the separation from his wife. He's grieving big time. While trying to accept it a little bit, he ends up bringing out a broken toy left behind by his son. A toy Ray was supposed to fix and never did. A mysterious man fixes the toy and alleviates some of the grief, allowing Ray to move on just a little. But what price is Ray going to feel for this relief?

As I mentioned, I had a hard time feeling for Ray. I think it's in part because his grief defines him so much that he is more a sad character than relatable. We the readers want him to find comfort but more so that we don't have to suffer his depression. At that point where things could get better, that's when the quiet horror occurs and the story ends. The story about grief twisted suddenly to a horror story. It didn't quite work for me. Maybe the story was about loss though. It would be the persistent theme. The loss was still expressed as grief which overpowered things. Big picture, I'm still going to read more Lebbon but I didn't find this to be his best.

[Doskoi_panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really an odd little book, and one I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The tale centers around Ray, who lives in a fishing village in Cornwall and has been grieving for his young son who died a year before. Ray and his wife are estranged (she's sleeping with his former best friend to combat her own grief; Ray reminds her too much of their dead child) and he is the one who remained in their house, with all of their son's toys and clothes and the ghosts that memories can bring. He meets an old man (on a cliff top, in the middle of the night, with a storm raging) who asks if he's brought him a broken toy to mend. And from there the novel takes a turn into the twilight zone, as it examines the role of memory in grieving, living and healing.

An excellent novel, though strange. 4 stars.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in its entirety during a cross-country flight, and was enjoying it...right up until the ending. I'd endured with valor the rather dull story of a downtrodden man who'd lost his son, then his wife, because it had an upward-moving emotional tenor that seemed to promise at least a positive or hopeful ending, if not a "happy" one. And then, the ending was absolutely awful, and sudden. It was kind of a "be careful what you wish for" theme, but then again not even quite that. It was rather random.

I like Lebbon's writing, and found the prose compelling. The story just could have been better, and the denouement expanded and made less random-seeming.

[Richard Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet, affecting mood piece, this novella (beautifully produced by Chizine Publications) deals with the infectious horror of loss. Set in a small coastal village, so well invoked that it becomes a character in its own right, the story follows Ray's struggle to come to terms with the death of his son. It's about memory, and pain, and it's beautifully done. While there's horror here, of the most personal and intimate variety, there's also a strange sense of redemption, at least until the shattering conclusion. An intense little read, well worth seeking out.

[Damien Angelica Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, lyrical story filled with emotion. The ending made my heart hurt, but in the best possible way. I truly cared about Ray, the main character. Following the death of his young son, he is caught up in a fog of loss and grief, and when he encounters The Thief of Broken Toys, he thinks he's found a way out of the dark hole of despair. I'll say no more about the story for fear of revealing too much, but Tim Lebbon is a gifted author who takes you on a journey with gorgeous prose, real characters, and palpable sorrow. I highly recommend it.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short, interesting story. It was sad and hopeful at the same time with an unexpected ending. I still have some questions as to what exactly happened toward the end.

In the book, which takes place in an English village by the sea, Ray has a difficult time coping with his son's death. He meets an old man who appears to help him cope as Ray gathers up his son's broken toys that he had always intended to mend, but never did. But how is the old man helping him, exactly? And is he actually helping him?

[Andi Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing book with a heartbreaking tale of a father's loss and an unexpected, creepy twist at the end. Only four stars because I would have liked to know more about who the old man was and because the book ended just as the conflict really started. But, then, it's that kind of horror story, so it does work.

[Kevin Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this all today. AND YOU SHOULD TOO.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent novella that ends rather abruptly and without much explanation.

[Doungjai · Rating 4 out of 5]

melancholy and beautifully written. Highly recommended.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Thief of Broken Toys is a haunting little novella about grief. Ray hasn't been the same since his son Toby died until one day he is walking in the woods and meets a strange old man in the woods who wants to repair one of Toby's broken toys. Everyone he repairs a toy, Ray's grief recedes. But the relief comes with a price, and the book ends on a horrifying note. While the ending was a bit abrupt, the novella is well-written with a sympathetic main, and the abruptness does add to the dreadful nature of the story. Make no mistake, this is a horror novella, not a sweet story of getting over grief.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't seem to be having much luck with short books lately; reading them they all feel longer than they appear to be, and this one is no exception. Now this particular little novel has some intensity and spark in its second half, but I still find it a bit too drawn out in its first half, and I can't quite figure out what happened at the conclusion (and I pride myself that I'm an intelligent man). But there's a melancholy writing style that is easy to process & it manages to hold it all together. It certainly ended up being an interesting read...but I wish it had been a more visceral experience.

