The line in chapter 56 about looking into the kids' eyes made me cringe. Everything after it was too preachy. I also found the dialogue for the kids to be way too adult for their age. The story was ok. I started to get annoyed with Tim's parents and it felt like a forced plot device to keep me turning pages.

I did like how it made me reminisce about summer and playing in the woods though. There was a good line I wish I had highlighted where one of the kids is thinking that if being an adult means having the feeling of freedom that he had while walking through the woods, it would be great. If only. The older I get, the less time I have to sit in trees feeling pleasantly bored. ( )

This is like if Koontz wrote the Stephen King story that became the movie "Stand By Me." It was OK but fell flat at the end. In particular I'm surprised the bottle cap system they used for security never amounted to anything. It was just a gratuitous detail instead of anything important. ( )

It was nice to have a suspenseful mystery in which the reader is able to grasp the perspective from the killer as well as from the main characters. I became very close to each of the characters, and I admit it, I felt empathy even for the killer--a Vietnam vet whose background was handled very well.

What struck me was how the kids learn that adults aren't "perfect"--they make mistakes, they can't fix everything, they don't have some kind of lie detector built in, and no, growing up isn't always as fun as it's built up to be. I remember perfectly well going through that stage of life, and I'm sure many other readers will nod their heads in agreement with the boys on many observations about the world around them.

One of the reasons I wasn't completely in love with this novel was due to the ending scene with the boys and the detective. I don't think I've ever read anything so utterly forced--it was uncomfortable to read. Another is that, although I don't think we really needed to be in another character's head too much, it would have been nice to either have more scenes with the kidnapped Molly or to hear some of her thoughts, or even dialogue. I wanted to get to know the person the killer was so entranced by (or thought he was).

I will say I don't typically "get into" detective/mystery books, but this one genuinely surprised me. Well-written and incredibly suspenseful. I wish it had been longer! ( )