I think Jack Ketchum's writing is good, and I'm actually a big fan of the way that he describes the 1950's in this novel. He even speaks about the dark side of that time in his author's note.

The problem is, I don't really know if he wrote the main character convincingly. David isn't that interesting, and it's supposed to be that way, because he stands in for the reader as the observer of the crimes being committed in the book. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder if the book would have been more interesting if written from the standpoint of Susan, but I don't think the author would have known how to write a narrative voice for that character. It would have been much better if half of the story were about the crime, and half of the story were about adult David and how he grapples with his thoughts after the fact. That's where all the introspection and guilt and juicy emotions occur.

So, this book is good, but not great. A fast and captivating read, for sure. The descriptive language is good, but if I'm being picky, the vocabulary is a bit elementary, and the torture scenes can only go on for so long before you're looking at your watch and waiting for something else (ANYTHING else) to happen. Then again, I don't think I could write a book like this, so I think it's good to be lenient with my rating. Three and a half stars (not three).