Publishers Weekly
Money is the main motivator in Cadnum's (Peril on the Sea) uneven crime drama. Siblings Bruce and Milton Borchard are looking to better their fortunes through bank robbery, while neighbor Nina Atwood's college plans are in jeopardy due to her father's financial difficulties. Her brother, Carraway, recovering from grievous wounds suffered while serving in Iraq, needs a lawyer to fast-track a medical discharge, and her nearly blind boyfriend, Terrence, may have a chance at improving his eyesight through expensive operations. After the Borchards pull off a bumbling robbery, they encounter Terrence, the only witness to their crimes, who tells the Atwoods what he knows. As Bruce and Milton plan to eliminate this loose end, Carraway plots ways to get his hands on the reward money, setting the stage for a violent confrontation. Though Cadnum works in some powerful, resonant lines, the narrative's innate tension is lessened by a heavy reliance on authorial omniscience, an excess of unfulfilled plot lines, and an ending that slams to a halt. Readers investing in these characters may be disappointed by the lack of resolution. Ages 12-up. (July)
Children's Literature
- Paula Rohrlick
On a sunny day in California, brothers Milton and Bruce, in need of money, set out to rob a bank. They are eighteen and sixteen years old, respectively. They manage to steal a car and get away with the loot, but everything goes wrong when the money explodes. Covered in green dye and bits of currency, the two head home to bury the evidence, but they're overheard by their nearly-blind teenage neighbor, Terrence, who happens to be on a nearby hillside recording bird sounds. Terrence tells his photographer girlfriend, Nina, about what he heard, and she worries, with reason, that the brothers will try to hunt him down. Nina is also worried about her brother, Carraway, an injured military policeman who has abruptly returned from Iraq. There are several subplots (perhaps too many) swirling around these five young characters, but the suspense and Cadnum's fine writing keep the reader engaged, and the novel builds to an exciting conclusion. The morality, or lack of morality, of the brothers—Milton the planner, Bruce the menacing thug—is especially fascinating. According to the book jacket, the tale was inspired by a real bank robbery Cadnum witnessed. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick
VOYA
- Hillary Crew
On a fateful day in Albany, California, teenage brothers Milton and Bruce Borchard rob a bank; Nina's brother, Carraway, returns from a military hospital after being wounded in Iraq; and Terrence, Nina's boyfriend, is a witness as the Borchards dig a hole on their property. By evening, all five young people are involved in a life-and-death situation in which Nina and Terrence are in danger of being shot by an angry, out-of-control Bruce. Carraway, meanwhile, is recovering the bank money on the Borchard property under the raised bat of Louella Borchard, who wishes to protect her sons. Cadnum presents a dysfunctional family in which a mother and her sons seem to have lost all sense of right and wrong so that even murder does not seem a serious undertaking. Emphasis is placed on the love/hate relationship between Milton and his younger brother. In a melodramatic scene, Milton tries to prevent Bruce from committing the murder they have both planned by shooting him in the leg, and then entertains the idea of killing him. Cadnum touches on the effects of war on young men through his portrayal of Carraway and his former friend Sergeant Palmer. Palmer wishes to place blame for his murder of detainees in Iraq on Carraway but attempts suicide when Carraway won't cover for him. The confused (and confusing) moral conduct of the Borchards and Palmer is offset by the courage of Nina and the principled thinking of Terrence, with whom the novel ends very abruptly. Reviewer: Hillary Crew
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Milton, 18, and his brother Bruce, 16, are planning a bank robbery. Their long-suffering mom is trying to get a pension deal, and their alcoholic dad was killed when the sugar plant blew up. They need money now, but Milton has concerns about Bruce, who may have mental problems and seems to have some pretty scary ideas about when violence is justified. Down the street live Nina, a talented photographer; her brother, Carraway, who has just returned from Iraq with a serious injury; and their dad, who has financial woes. Everyone in this book has troubles and faces moral dilemmas. Nina's boyfriend is almost legally blind, and he gets caught up in a frightening situation as a witness to the robbery, as do Nina and her brother. Carraway also needs money for a lawyer to get out of having to go back to active duty; his mental state and possibility for violence add to the tension. The fear instilled in the witnesses by the brothers is clever and nail-bitingly thrilling; the personal stories are real and compelling; the characters are three-dimensional and beautifully drawn; and the situation will have readers asking, "What would I do?" over and over again. Teens will love this first-rate novel.—Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO
Kirkus Reviews
After a bungled bank robbery, Milton and Bruce Borchard drive off in a stolen Ford Taurus. Their ill-gotten money blows up, covering them in green smoke and scraps of currency, and when they hide the evidence, they are seen or, at least, heard. Now that they have buried the evidence, will they also have to bury the witness? In a return to contemporary novels, Cadnum (Peril on the Sea, 2009, etc.) weaves five voices into an intelligently scripted drama suffused with tension. The Borchard brothers would be comic if they weren't so deadly. Carraway Atwood is a different person since he's returned from Iraq, but is he as dangerous as his sister Nina fears? Will "practically legally blind" Terrence be the one to see things for what they are? Superb writing, with many a fetching turn of phrase and meticulous care given to plotting and characterization, makes this an outstanding commentary on our times-"hardly a courtly era," Milton thinks-and the unpredictable resolution that brings the cast to the end leaves room for reflection on motivation and character in hard times. (Thriller. 12 & up)
