Freeman Mills is a troubled kid. After bouncing around through a variety
of foster homes and institutions, he finds himself at Wendover, yet
another home. Unfortunately for Freeman, Wendover has a lot of secrets.
Most of them are unpleasant. Some of them are dead. And for a kid with
ESP, all of them are dangerous.
I liked this book a lot. It was
part of a bundle I picked up via Kindle for $.99, and I didn't have a
lot of expectations about what I'd be getting. The Home turned
out to be a gripping little surprise. I enjoyed Freeman -- his voice and
ways of thinking about things were great, and as a Clint Eastwood fan, I
was particularly pleased by his attempts to live his life according to
The Man With No Name's ethos. The characters of Vicky (Freeman's bulimic
friend) and Starlene (a naive counselor at the home) were also
empathetic and interesting. In general I found the protagonists
relatable and intriguing. The antagonists were unfortuantely not as well
fleshed out -- although the warden of the home was more detailed than
the rest, I felt that some of the other "bad guys" were a bit
two-dimensional.
The plot moved along at a reasonable clip, and I
appreciated some of the narrative twists. I would have liked a little
more background on the ghosts, but I think that's just a personal thing
for me.
On the whole I found this to be a decent little horror book, and am interested to read more of the author's work.
