The life of a thief has its perks: one can live well, eat well, and amass great fortune without the sweat and blood of human effort. The crime itself fosters an exhilarating high and an air of invincibility. The thief constructs a world by his own rules, and he becomes the master of his domain. The downfall of crime quickens his pace.  With each misstep, he leaves his prints behind for blood hounds in hot pursuit. Burgeoning arrogance buffers him against the law as the clever thief attempts to dodge his captor. Journalist, Allison Hoover Bartlett, chronicles this pilfering book thief and an unlikely detective in The Man Who Loved Books Too Much.

Akpan brilliantly weaves his narrative in five vibrant and gripping stories. Each narrative is told from the point of view of children, drawing the reader into the immediacy of their plight. Set on the backdrop of the rich, African countryside, these young characters blossom like a life sized storybook.