The Readymade Thief: A Novel

by Augustus Rose

“The most must-read of all must-reads.” —Marie Claire

“A kickass debut from start to finish.” —Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad

Lee Cuddy is seventeen years old and on the run.
 
Betrayed by her family after taking the fall for a friend, Lee finds refuge in a cooperative of runaways holed up in an abandoned building they call the Crystal Castle. But the façade of the Castle conceals a far more sinister agenda, one hatched by a society of fanatical men set on decoding a series of powerful secrets hidden in plain sight. And they believe Lee holds the key to it all.
 
Aided by Tomi, a young hacker and artist with whom she has struck a wary alliance, Lee escapes into the unmapped corners of the city—empty aquariums, deserted motels, patrolled museums, and even the homes of vacationing families. But the deeper she goes underground, the more tightly she finds herself bound in the strange web she’s trying to elude. Desperate and out of options, Lee steps from the shadows to face who is after her—and why.
 
A novel of puzzles, conspiracies, secret societies, urban exploration, art history, and a singular, indomitable heroine, The Readymade Thief heralds the arrival of a spellbinding and original new talent in fiction.

• ISBN10: 0735221847
• ISBN13: 9780735221840
• Publish Date: 7 August 2018 (first published 1 August 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780735221840

Reviews

This book was very interesting and I highly enjoyed it. I liked the way this book is written, the different elements of her life make sure that you get to know her even in just a few pages, and I was never sure if Tomi was indeed someone I could trust. However, this is such a rip off of Dan Brown's books and the ending was just... what the ...? It did not make any sense. I had to reread it several times, but it was still too vague to make sense. Why was this happening? It made this enjoyable three-star book, unfortunately, a two-star book for me. I would not recommend it to anyone unless you like very vague weird endings. If you don't, just leave this book in the library.
I get what the author wanted to achieve with this story. The way he wanted to go. Basically, he tried to transform the idea behind Dan Brown's novels (which I did not read yet) into a YA novel to introduce them to this 'overly hyped fantastic book series'. I am all for that. It could have been a lot better. It's a pity.

Edit:
I almost forgot about this, but one of the biggest issues of this book is honestly the fact that a pregnant woman, 6 months pregnant woman, is crawling through air vents without any problems and doing impossible things. And why did she not grieve the shopkeeper? He took her in and cared for her, and she did not even care about his death at all.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Not a fan of this one. It was confusing with the art and physics. While I liked Lee and cared about what happened to her, I never did quite figured why what was happening to her was happening.

[Eve1972]

Excellent cover on this book. Great representation of the story. It's very unique and eye-catching and has great composition.

OMG, this book was FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC and it's a debut novel to boot! This reads very much like a Dan Brown book for the younger crowd. Secret societies. Symbolism. Abandoned places. Riddles and codes. Murder and mystery. Art. The Darknet. Science. Twists and Turns. Phenomenal writing. Well paced. An intriguing and unique plot. A cast of interesting and well-developed characters. I am blown away that this is the author's first book.



Not much more to say really. I LOVED every second of this one. I was sucked in and walked around with my nose glued to my tablet. I am hoping there will be more of this story in a second book. My heart hurts over a certain incident, but I am hoping maybe just maybe not all is as it seems. A girl can dream, right? In any case, this one gets two HUGE thumbs up from yours truly.