Bonechiller. Graham McNamee. New York, NY: Wendy LambBooks/Random House (Distributed in Canada by Random House of Canada), 2008. 294 pp., hardcover, $18.99. ISBN 978-0-385-74658-8. Subject Headings: Monsters-Fiction. Supernatural-Fiction. Grief-Fiction. Simcoe, Lake, Region (Ont.)-Fiction. Grades 10 and up / Ages 15 and up. Review by Tanya Boudreau. *** /4

excerpt:

His eyes pull into focus. "What bit you?"

He points at the little blue mark on the back of my right hand.

I'm stunned. He knows!

"Tell me!" I say. "What is that thing?"

"A ghost, with teeth. A demon."

More riddles and nonsense.

"That doesn't help me at all."

"You want help?" His lips curve into a cold smile. "There is none."

The dogs start to stray. Mason moves along with the pack, clomping through the snow in a pair of decomposing sneakers, and no socks.

I try to think of something to say to get him to talk some sense.

Before I can come up with anything, he looks back over his shoulder. "Want some advice?"

"Yes! Anything!"

"Run."

Danny has been running from pain for too long. It started after his mom died and hasn't ended yet. He's been to three schools in two years, always a drifter; never fitting in. Danny and his father left Toronto to start a new life, but wherever they stop, painful memories and aching reminders find them. Now in Harvest Cove, something else has found Danny. It's chasing him, and he has nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. The thing chasing him has left him with ice in his blood, voices in his head, and nightmares in his dreams. With nowhere to run, Danny turns to the only people he can trust - two brothers named after weapons, a female boxer, and the longest living resident in Harvest Cove.

     Harvest Cove may be summer cottage country from June to August, but come the winter months, it's a ghost town. Not only do the vacationers disappear, so do teenagers. Teenagers have been disappeared for centuries in this town. Danny's dad is now the caretaker at the marina in town, and it's while Danny is here, in Harvest Cove, that he meets a few friends he can trust. Army brats who grew up together, these three teenagers now call Danny a friend. When it's time for all of them to standup and fight the creature that is threatening to take their lives, they come up with a plan to "kill the unkillable." And it will involve Danny's being bait.

     Only these four characters could go up against a creature like the one in Bonechiller. Pike is a daredevil. Ash is tough. Howie is a genius, and Danny is a fighter. Together, they succeed when over the years no one else has even tried. This is a must-have book for libraries.

     Graham McNamee, who lives in Canada, is an Edgar Award-winning author. His book, Acceleration, is an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, and an Arthur Ellis Award winner.

Recommended.

Tanya Boudreau is a librarian at the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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