At the End of the Road
Nov 4, 2011
At the End of the Road
Author: Grant Jerkins
Publisher: Berkley Trade (November 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0425243343
Wow. Another Wow. Here – have 5 stars. Perhaps a medal. This is a kick-ass book. (How’s that for a professional review?)
This book is completely different from Grant’s first book. While his first book was a good strong story with a nice tricky twist at the end, and recommended reading - I really felt the characters in this story. They crawled right up into my brain and stayed there. The wordplay was excellent – flowing and curling into your consciousness. The descriptions of a day in the life of a boy were spot on, you can easily envision it while your eyes skim the pages. I also admit great fondness for the fact that I'm familiar with so many of the areas he used in the book – he kept it very local, making for a sense of ownership of the story.
Grant pulled off a feat worthy of a Stephen King comparison. Early King - where character development was key to the story and it took its proper time getting you where you needed to be. There’s just enough foreshadowing and slow build up of horror to keep you on edge. By the time the horror really starts, you are completely invested in the characters.
I immediately latched on to little Kyle. Stuck between 2 older brothers who cared little about him and wanted nothing to do with sharing their lives with him - and his younger sister Grace, who he couldn’t get away from . If he wasn’t being tortured by his brothers, he was busy torturing Grace.
Kyle, just a regular 10 year old boy bored with his day, not a real care in the world except for avoiding bullies……………until he’s almost hit by a car. On that day, his life and several other lives change – and not for the better.
Kyle runs, the woman in the overturned car disappears, Kenny Ahearn comes into the picture, and all hell breaks loose.
I won’t say anything more as I don’t want to give away a thing – but this is a book you will want to grab the minute you can.
