The Palace Thief - Tapa dura

"Marvelous...Each plot is dramatic, its characters highly engaging, the suspense sustained and irresistible...A commanding performance."-"The New York Times "Extraordinary for its craft and emotional effect...a writer of enormous talent and charm." -"The Washington Post "These four long stories are not only splendid reading material; they are stunning art, the kind if art that, blessed with an adamant yet unadorned intelligence, capers at the edge of life's deepest mysteries." -"The Dallas Morning News "Superb."-"Time "Masterful...[Canin is] a keen and compassionate talent. His writing is cut of whole cloth; it is beautiful and it wears well." --"New York Daily News

This is a quartet of novellas including "Accountant", "Batorsag and Szerelem", "City of Broken Dreams" and "The Palace Thief". In the title story, a teacher spots the seeds of corruption in a wayward student and watches with fascinated horror as the boy, and then the man flourishes.