The Thief of Broken Toys

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. They're a sign of his failure, and they keep little Toby close. And then he meets the thief of broken toys, and everything begins to change...

"A father's inconsolable grief over his son's untimely death opens a door to a potentially redemptive supernatural experience in this poignant but meandering novella. Since young Toby died in his sleep, Ray has wandered the streets of the little Cornish fishing village of Skentipple in a fog of misery, watching his ex-wife rebuild her life. A chance encounter with an enigmatic old man seems to hold out the prospect of Ray's own emotional healing — though, as becomes apparent, at a very dear price. Lebbon (Bar None) superbly captures the thoughts and feelings of a man whose misery so unhinges him that an encounter with the uncanny is unavoidable, but too often Ray's self-pity comes across as artlessly repetitive and padded. An idea that might have made a haunting short story seems underde-veloped at this greater length." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)