Publisher: Simon & Schuster NYC Page Count: 184 Fiction Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery Dates Read: May 30 - June 4, 2015 Summary Frank is not a normal child. Well, he is, for the most part, but he hasn't had a normal childhood. First, his mother abandoned him when he was only a few days old. Second, his father never submitted his birth to the national registry (a crime that could send his father to a Scottish prison for years). Lastly, Frank was in a tragic accident when he was a toddler, which has effected his physical growth development. Because Frank's father failed to register him with the government, he has had spend his life avoiding the town, staying on the families little island, and pretending that his father is only his uncle that he visits on occasion. Meanwhile, Frank has had to deal with his older brother, Eric, who was locked for torturing the young children in town and setting the communities dogs on fire. Eric has just escaped from his mental institution and is heading home. Determined to make it back before he is caught, Frank has to figure out what he'll do if and when Eric actually does make it back to their island. In the meantime, Frank insists his father has been keeping a secret from him, and he needs to find out what it is, all while dealing with his own dark and disturbing past. The real questions is, who is the real sociopath in this story? Review This book was a chore to get through. It is a sick and twisted journey down a path of gender issues, mental health, and sociopaths behaviors. This book, while good on its own merits, is extremely dark and very disturbing. It's as though Banks spent weeks profiling serial killers to learn what their childhoods were like, and how they felt after killing someone or torturing animals. The scariest part of this book, is how believable it is that this could actually happen; that these humans could be walking the Earth right now. I was so wrapped up in the moment with this book that I did not see the final twist coming at the end. Banks has provided us with a very well written novel, that is dark and disturbing to the core. Rankings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 4 Plot Development - 5 Characters - 6 Enjoyability - 5 Insightfulnes - 5 Ease of Reading - 4 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 3 out of 5 stars
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