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Overview
After a week lost in the Australian outback, thirteen-year-old Tom Ferry makes his way back to Angel Rock. To the horror of everyone in the small town, he is alone. Exhausted and traumatized, he can't remember what happened to Flynn, his little brother. Shortly thereafter, another child of Angel Rock is found dead in Sydney, the apparent victim of suicide. But it is only with the arrival of Gibson, the investigating detective from Sydney, that the intertwining questions surrounding the fate of the two children, the silence of the townsfolk, and the mysteries of the land itself begin to unravel.Angel Rock marks the American debut of the award-winning writer Darren Williams. By interlacing suspense with brilliantly rendered characters and evocative descriptions of the peculiar town they inhabit, he has created a novel that is immediately gripping and consistently suprising. It is a book that will be read long into the night.
Synopsis
After a week lost in the Australian outback, thirteen-year-old Tom Ferry makes his way back to Angel Rock. To the horror of everyone in the small town, he is alone. Exhausted and traumatized, he can't remember what happened to Flynn, his little brother. Shortly thereafter, another child of Angel Rock is found dead in Sydney, the apparent victim of suicide. But it is only with the arrival of Gibson, the investigating detective from Sydney, that the intertwining questions surrounding the fate of the two children, the silence of the townsfolk, and the mysteries of the land itself begin to unravel.
Angel Rock marks the American debut of the award-winning writer Darren Williams. By interlacing suspense with brilliantly rendered characters and evocative descriptions of the peculiar town they inhabit, he has created a novel that is immediately gripping and consistently suprising. It is a book that will be read long into the night.
Publishers Weekly
This assured, often heart-stopping second novel from Australian writer Williams marks his U.S. debut, and it's sure to garner lots of attention. Tom Ferry, a likable 12-year-old, and his four-year-old brother, Flynn, get lost after Tom's womanizing stepfather, a logger named Henry Gunn, chooses pleasure over parental responsibility and abandons the boys at his work site. The tiny town of Angel Rock is stunned by their disappearance, and another disaster quickly follows when the body of Tom's friend Darcy Steele is found after her apparent suicide. Sheriff Pop Mathers's investigation hits a dead end, but an out-of-town detective named Gibson follows up and delves into the hornet's nest of jealous rivalries that lurks beneath the surface in the small town. The mystery is deepened when Tom Ferry returns without his brother in tow, but the boy is too traumatized by his week in the outback to provide details of what has happened to Flynn. Mathers once again comes up short in his efforts to find the boy, but Gibson continues to dig until he discovers a bizarre quartet of low-life oddballs whose connections to Tom, Darcy and Mathers's daughter Grace slowly begin to tie the two crimes together. Williams deliberately keeps his prose and action low-key in the early going, relying on details of both scene and character to add tension as he brings his outstanding ensemble to life in a unique and compelling setting. The shocking ending packs a major wallop, establishing Williams as a writer with a formidable array of skills, including the ability to twist both his plots and the genre in some startling, unexpected directions. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
This assured, often heart-stopping second novel from Australian writer Williams marks his U.S. debut, and it's sure to garner lots of attention. Tom Ferry, a likable 12-year-old, and his four-year-old brother, Flynn, get lost after Tom's womanizing stepfather, a logger named Henry Gunn, chooses pleasure over parental responsibility and abandons the boys at his work site. The tiny town of Angel Rock is stunned by their disappearance, and another disaster quickly follows when the body of Tom's friend Darcy Steele is found after her apparent suicide. Sheriff Pop Mathers's investigation hits a dead end, but an out-of-town detective named Gibson follows up and delves into the hornet's nest of jealous rivalries that lurks beneath the surface in the small town. The mystery is deepened when Tom Ferry returns without his brother in tow, but the boy is too traumatized by his week in the outback to provide details of what has happened to Flynn. Mathers once again comes up short in his efforts to find the boy, but Gibson continues to dig until he discovers a bizarre quartet of low-life oddballs whose connections to Tom, Darcy and Mathers's daughter Grace slowly begin to tie the two crimes together. Williams deliberately keeps his prose and action low-key in the early going, relying on details of both scene and character to add tension as he brings his outstanding ensemble to life in a unique and compelling setting. The shocking ending packs a major wallop, establishing Williams as a writer with a formidable array of skills, including the ability to twist both his plots and the genre in some startling, unexpected directions. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.KLIATT
The dusty Australian town of Angel Rock has deep undercurrents of mystery and violence as the town is confronted by two tragedies. Tom Ferry, a hard-working 13-year-old routinely abused by his drunken stepfather, disappears into the bush for weeks with his younger half-brother Flynn. They are presumed dead, so the town is astonished when he emerges starved and delusional without his younger sibling and with no memory of what has passed in the wilderness. Meanwhile, the ethereal adolescent Darcy seems to be hiding a secret, even from her good friend Grace, the daughter of Pop, the friendly town policeman. When she is found dead in Sydney, an apparent suicide, Gibson, a city detective with his own personal skeletons, decides to travel to Angel Rock and uncover what has driven her to this desperate option. The focus of the book shifts at this time to the adult characters as Gibson stirs up demons in Angel Rock and the truth of the town's past is exposed. Some sexual content and violence renders this title more suitable for senior high and adult collections. The mystery in the second half of the book enables this work to occupy a space in the mystery collection in addition to being suitable for general fiction. A powerful story beautifully written, this should be added to public library and large senior high fiction collections. KLIATT Codes: SA-Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Random House, Vintage, 303p., Ages 15 to adult.— Courtney Lewis