Something Missing

A Novel

By: Matthew Dicks, Matthew Green

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Paperback | 14 July 2009 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
306 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
20.9 x 13.8 x 1.9

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A career criminal with OCD tendencies and a savant-like genius for bringing order to his crime scenes, Martin considers himself one of the best in the business. After all, he's been able to steal from the same people for years on end, virtually undetected. Of course, this could also be attributed to his unique business model: He takes only items that will go unnoticed by the homeowners. After all, who in their right mind would miss a roll of toilet paper, a half-empty bottle of maple syrup, or a rarely used piece of china buried within some dusty cabinet?

Even though Martin has never met these homeowners, he's spent hours in their houses, looking through their photo albums and reading their journals. In essence, he's developed a friendship of sorts with them, and accordingly he decides to intervene more in their lives - playing the part of a rather odd guardian angel - even though it means breaking many of his twitchy, neurotic rules.

Along the way, Martin not only improves the lives of others, but he also discovers love and finds that his own life is much better lived on the edge (at least some of the time).

Something Missing is a hilarious, gripping, and often profound novel about a man used to planning every second of his life who is suddenly forced to confront chaos and spontaneity.

Industry Reviews

"Who wants to catch a thief when he's as endearing as Martin Railsback, the oddball hero of Matthew Dicks's first novel, SOMETHING MISSING? Martin is, after all, prone to rob people of items they'll never miss (a bar of soap, a few sticks of butter, the odd diamond) as a way of getting to know them. Despite his obsessive-compulsive work ethic, Martin manages to get himself in trouble over a toothbrush--but not before we've decided to let him in next time he calls." --New York Times Book Review

"This is a splendid novel, written with loving attention to character and detail; Martin is so vividly realized that he threatens to step off the page and into the reader's own living room. A loopier Bernie Rhodenbarr? A less lethal Dexter? Martin falls somewhere in between, but with a little word of mouth and some shrewd promotion, he could be the next big thing." --Booklist, starred review

"Dicks has dreamed up an unusual premise and twisted it so that the reader is rootting for 'the bad guy.'...Read Something Missing this summer and join the fun as Martin's life and crimes become more than he ever imagine." --The Free Lance-Star

"[T]he obsessive-compulsive Martin Railsback is a strange but lovable anti-hero." --Boston Globe

"Dicks combines the neurotic atmosphere of a Woody Allen film wiht the light touch of Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr novels (The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart, 1995, etc) in a unique debut. The fantastically bizarre leading man, obsessive-compulsive Marin Railsback, specializes in stealing things that no one notices have gone missing... Dicks expertly crafts the setup, showing us Martin's deep-seated need for stability and routine, then turning his world on its head when the compulsive thief accidentally knocks a client's toothbrush into the toilet. This necessitates a nerve-racking, breathless mission to replace it--while its owner is home, no less. Turning a philosophical corner, Martin embarks on an altruistic mission, trying to make his clients' lives a little better without their knowledge and risking his own tenuous subsistence in the bargain. A very funny adventure about the mechanics of burglary and the fragility of an orderly life." --Kirkus Reviews

"A quirky and endearing first novel that makes you wonder if that misplaced stick of butter or can of soup means there's a burglar prowling your pantry. If that thief is Martin Railsback, you might be glad. He's the kind of burglar you could conceivably want in your house." --M. Ann Jacoby, author of Life After Genius

"A funny, suspenseful and thoroughly original debut that will keep you up to the wee hours flipping pages." --David Rosen, author of I Just Want My Pants Back

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