This adult novel easily could have been published as a young adult novel. It's gripping and an easy read. The only thing that bugged me was that the narrator referred to the main character as "the boy" and he lived with "the mother" and "the father." I know there probably is a philosophical reason for the author to do this, but I just found it annoying. I also thought the detailed description of field dressing a deer was thrown in the book to gross city people out.
His name is Theodore. Teddy has quite the dysfunctional family, although you don't realize that at first. His mother deserves to be tortured. His father leaves them alone to get a new job 8 hours away and doesn't seem like too much of a dad. Teddy shows two brothers a gun, leaves it loaded, and walks away. Next thing you know, one boy is dead and it's the brother's fault. Teddy's mother tells him to lie about loading it. And thus begins the problems. Teddy falls in with the American Youth, a militant do-gooding Republican/almost Nazi group of kids who treat him poorly. He has a dysfunctional relationship with Colleen, his first girl, and is accused of raping her. His great uncle shoots himself. Teddy burns his own arm and contemplates suicide. He drinks. He smokes pot. He does everything to hide his problem. Finally, he talks to the dead boy's mother, admits the truth about loading the gun, and starts to handle himself. Wow. There is a scene at the end that makes me want to keep the mother locked in her bedroom for good.
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