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Boy's Life
Boy's Life
Boy's Life
Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

Boy's Life

Written by Robert McCammon

Narrated by Richard Thomas

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

Robert McCammon delivers “a tour de force of storytelling” (BookPage) in this award-winning masterpiece, a novel of Southern boyhood, growing up in the 1960s, that reaches far beyond that evocative landscape to touch readers universally.

Robert McCammon delivers “a tour de force of storytelling” (BookPage) in this award-winning masterpiece, a novel of Southern boyhood, growing up in the 1960s, that reaches far beyond that evocative landscape to touch readers universally.

Boy’s Life is a richly imagined, spellbinding portrait of the magical worldview of the young—and of innocence lost.

Zephyr, Alabama, is an idyllic hometown for eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson—a place where monsters swim the river deep and friends are forever. Then, one cold spring morning, Cory and his father witness a car plunge into a lake—and a desperate rescue attempt brings his father face-to-face with a terrible, haunting vision of death. As Cory struggles to understand his father’s pain, his eyes are slowly opened to the forces of good and evil that surround him. From an ancient mystic who can hear the dead and bewitch the living, to a violent clan of moonshiners, Cory must confront the secrets that hide in the shadows of his hometown—for his father’s sanity and his own life hang in the balance…
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 18, 2011
ISBN9781442349223
Author

Robert McCammon

Robert McCammon (b. 1952) is one of the country’s most accomplished authors of modern horror and historical fiction, and a founder of the Horror Writers Association. Raised by his grandparents in Birmingham, Alabama, Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award–winning McCammon published his first novel, the Revelations-inspired Baal, when he was only twenty-six. His writings continued in a supernatural vein throughout the 1980s, as he produced such bestselling titles as Swan Song, The Wolf’s Hour, and Stinger. In 1991, Boy’s Life won the World Fantasy Award for best novel. After his next novel, Gone South, McCammon took a break from writing to spend more time with his family. He did not publish another novel until 2002’s Speaks the Nightbird. Since then, he has followed “problem-solver” Matthew Corbett through seven sequels, in addition to writing several non-series books, including The Border and The Listener. McCammon still lives in Birmingham.

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Reviews for Boy's Life

Rating: 4.449275362318841 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

69 ratings42 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    REVIEWED: Boy's LifeEDITED BY: Robert R. McCammonPUBLISHED: May, 1992I don?t know how this book has escaped me for so long, as it was written back in 1991. This is the kind of story I wish I would have read as a teenager. Although, of course, it may not have meant as much to me then as it does now, as a father, watching my son begin his own adventures, and remembering that sense of magic and excitement that I?ve somehow lost over the years. People frequently throw the phrase around that they?ve read something that?s ?one of the best things ever,? but I can truly affirm that ?Boy?s Life? by Robert McCammon is one of the best books I?ve ever read.The publisher?s description doesn?t do the book justice. It says that a young boy and his father witness a murdered man being driven into a lake, and their lives are shaken by the realization the idyllic town they live in must contain an evil person. The boy goes on to investigate the mystery and has magical adventures with his friends.I read that and thought it sounded pretty ?ho-hum,? perhaps like a glorified Hardy Boys tale. Though the murder mystery is a part of the book, it?s really just one small thread woven through an immense tapestry of gorgeous narrative. The book description doesn?t exhort the prospective reader with the amazing beauty contained within and the author?s ability for spit-shined storytelling? of course it can?t, as every book description makes such claims. The difference with this novel, is that it delivers.?Boy?s Life? takes place in 1964 and follows the coming-of-age years of Cory Mackenson, a 12-year old in the small town of Zephyr, Alabama, who lives life as all of us once did. He plays with his friends, struggles in school, and does what his parents tell him to do. He?s at odds with the neighborhood bullies, loves his dog, and is filled to brimming with hopes and dreams and fears. He knows the world by what is taught him in a town peopled with all types of personalities; from small-minded bigots to superstitious elders to neighbors who harbor dark and strange secrets. But he?s also at the age where he?s beginning to make his own decisions about the things around him.Through it all, Cory, like all boys, can see the magic of the world that adults cannot. There are ghosts in town, some of whom mourn their untimely passing, while others just want to play with the living. Wishes can come true if wished hard enough. Dinosaurs still live, a boy?s bicycle isn?t just an inanimate thing, and monsters appear from the shadows if you?re not careful. Death and life pass by hand-in-hand, and Cory navigates it all amongst gun-toting moonshiners, natural disasters, and an ancient woman who helps interpret the dreams he and his father have late at night.This book is simply a priceless gem of sparkling prose. Each of Cory?s multiple adventures brought me back to the years when I experienced these things first-hand. The author has an incredible command, not only of the language of writing, but also of the heart strings of emotion. Suffice it to say, tears fell from my eyes more than once.For example, here?s an excerpt: ?I glance at her and my eyes are blessed. She wears sunlight in her blond hair like a spill of golden flowers? we smile at each other. Her hand finds mine. They were meant to be clasped together, just like this.?Anyway, to sum it up, I absolutely loved this book. It won the World Fantasy Award when it came out, so other people loved it, too. Of course, there?s no book written that?s going to please everyone, so before picking up a copy, ask yourself this: Did you like ?Stand By Me? by Stephen King? If the answer is yes, consider ?Boy?s Life? as a wilder adventure, longer in page count (over 800) and filled with a bit more imagination and a lot more depth.SIX out of Five stars (yes, that is the equivalent of 120% - it deserves it)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Yeah, it's about a boy and the joy and horror of being 12. But at the end, the author reminds us that it's a girl's life too. I'm the same age as Cory and it brought back memories of both the magical and horrific times I had as a tomboy in the 1960s, running freely in the hills with the neighborhood dogs, being somewhat of a misfit at school, and wondering deeply about life and the future. Yes there are cliches but the writing transported me and I enjoyed every minute.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Many authors write books, a special few tell stories. Boy's Life is a wonderful story about the year 1964 in Cory Mackenson's life in Zephyr Alabama. A town that doesn't exist today- no big box stores, no fast food restaurants, but the book has thrills, and mystery, and suspense, and humor. This is a rare wonderful book to read for the summer.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book reminds me of Stand By Me, but a lot darker and with a hint of magic. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well done. It only took three tries to stay awake to listen to the whole of the story. Thank you Richard Thomas.
    This is the first time an audio book was intriguing enough that I made the effort to stay awake. I will definitely try again.
    I highly recommend this story of small town family life set in the hard years after WWII.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book has some exciting and poignant parts but is spoiled by the elements of fantasy injected into the story line. While some of the fantastic events are explained away--boys and dogs flying is admitted to be just imagination, and a trip on a train is explained in an old cheating way--yet there are fantasy features which one is expected to accept. .The closing chapter is, I admit, poignant, but would be better if it were true (as the aurhor denise it is).
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A danger always lurks in re-reading books which one cherished many years ago; the scenes we recall, the characters we hold dear, may not live up on paper to the images we have in our minds. Fortunately, that is not the case with Boy's Life.I first read Robert McCammon's masterpiece upon its publication in 1991 and immediately fell in love with Zephyr, Alabama and its citizens. Through the 20 years since then I've found myself wanting to revisit the small town and its intoxicating blend of magical realism, the supernatural and bucolic small town bliss. Finally, I picked it up and once again found myself transported to the deep South in 1964, a time when boys rode their bikes like the wind, magic was possible and the unexplainable commonplace.The tale of 11 going on 12-year-old Cory Mackenson and his adventures reads like the episodes of a cliffhanger serial. Each scene could be a story unto itself, yet they all work together to paint the broader canvas McCammon works upon. Starting with being the final witness to a dead man and ending with confrontations with Nazism and Klansmen, Boy's Life is jammed with more poignant observations on life and death, moments of insane joyfulness and darkest fears, anecdotes of wisdom and tons of inspiration from every boy's childhood than any other "coming-of-age" novel I've read.I cannot recommend this novel enough; those of you who have never had the pleasure of reading it, I envy the journey you are about to take.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Started out great and lost steam about halfway through. Not my favorite but still enjoyable.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    With some judicious editing, this could have been a great book. It suffered from trying to be too many things all rolled into one, and thereby short-changing many subplots and story arcs. Is it a Southern Gothic? A coming-of-age-tale? A murder mystery? A fantasy?

