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Cormier, Robert
3 Reviews
(4)
YA
In his final novel, Cormier makes readers privy to the secrets of a self-loathing police detective, Trent, and his suspect, twelve-year-old Jason. Readers know all along that Jason is innocent of murder; what suspense the book holds is provided by Trent's interrogation, designed not to reveal the truth but to make the boy confess. Events are told rather than shown; motivations are declared rather than developed.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2001
(2)
YA
Themes, symbols, people, and places will all be familiar to Cormier fans, yet the effect is fresh and newly intense in this story, told in blank verse, of a summer in which a young boy comes to understand his silent and withdrawn father. Warm and poignant, the story is also a dark and ambivalent drama as the boy finds proof (perhaps) of something he must never reveal about his beloved uncle.
Reviewer: Patty Campbell
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 1999
(4)
YA
Returning to his hometown with severe facial wounds received in World War II, Francis plans to kill his childhood hero, Larry LaSalle. The first-person narrative alternates between this slow-paced plot line and a pre-war story describing LaSalle's betrayal of both Francis and his girlfriend, Nicole. Familiar Cormier themes, including the seductiveness of power and the meaning of heroism, are dutifully explored, but without much depth.
Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta
3 reviews
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