Scowler

January 21, 2013
No stranger to dark and disturbing stories, Kraus (Rotters) continues to push the envelope with this hallucinatory, dread-soaked tale set in 1981. Nineteen-year-old Ry Burke lives with his mother and sister on a dying Iowa farm, still haunted by the events that landed his abusive monster of a father in prison nine years ago. A freak meteorite strike gives Ry’s father the opportunity to escape and come home, resulting in a brutal struggle for survival. To save his loved ones, Ry summons up the three imaginary friends who helped him last time, risking the same descent into madness that claimed his father. While Ry’s desperate journey into manhood is gripping, with Kraus skillfully amplifying a sense of tension and claustrophobia, much of the book’s subtlety is lost in the chaotic latter half, which is part fever dream, part slasher film. The narrative is littered with graphic violence and extreme body horror, which may be too much for many readers (though perhaps not for fans of The Marbury Lens). The end result is a memorably brutal assault on the senses, not for the fainthearted or delicate. Ages 14–up.

April 29, 2013
In Kraus’s novel set in 1981, 19-year-old protagonist Ry Burke is living with his mother and sister on their eroding Iowa farm when a meteorite shower falls on the nearby prison, freeing Ry’s criminally abusive father. The return of his near-demonic dad, whom he helped to convict, sends Ry into the embrace of three imaginary protectors from his childhood: a kindly bear named Mr. Furrington, an all-knowing Jesus, and an impatient, violent Scowler. Narrator Kirby Heyborne’s portrayal of Ry’s shift from complacent teen to family defender is successful. In giving voice to Ry’s imaginary friends, Heyborne adds a British accent to the ever-optimistic Furrington, a bland blissfulness to Jesus, and a chilling ferocity to Scowler. Additionally, Heyborne pushes the envelope in making Ry’s father a monstrous force that even the author may have never imagined. The result is a truly chilling, blood-drenched tale. A note of caution: the book’s graphic description of violence and torture is not softened—and is perhaps even intensified—in this audio edition. Ages 14–up. A Delacorte hardcover.