I really liked this book, and I think it's some of Ketchum's best writing. Every so often he includes a couple of sentences that describe details that I found sublime. The characters and their relationships are complex and interesting, and as mentioned in the other reviews the book might remind you of Stand By Me or Richard Laymon's Travelling Vampire Show. While there are hints of what's to come, the first half of the book is the characters being fleshed out as they spend a summer on the coast of Maine. The Ketchum depravity that follows is up to par. This book also reminded me of Laymon's Night in Lonesome October.A night of fun trespassing in a haunted house--What could possibly go wrong?