What Dies In Summer

What Dies In Summer (Southern Gothic)

“A Coming Of Age Novel”

By Tom Wright

ISBN #978-0-393-06402-5

W.W. Norton & Company (Hardback)

Price: $25.95

Publication Date June 2012

Rating 5-Stars

In this intriguing tale of a teenage boy growing up in Texas among a dysfunctional family, young James “Biscuit” experiences life, love, fear, and terror in a story surrounding murder and sexual depravation. It’s a story that captures your heart and emotions as young Biscuit tries to protect his cousin Lee Ann from sexual abuse, while avoiding physical abuse from his stepfather. To add to the terror, a sexual predator is killing young girls and mutilating their bodies, while Biscuit fears his cousin may be next. The human monster is worse than any imagined creature the mind can create.

This was a story impossible to put down. I was amazed at the wide-sweep of dysfunctional families.  It seemed that everyone was a suspect, and there didn’t appear to be any sane families in the plot. The characters were thoroughly thought out, and the pacing moved smooth and easily.  I even picked the wrong person as the murderer, so the author kept me off my toes.