[Jessica Finch · Rating 2 out of 5]

We all experience, and process grief differently. That's the idea at the core of Tim Lebbon's short novel. However, I'm not sure if Ray (the protagonist and grieving father) actually processes anything. Instead he drifts into fantasy land, and ultimately slips away entirely. I feel like the novel had more to say but was abruptly cut short. I struggled to really get into the book - I did finish it, but like Ray mostly drifted through.

[Katherine Pederson · Rating 1 out of 5]

My comment: no thanks.

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it would be horror but it turned out to be about grief. You can definitely tell a man wrote it.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Praise:
The writing style was a wonderful thing to read. There were some lines that were just... so well written that they just strike you. The type of lines that just have you stop and think about it. I also enjoyed the (somewhat rare) use of 2nd person that came in at times. This piece really pulled me in, and I began getting caught up in the mood of the work. For these things i'm moving what may have tentatively been a 3 or 3.5 star rating to a 4. However, despite the pros, there were still -

Cons:
This section may be longer because I want to properly explain why I found cons in this book. First of all, despite the great writing there were some parts of the book that were... cruder than necessary. They didn't technically detract from the story, but they didn't add to it either. In the end, you read it and you're like "but did you have to mention that?" This part is purely personal opinion, as i'm not opposed to mentions of sexual content in stories, but in a story such as this I didn't feel like it always fit well. ALSO, on the ending: Now, this is not the first short story I've read that people would say ended before they got to the "best part" - I'm aware that some short stand alone stories just end that way for a reason (see: Fahrenheit 451). However, for this book, although I understand why it ended where it did, I was still left feeling... frustrated. Frustrated and with questions. Now, maybe later in time I'll figure out exactly why things ended as they did, and the meaning behind the things that were left unanswered in the book, but for now i'm left frustrated. This may be different for others, and this may even be different for me later, but this is how I currently feel about the ending.

Despite all of that, however, I still enjoyed this book quite a bit! It was a wonderfully woven story that talked about grief and memories, and that moving on is not always forgetting.

[Brie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I picked up this book years ago as something about it called to me, but of course, it took until now to finally read it (TBR problems).

Whenever I read a novella (or short story), I can't help but think I missed something, or that I'm not "smart" enough to get these books, or maybe I read it at the wrong time, etc. The story was interesting: it's about a grieving father (Ray), now estranged from his wife, who lost his 5 year old son a year prior. In part of his healing, he sets about wanting to fix all the broken toys he always promised his son he'd fix, but never got around to. Around this time, Ray meets an old, mysterious man living in the woods, whom Ray swears he's never seen around his tiny coastal town. Who is this man and what's his story, and what does he want with Ray?

*SPOILER*: Turns out, this old man has the ability to fix even the most broken of toys, and Ray, unsure of how it's happening, starts to find the mended toys on his front porch, in his house...etc. Then one day Ray goes looking for the old man and he is taken to the decrepit old house built into the side of a cliff and is offered a bargain: the old man has served his time and wants Ray to take over the fixing of toys. If he objects, the old man threatens to take away what he gave Ray in the first place. Ray wants nothing to do with the toys or the old man, adamantly refuses and runs back home. The book ends with Ray falling asleep, and when he wakes up, the memory of his son, alive or dead, is gone.

I'm not sure what to think of the ending, and I definitely would not consider this book a "horror". It was a strange little book, and my life is neither better or worse for having read it.

[Cristina Alves · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://osrascunhos.com/2016/11/19/th...
Autor bastante conceituado no mundo do Horror e vencedor de vários prémios pela ficção literária que tem produzido, Tim Lebbon é um nome que cria grandes expectativas no género. Quando vi este volume, a 50 cêntimos na Eurocon (cortesia da Livraria Gigamesh) não pensei duas vezes e nesse mesmo dia li-o na viagem.

O que encontrei é uma boa história que usa terrores mundanos para iniciar a narrativa e alguns elementos sobrenaturais para a desenvolver, mas num seguimento que achei algo previsível. Ainda que, nalguns casos, o ser previsível faça parte do horror, em The Thief of Broken Toys não achei que tivesse funcionado bem.

O livro começa com o sentimento de perda de um filho. Após a morte da criança os pais separaram-se e parecem incapazes de avançar. Ainda mais estagnado está o pai que, permanecendo na mesma casa onde viviam como família, visualiza os brinquedos partidos que tinha prometido arranjar um dia, mas para os quais nunca arranjou tempo suficiente.

