One has a triangle burned into his forearm.
One has lost her pants.
One is missing his glass eye.
The last is covered in blood.
As images of big, black eyes and the cries of sheep haunt their addled brains, the town fire alarm and police sirens can be heard in the distance.
What is happening to them? What is happening to their pristine town?
What's more, why can't they remember any of it?
What . . . what did they do?
Even though the story moves at a steady pace, alternating bits and pieces of memory with backstories of their adolescent lives is quite maddening. I read the book in one sitting because I had to know what in the hell happened to them. The ending is completely worth the effort. I think this story would make a great movie.
At first, I couldn't stand the narrator's constant need to explain their family situations and relationships with one another, but when a huge secret is revealed towards the end, I understood why the author laid out every detail of their personal issues.
Odentz has a special gift for mixing young people and family drama into horrifying stories, in the most surprising ways. Not only do I recommend this novel, I also suggest reading his stories, SNOW and BONES.
As always,
AstraDaemon
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