I was hooked immediately by this book. I am a "character" person and I had to know what happened to Michael as a child and why he stopped talking. I found the transitions abrupt when I began reading the book, because you would get interested in one particular part of Michael's life and then the author would change to another time period.
You are taken on a journey to discover how young Michael becomes a boxman and ends up in prison. I thought his silence would bother me as a read the book but I feel like I actually got to know him better as a character due to his silence. We learned about Michael through his internal thoughts (not just the junk people say because they think it is what people want to hear). Having said that, there were moments in which I was yelling at him to just speak already! I felt sorry for him as a child because he was treated like a science experiments. Many of the doctors he encountered just wanted a quick fix or to just throw a diagnosis at him. Uncle Lito took Michael in after the incident with his parents. He tried the best he could with Michael, but the liquor store owner knew very little about how to deal with his nephew. I think he was a little frightened of Michael after the robbery of the store. Uncle Lito realizes that Michael's reaction to the robbery was anything but normal.
I found the process of Michael learning to crack locks interesting. As someone who loves puzzles, I can appreciate the thrill of the challenge. The author had done some research on the topic but did not include so much information that someone could read the book and learn how to crack safes.
When Amelia enters Michael's life I am truly happy for him. It seems that he has finally connected for the first time with another human being. The whole situation of him breaking into her house night after night was probably not the wisest, but he was an infatuated teenage boy. After finishing the book I wondered how his life would have been different if he had not met Amelia or if he thought it was all worth it in the end. Mr. Marsh uses Michael for child labor and threatens him repeatedly and in the end Michael was the one who saved him. Michael loved Amelia so much that he was willing to commit crimes to keep her safe. He almost is killed by an overzealous security guard and ultimately ends up in prison because of the path set by Amelia's father.
When we find out what happened to Michael as a child it is horrific. This may sound horrible, but the event had to be so traumatic or readers would have been critical. The fact that he did not drown in the safe was a little unbelievable and the symbolism of him later cracking safes was a bit of a stretch.
In the end Michael was unable to stay away from Amelia even after having somewhat of a "family" in California. The team was efficient and a little dysfunctional but they offered Michael companionship. The fact that Michael survived the mutiny in this group was a bit farfetched as well.
I was left wondering what would happen to Michael and Amelia after he gets out of jail and what his first words to Amelia will be...
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