Um dia, durante as deambulações que realiza perto dos penhascos, encontra um velhote que lhe rouba um dos brinquedos estragados – apenas para o devolver arranjado. Brinquedo após brinquedo o homem vai curando a dor da perda e aceitando-a. Mas, como seria de prever, o arranjo tem um preço e quer aceite, quer não, as consequências serão pesadas.

Interessante do ponto de vista narrativo e da forma como explora a dor da perda para criar temor, desembaraçou-se de forma demasiado abrupta da história quebrando o momento de expectativa num episódio que não corresponde ao ritmo apresentado até esse ponto.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this because I attended an SF/F/Horror writer convention / event / thingie in Newport, and encountered the author Tim Lebbon (whom I'd never heard of) there. I became curious and figured I'd give his books a try. (How peculiar, to find out that a New York Times Bestselling, multi-award-winning author is living near Newport, and I'd never heard his name at all)

The Thief of Broken Toys is not really a horror novel. It is a short magic-realist / semi-mythical story, longer than a novella, but quite compact for a novel, about bereavement and melancholy, about depression, and about life in a small fishing village near the edge of a cliff. It is incredibly atmospheric, beautifully written, elegant, and rich. A father whose son has died surprisingly, and whose wife has left him, is meandering through his despair when he meets and old man, a stranger, who has an interest in broken toys.

The book builds atmosphere without being too worried about forcing the plot along - a story about loss kind of probably has to march in the stately pace of a funerary procession. There are things which some readers might find uncomfortable - second person narration sections, and descriptions that feel a bit like stage / camera directions moving our view across the scenes. Omniscient narrators are rarer than they used to be. But strangely, it all works, and works well.

All in all, this compact novel is rather good and well worth a (melancholy, autumnal) read.

[Wesley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Man was this book boring and pointless. First, the whole story could have been told in about three to five magazine size pages instead of 146 small book pages. I think about 130 of those pages are the same thing over and over, and you don't really get to the point until the last fifteen or so. Second, I felt no emotional connection to the protagonist whatsoever. The guy's kid died, but I really didn't care. Writing about a dead kid should create some kind of gloomy feelings in the reader, but this just didn't do it. Third, the conclusion is just stupid. The route I thought Lebbon was going to take may have been slightly scary or disturbing, but the one he actually chose was just dumb and not really that disturbing at all. SPOILER: The whole point of the book is that the protagonist's kid died and he can't get over it. But he meets an old man who fixes the kid's broken toys, and when he does the protagonist feels better about his loss. In the end the old man wants the protagonist to take his position as the toy repairman, but the protagonist doesn't. So the old man steals all of the kids toys and makes the protagonist forget the kid ever existed. That's it. That's the whole story. In between there are weird scenes with some kind of disembodied spirits floating around the town observing pointless things, but otherwise there's nothing else to it.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sounds a little creepy, right? I know I thought it did, but I was very disappointed. If anything it’s a sad story about loss and grief, but not really creepy at all. Perhaps my hopes were too high? I did find this in the Sci-fi/Fantasy section of the bookstore, but now that I’ve read it I don’t understand why it was there. It was a very quick read, so I don’t feel too let down. I did pay for it though, so I am a little bummed.

The narration annoyed to no end. It reminded me of a tour guide, “And now we see…” Did not care for that. I think a little more description or insight into the “thief of broken toys” would have made it more interesting. I did enjoy the scenes of reminiscence about his son, which were sad and bittersweet. I think this would have been better if it were longer. I understand that this a novella and that it was supposed to be short, but I think so much more could have been done with this story. If you are more of a fan of psychological character studies, then you may enjoy this. If you’re a fan of straightforward supernatural stories, then this really may not be for you. If you enjoyed the Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff you would probably like this book.

[Geoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an emotional tale of despair and hope - where the loss of a child creates the despair, and a mysterious man who fixes toys brings hope. This was a beautifully dark tale that reminded me a lot of another emotional dark tale by Lebbon called the Reach of Children. Both stories use a little supernatural and grief stricken people who have lost members of their family to tell a tale.

In this case the main character is named Ray and he walks the hills behind his house in a small fishing village in Scotland; grief stricken over the death of his son which led to the departure of his wife when neither could snap out of the sadness they were in. Ray at this point can't move on. He now lives alone in his house and can't get the memory of his dead son out of his mind and he is spiraling into a deep depression that he will not be able to get out of. Although, one day while walking the hills he finds a man who asks for a broken toy from his son, and soon the fixing of these broken toys brings Ray hope. But all is not what it seems and has a different ending than what one expects.

I really liked this tale a lot. When Lebbon writes a tale about death and loss he does it wonderfully. This was a dark beautiful tale that was very enjoyable to read.