herdocia

If you think the serial-killer story has nothing new to offer, try this. A small upstate New York town is tormented by the disappearances, presumed murders, of a succession of adolescent girls -- not to mention the murder a couple of years ago of the local nymphomaniac and the grotesque murder now of one of the town's few overt gay men. The net effect is a breakdown of the town's social order, as vigilantes presume to themselves a role that is above the law. All of this is told by a rather peculiar high school biology teacher, whose observations of his fellow citizens, while pithy, may not be entirely reliable: he has his own agenda. The style in which he narrates the events is flat, unsensational . . . and, I found, absolutely hypnotic (despite the annoyance of a couple of characterization inconsistencies). This is a mainstream novel whose subject matter happens to be, almost incidentally, a series of psychopathic killings. Much recommended.

2022-12-10 23:00