Suspense!

Well, friends, I've gotten word that RR: the book will hopefully be reviewed by Booklist and SLJ in one of the fall issues. So as I sweat it out over here in anticipation, I thought I'd post one of my favorite entries from the suspenseful "Nailbiters" chapter. Here's what I wrote about Acceleration by Graham McNamee:

McNamee, Graham. 2003. Acceleration. New York: Random House. 210 p.

The Story: It is the summer before senior year, and Duncan is stuck with the most boring job ever: assisting in the Toronto Transit Commission’s Lost and Found Department. While it does allow him to escape the heat wave everyone else is suffering from aboveground, Duncan is finding the process of assigning lost umbrellas, jackets, and eyeglasses an “expiration” date, and weeding those items that are “past due” for donation to the local YMCA incredibly tedious. But the bleak job suits his mood, which has been dark ever since the Labor Day holiday weekend last year. That was when Duncan tried and failed to save a girl named Maya who drowned in dangerous riptides on Lake Ontario. Ever since then, Duncan has suffered from terrible nightmares where Maya is screaming underwater, begging him for help. His parents tried therapy and medication, but nothing helped, and now Duncan fears that his guilt and regret over the accident will never go away.

While packing up lost books, Duncan comes across a leather journal with no name or address. As he begins to read it, he is disturbed to discover that it is full of descriptions of animal mutilations and arson attempts. As he reads further, he finds that the author is contemplating murder. He’s even staked out three women that he sees regularly on the subway, along with the times that they ride, and the stops where they get off. Duncan realizes that he has found the journal of a would-be serial killer. But now that he has it, what should he do? He’s afraid to turn it into the police, least they think it belongs to him. It also occurs to him that the act of finding this man, and keeping him from hurting anyone else, may finally ease his guilt over Maya’s drowning and end his nightmares.

Duncan begins to do research on the man he has dubbed, “Roach.” He enlists his two best friends, Vinnie and Wayne, to come with him to the air-conditioned public library while he looks up information on serial killers. He finds a book by an FBI profiler that states there are three childhood behaviors that are shared by most serial killers: cruelty to animals, bedwetting, and the setting of fires. This information frightens Duncan so badly that he decides to take Vinnie, the more serious of his two friends, into his confidence. Vinnie convinces him to take it to the police, but when he does, the bored desk cop is so dismissive that Duncan knows the journal won’t be taken seriously. He takes the it back and resolves to find Roach himself, and then involve the police once he knows exactly who the man is and where he lives.

Duncan asks for Vinnie’s help, and his friend reluctantly agrees, even though he doesn’t think it is a good idea. “Me and you going after this guy…is like the hardy Boys meet Hannibal Lecter.” Nevertheless, Vinnie uses the directions and locations written about in the journal to create a map of Roach’s activities, and discovers that all of the incidents Roach wrote about took place in the same 6-7 block radius, a working class neighborhood called Wilson Heights. Meanwhile, Duncan has discovered an old receipt in the journal that indicates Roach received an employee discount at the local mall. Now that they have narrowed down the man’s possible home and work place, they focus their attention on the mall. After deducing that Roach might be a security guard because of his need to have power over others, they follow two likely candidates home, but are disappointed when both men end up having families or girlfriends. Duncan is so disheartened that he considers giving up altogether.

Then, they receive a huge break: Roach himself comes to the Lost and Found, looking for his journal. Duncan is shocked to finally see his imaginary nemesis in the flesh, but after pretending to look for the lost journal (it’s actually hidden at the bottom of his closet at home) he tells the man he can’t find it. Roach leaves, and Duncan tells his boss he’s taking lunch so that he can follow him. After he watches Roach enter a small nondescript house in Wilson Heights, then leave a short while later, he decides to call Wayne for help. Wayne is a semi-retired shoplifter and consummate lock picker, and while he’s annoyed that Duncan hadn’t informed him until now about he and Vinnie’s secret project, he agrees to pick the Roach’s front door so Duncan can take a look around.

With Wayne’s help, Duncan no only gets into the house, but is able to access the locked basement as well. But they must tread quietly, as they discover Roach’s old, deaf grandmother is watching television inside. Duncan explores the basement while Wayne waits outside. He finds animals in jars of formaldehyde, a police scanner, and a small windowless room which seems to be awaiting a captive, before he hears footfalls on the stairway. He hides in the room, but it’s too late, Roach has returned and realized someone is in his sanctuary. Duncan bursts out of the room, brandishing the metal bar used to barricade the door as a weapon. Roach has a knife, and they each get in one blow before Duncan manages to run up the stairs and out of the house. Bleeding badly from a cut ion his arm, Duncan races to the subway station, pursued by Roach. Wayne sees him leave, but loses him on the side streets. Duncan makes it to the subway platform, but the train doesn’t come right away and Roach has time to catch up. After a short tussle, both of them end up on the tracks, but Duncan is able to roll away under the platform edge while Roach, who is disoriented, is hit and killed by an incoming train.

Duncan survives with twenty stitches, a broken arm, and a concussion. He, Wayne and Vinnie decide never to tell anyone what really happened. As far as the police know, Duncan’s attack was a botched mugging, as he claims he can’t really remember what happened. Duncan burns the journal, goes back to work at the Lost and Found, and after a session of night swimming with Vinnie at the public pool, is relieved to realize that he can no longer hear Maya’s underwater screams.

The Message: It’s dangerous to take the law into your own hands. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself.

Who’s it for? 8th-12th grade. The topic is gritty, but not any more so than most of the crime dramas on television that most teens are well versed in, and may even watch with their parents. McNamee sprinkles the text with several facts about serial killers, which may prompt older readers to do some research of their own into this fascinating, disturbing topic.

Why it rocks:

•Voice: Duncan’s first person narration makes the fast-moving action that more immediate and compelling. His conversations with Vinnie and Wayne are often humorous, and help offset some of the frightening tension.

•Plot: McNamee’s premise of a serial killer’s journal turning up in the subway Lost and Found is nothing short of genius, and sets the stage for a suspenseful thrill ride that only grows more exciting with the turn of each page. The subplot of Duncan’s prolonged grief over the drowning accident sometimes gets in the way of the heart-stopping action, but will help explain Duncan’s motivation to the rule-following teen readers who have a hard time understanding his persistent pursuit of the dangerous Roach.

• Pacing: Relentless. McNamee never lets up the tension; from the moment Duncan finds the diary, he and the reader are inexorably pulled towards his final meeting with Roach.

• Characterization: Duncan is nicely rounded, as are Vinnie and Wayne, who each threaten to steal scenes every time they come onto the page. Duncan’s parents are excellent examples of caring, working class people who don’t have much material resources, but are trying to set a good example for their son.

Hook it up with: Tenderness by Robert Cormier

Read more about it:
Booklist: 09/15/03
Horn Book: 04/01/04
Kirkus Review: 09/15/03
Publishers Weekly, starred: 11/10/03
School Library Journal: 11/01/03
V.O.Y.A. (Voice of Youth Advocates): 12/01/03