Thief of Words

By John Jaffe

Book Overview

Some people court with flowers and chocolates. Not Jack DePaul, features editor of theBaltimore Star-News. Divorced, the father of a grown son, and recently burned by a painful affair, Jack meets Annie Hollerman and quickly figures out that the way to her heart is through the power of words. At 26, Annie had it all. Star reporter at a respected North Carolina newspaper, engaged to a hotshot colleague, Annie seemed destined for greatness-until one horrifying mistake changed everything. Twenty years later, Annie is divorced, focused on her career as a literary agent, and wary of romance. Enter Jack DePaul, who comes into her life and literally rewrites her past, chapter by chapter. But there's one horrible chapter Annie refuses to share with anyone. Unless she takes the chance that Jack will love her, bad chapter and all, Annie's story can never have a happy ending.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446530808
• ISBN13: 9780446530804
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Warner Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.9" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Give this book to your boyfriend

I loved this book. It's funny and sweet and well written. I'm going to give it to my boyfriend -- so he'll start writing me the kinds of emails Jack wrote Annie.

Love and Caring Wins Out

Annie Hollerman is a has-been star newspaper reporter banished into oblivion for unknown reasons to the reader as the story opens. Jack DePaul is the features editor at the Baltimore Star-News. Both Jack and Annie are divorced and both are in denial about much of their personal life. An arranged blind date by a mutual friend of the two, Laura Goodbread, leads the pair into a wonderful and continuing encounter of exploration and mutual respect...leading toward love. The mystery of Annie's fall from her reporters job hovers in the background, lending an interesting air of mystery during their courtship. As their infatuation deepens, author Jaffe creates a real and caring sense for the characters by the reader. As readers wend their way through this tale, they will be moved to laugh, cry, hope and believe in the genuineness of Jack and Annie. They will be caught up and immersed in the reality of the settings and events of those two lives. This is a really wonderful love story that transcends the usual in this genre and becomes compelling and mustn't-put-the-book-down reading. It's a love story that transcends the genre and is involving, moving and believable. Here's a true to life Romeo and Juliet story based on an actual series of events. The authors state John Jaffe is "a pseudonym for us: John Muncie and Jody Jaffe. We wrote the book together. In fact, our novel, Thief of Words, is based on our meeting and our romance. It's the prequel to our current lives. Now we're married and work together writing books."

forever

Anyone who doesn't like this book has forgotten those magic summer days that went on forever and the first time you rolled in free fall down a hill - the story is magic, beautifully articulated by someone who obviously remembers. It left me wanting more.

A great page turner with no empty calories

This elegantly written page-turner is a must-read for anyone over 40 or others who wish to understand them. It is pure pleasure to read. The book lingers in your mind long after you finish. Great fun but far deeper than it first appears.

A True Romance

John Jaffe's "Thief of Words" is a damned good book. It details the blossoming love of two, world-weary, divorced baby boomers. In a culture filled with stories of romances between young, well-chiseled model types, it was wonderful to read about a love between two people who had lived in the real world, two people with all of life's wrinkles and warts and wisdom. And what a couple! Jack DePaul is a curmudgeonly journalist, bitingly honest and witty. Of course, beneath the crusty exterior Jack is a die-hard romantic, still searching for true love" in a world that seems to have little but heartbreak. However, it was Annie Hollerman who stole my heart. Despite a titanic mistake in her past and a rocky romantic history, Annie still manages to woo the readers with her self-effacing humor and passion. Annie Hollerman's beauty flows from inside as well as out. She has dazzling red hair but it's her wisdom and wit that makes her appealing. By the end of the book, I felt a real connection to the destiny of these wonderful people. They, like so many of us, must conquer a past filled with mistakes and pain, in order to create a present filled with love and joy. Although it would ruin the book if I spelled out just how they triumph over their histories, know that it made me see email in a completely fresh way. Mr. Jaffe's writing is humorous, rich, and filled with life. He is an alchemist of words, yet never did I feel that the writing was showy. But even more important than the charm of his words was the power they had - the power to convince me that maybe love doesn't die at 40, that it is possible to right our pasts. I could rave about the wonders of Thief of Words for days, but they are yours to discover. Let it conquer your cynicism like it did mine.