How can you not love a book that contains these couple of paragraphs:
"According to my father the police have found out that this guy conks them first and then roots them and that makes him the saddest guy and a necro something"
" Well, Les, you certainly surprise me. I'm not quite sure I quite understand this conks and then roots them business."
"Well neither am I, Neddy,' Les confessed. ' But you can take it from me that's the general idea. It's what my father said to my mother and he wouldn't be kidding her"
This is the world of 14 year old Neddy Poindexter and and his mate Les in small town New Zealand in the mid 20th century.
This small town is visited by rape and murder and along the way we glimpse the idiosyncrasies of the people living in this town.
Morrieson has got the time ,place and country down pat and this coupled with a good Gothic horror storyline makes for a great novel. In my opinion this story leaves Stephen King's 'The Body" or Stand by Me ,the movie version, for dead, bad pun intended.
Again. I have to wonder why Morrieson is not better known especially in New Zealand, its something that worried him prior to his death in 1972 and I'm wondering still. He's just very good and his books should still be in print. (1963)
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