Robert R. McCammon

Boy's Life

shellybn

I chose this book because it was on a Goodreads list of top horror novels. It was not horror in the strictest sense of the word--I was expecting something closer to "Summer of Night" by Dan Simmons. This was not full of fear inducing scenes, but was still an excellent tale of a young boy growing up. A character in the story describes how he wrote a book about life in a small town, and the publisher told him it would be much better with a murder mystery in it. I thought it was a creative addition to a book about life in a small town, disrupted by a murder mystery. This book is not what I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Zephyr, Alabama, has been an idyllic home for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson...a place where monsters swim in the belly of the river, and friends are forever. Then, on a cold spring morning in 1964, as Cory accompanies his father on his milk route, they see a car plunge into a lake some say is bottomless." -- Back cover.

Boy's life

Lynette Pedersen

Good Lord this book wrecked me. Didn't go all the way to 5 stars because it was a mighty slow build that I think could have been cut down a bit, and one of the characters was just a little too Noble Injun for my taste, but a story well done otherwise. I gave it one star for each time it made me cry and I "threw in one more for good luck."

An Alabama boy’s innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song. It’s 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It’s a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson. He’s certain he’s sensed spirits whispering in the churchyard. He’s heard of the weird bootleggers who lurk in the dark outside of town. He’s seen a flood leave Main Street crawling with snakes. Cory thrills to all of it as only a young boy can. Then one morning, while accompanying his father on his milk route, he sees a car careen off the road and slowly sink into fathomless Saxon’s Lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a beaten corpse, naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel—a copper wire tightened around the stranger’s neck. In time, the townsfolk seem to forget all about the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father can’t. Their search for the truth is a journey into a world where innocence and evil collide. What lies before them is the stuff of fear and awe, magic and madness, fantasy and reality. As Cory wades into the deep end of Zephyr and all its mysteries, he’ll discover that while the pleasures of childish things fade away, growing up can be a strange and beautiful ride. “Strongly echoing the childhood-elegies of King and Bradbury, and every bit their equal,” Boy’s Life, a winner of both the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards, represents a brilliant blend of mystery and rich atmosphere, the finest work of one of today’s most accomplished writers (Kirkus Reviews).

Alfredo santos

Loved it. There are so many similarities in character development, story, mystery and overall feeling, to Stephen king. I mean this as a compliment. 

It's one great coming of age story with the quirks of a 12 year old and buddies. Fun time, tragedy, sunburn, etc. 

I enjoyed it a lot. As with any book, it depends 100% on the reader and their moment in life. For me, I'm glad I read this adventurous tale that gives me that "12 year old look on life perspective" where you want and can do anything.

Melody Izard

It's a bit like a comic book with exaggerated gunfights and super amazing bike rides. The "simple" life of the 50s and 60s with the taint of the ugly bad that has been in the world since the beginning of time and marches forward every decade.

Jessica Nottingham

I loved this book. There's really not much else I can say, because I only finished it this morning and I'm still speechless. It's going on the favorites shelf.