Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The Freak by Eleanor Robinson

(pb; 1980 ─ a.k.a. The Silverleaf Syndrome)

From the back cover

“He was born monstrously deformed, a freak of nature. Possessed of supernatural strength, he committed his first murder at the age of five and escaped from the institution to which his mother had abandoned him.

“Terror swept through the town of Silverleaf, as the citizens scoured the countryside in a desperate search for the missing child, hoping to capture him before he killed again─and again.

“But he had retreated to the swamp, the place of his birth, where amid the mire and the reeds lay a secret so astonishing, that it could well change the ultimate destiny of the human race.”


Review

Freak is a solid, hybrid-genre novel with relatable, worthwhile characters and fun, sometimes-effective mini-twists. Its back cover description makes Freak seem like a monster-stalking-people-in-the-swamp story, but it is more of a science fiction-ish, man-wrongly-accused-of-murder tale─one that entertains, for the most part. My only nit about Freak is the unrealistic, plot-convenient the way two of the characters fall in love. Aside from that, this is a fun, fast read, worth your time, or purchase for a few dollars.


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