After his father’s death, Nathaniel Mason leaves behind
his grieving mother, mute sister and sorrow-filled Midwestern home.
He hopes to escape their grief and the shadowy figures that watch
him from a distance to find solace and a higher education at
graduate school in Buffalo, New York. It is the early 1970s, and
the United States is mired in the unpopular conflict in Vietnam. It
is a time of “ecstatic bitterness and joyfully articulated
rage, along with fear, which is unarticulated.”

One cool autumn night, Nathaniel buys a six-pack of Iroquois beer
and goes searching for the address of an apartment where he has
been invited to party with other students. Outside the apartment
building he runs into Theresa, an exotic-looking graduate student
attending the same party. Theresa (who pronounces her name
Teraysa) is also from the Midwest and is prone to
affectations in both speech and mannerisms. Once inside, Theresa
introduces Nathaniel to the darkly mysterious Jerome Coolberg. The
enigmatic and deeply disturbed Jerome is the “soul
thief” of the novel’s title.

A few hours and many drinks later, Jerome reveals personal details
about Nathaniel’s past that he has no recollection of telling
Jerome, or anyone else for that matter. After the party, Jerome
invites Nathaniel and Theresa to visit Niagara Falls. Nathaniel
agrees to go so he can get closer to Theresa. At the Falls, Jerome
challenges the couple to participate in a dangerous game, which
nearly results in Nathaniel’s death.

As the story unfolds, Nathaniel continues to see shadowy figures
watching him. He also becomes sexually involved with Theresa while
romantically attached to Jamie, a kind-hearted and generous soul.
Jamie is a Catholic-lesbian-sculptor-taxi-driver who volunteers
alongside Nathaniel in the People’s Kitchen. There, they make
and serve meals to Buffalo’s poor.

One night Nathaniel returns to his sparsely furnished apartment and
interrupts a burglary in progress. When he questions the addict who
is rummaging through his things, the burglar complains about the
lack of steal-worthy items in Nathaniel’s apartment. Rather
than becoming confrontational or violent, Nathaniel makes a pot of
coffee and chats with the man, whom he later sees eating with his
pregnant wife at the People’s Kitchen.

Another visitor to the People’s Kitchen is Jerome. In fact,
Jerome seems to turn up just about everywhere Nathaniel frequents.
Subsequent burglaries of his apartment --- which result in the
theft of personal items, including his notebook and some clothes
--- cause him to question Jerome’s unnatural and unquenchable
curiosity about his life. A fire at the People’s Kitchen and
a violent attack on Jamie convince Nathaniel that Jerome is guilty
of doing more than stealing his personal items; he is trying to
take over his identity and destroy anyone who means something to
him.

Years later, Nathaniel is happily married and the father of two
sons. He is leading an ordinary and peaceful life when his wife
tells him that a man named Jerome Coolberg has called and would
like Nathaniel to call him back. Once again Nathaniel’s life
spins out of control. He begins to fear the loss of his identity
while at the same time is compelled to discover the motives behind
Jerome’s call and his actions in the past.

Long passages of Jerome’s tedious monologues throughout the
book become annoying, not only to Nathaniel but also to the reader.
Overall, however, THE SOUL THIEF is an intelligent novel that
questions how we define ourselves and if it is possible for someone
to, if not steal our very identity, at least borrow it and try to
make it their own.