Hide And Seek, by Jack Ketchum

(pb; 1984, 2007)

From the back cover:

"They were young. They were looking for kicks. They decided to play an innocent game in a strange old house.

"First it turned ugly. Then it turned brutal. Finally it became a nightmare of horror and violence.

"None of them was ever the same again."

Review:

Set in Dead River, Maine (also the locale of Off Season and Offspring), this tautly written, quirky, and ultimately horrific coming-of-age tale is unique, and, in true Ketchum fashion, consistently unsettling. It's also gory and nasty in patches, another Ketchum trademark.

Worth owning, this.