Lost Boys
A novel by Orson Scott Card

When one is lost or confused, it's always good to have something familiar to hang on to, thus I (who, as I'm sure all you faithful readers know, is always in a state of confusion -- though that might perhaps be better called "delusion") have returned to one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card, for this review. But wait! Is this the Card that I am so familiar with? Well... no. This book is more of a horror/suspense book, than sci-fi/fantasy... so, would it be as good as his other works? Well... yes. As I discovered, one should never doubt one's faith in Card, for this book is excellently written and entertaining -- though rather creepy and somewhat disturbing at times.

The first thing that one notices about the book (Well, maybe not the first thing -- people probably first notice the title, the author, or the quality of the ink used to print the page number 263: that's some quality work right there!) is the little blurb of information on the back of the book. Those little summaries have the same job as previews for movies -- inform the customer about the plot. As I'm sure you've all seen (and if you haven't... uh... well... just go with me on this), sometimes they don't have enough information, and other times they give away too much. Now back to the book at hand (literally... I was playing with superglue, and accidentally glued the book to my hand. Note to self: When playing with superglue, do not grab the closest thing... it doesn't work well), the quick summary of the summary of the book: Step Fletcher and his family move to a new town, where his 8-year-old son, Stevie, begins playing with a group of imaginary friends. They soon discover that the names of his "imaginary" friends match up with the names of missing and assumed dead boys from the city, and they fear that Stevie will be next. Granted that I can't summarize the book as eloquently as is done on the back (at least, not without committing plagiarism), but you get the idea. Now, the problem? This plot point, specifically the correlation between Stevie's friends and the missing boys, is not made until 4/5 of the way through the book. As it turns out, this really isn't much of a problem, but it did mean that the book was quite different than I was expecting.

So you might ask what the first 80% of the book is about, if not the terror of this mysterious killer (And if you didn't ask that, take a moment to do so... I need the support) Ah, well, I'm glad you asked that question. The bulk of the story revolves around Step and how he deals with the hardships that life in the new town brings. And there are definitely some hardships to deal with. I won't go into details, but there are some seriously disturbing characters and situations introduced that Step and his family must face. And face them they do. Card pulls the reader into the story so well, that the reader wants to cheer for Step and his wife, DeAnne, with how they deal with each situation, whether it be their son's teacher at school, or a manipulative member of their church. And throughout the storytelling, Card occasionally throws in a little hint of the plot as stated by the back of the book -- just enough to remind the reader that yes, this story is going somewhere (unlike this review... oh, wait...)

Overall, the book was quite surprising, and not what I expected at all, which added to my enjoyment. Though I knew where the plot was eventually going to lead (though the ending was a surprise... but that's all I'm going to say about that), I had no idea how, or when, it was going to get there. I didn't know, but was pulled into the story so much that I couldn't wait to find out. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly, I read this all in one sitting (two at most -- though that was when I was stranded on a desert island, and didn't have anything else to do but read and build radios out of coconuts). I definitely recommend this book, even if you aren't a fan of Card's. And no, I'm still not on his payroll. But I'm working on it.

Re-Read Factor: Only if you enjoy rereading books. I've read it a few times now, and have enjoyed it every time. There were a few things here and there that I picked up the second time through that I had missed the first time, but not many. And even with knowing what happens, and how it ends, which, kind of by definition, removes the element of suspense (well, by my definition it does anyway... I don't know what kind of dictionary you all are using...), the story still pulls you in.

Sequel Factor: None. Without giving away the ending... none.

Strong Chick Factor: Depends on your definition, I guess. DeAnne is a homemaker, and is mostly presented as a mother trying to watch out for her children -- not what you would call a strong, independent woman, but we do get some background on her, and do see that she is very strong-willed; we see that she could easily be independent if she so desired.

-- K. Burtt

Lost Boys, published by Harper Publishing, is currently available in paperback.