A Simple Creed - Trevor Schindeler

A young boy, unfairly punished for defending his mother's honor, escapes an abusive apprenticeship and flees to London where he is befriended by gang of petty thieves and prostitutes. Things turn dangerous when his friends betray him.

'These men,' explained Nancy, 'dishonourable as they are, conduct business upon the strictest of confidences. Any violation of their simple creed is punished by the worst violence. Oliver knows too much which puts all of us, myself included, at considerable risk. He is not trusted to keep our secrets which puts him in great danger.'

'He is safe here,' assured Mr. Brownlow.

'No, he's not,' said Nancy. 'They are vile and dangerous men. Send him away from here, some place safe, least till Sikes' blood cools and Fagin's fears subside.'

In this abridged retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist, author Trevor Schindeler's aim was 'to preserve everything that makes the plot fun and adventurous, and take out everything that is objectionable or tedious.' He succeeds brilliantly in making this famous story come alive again for new generations of readers.