    Although the writing was excellent, I wished the author had just picked one plot and stuck with it. Parts felt like short stories just shoved into the middle of the narrative, and really made no sense. I still can?t figure out why I read all the way to the end of this one. Sheer stubbornness I suppose.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Years ago, the name Robert McCammon was well known to us horror fans, and his books, THEY THIRST and STINGER, were among my favorites. The man had a knack for writing vampire holocausts and alien invasions, but BOY?S LIFE, the first book of his I?ve read in far too many years, is a change of pace in that it is a coming of age story set in a small Alabama town in the year of 1964. This book has been out since the early 90?s and has developed a real fan following, and after reading it, I can understand why as it touches on so many things common to kids, especially boys, who grew up in the 60?s. There are a lot of novels set in little small Southern towns where everyone is a real character, but this is one of the better ones in that genre.The plot centers on eleven year old Corey Mackenson, living what seems like an idyllic life in the town of Zephyr; he accompanies his father in his milk truck on an early spring morning run, when both of them witness the aftermath of a murder as a car plunges into a deep lake and Corey?s father is unable to save the unconscious man tied to the steering wheel. The body can?t be recovered and no one is reported missing, but the dead man haunts Corey?s father?s dreams and the boy becomes determined to solve the mystery, starting with the only clue available, a green parrot?s feather he finds at the scene of the crime. This is the framing story, as over the next year a series of adventures and incidents bring Corey, and his father, closer to the truth, and the identity of both the victim and his murderer. Along the way, Corey encounters: vicious teenage bullies; an Old West gunslinger who still has one fight left in him; a failed author who walks around in the nude; a elderly black woman who was born a slave and who has the gift to see beyond this world; a fire and brimstone Baptist minister who really doesn?t like The Beach Boys; a murderous family of backwoods bootleggers; a small bespectacled kid who is hiding a secret talent thwarted by his parents; an older girl who gives Corey the first hint of the joys of the flesh that await him in the not too distant future; and a slow talking fix it man who really can fix anything when chips are down. Then there is Old Moses, the monster that lives in the river; Lucifer, the wild monkey on the loose; a ghost car named Midnight Mona; and the Creature That Time Forgot. There is always a hint of the supernatural that lies in the shadows, waiting to be seen by those who believe. There are also the joys of friendship and childhood, like a pickup baseball game, a camping trip in the woods, and the arrival of a new bicycle; and the sudden inevitable tragedies, like the death of a beloved dog or a hunting accident that cuts short a young life filled with promise. Along the way, Corey learns some hard truths, especially that adults are often not who they appear to be, and while life may seem to be simple on the surface, it is anything but once you take a deeper look. The big issues of the 1960?s ? Vietnam and the Civil Rights struggle ? are just out of sight, but an ominous future can be glimpsed in the way a new super market threatens Corey?s father?s job at the dairy with its milk for sale in plastic jugs and cartons; the rise of corporations and mass marketing is already reaching into the most remote corners of America and threatening life as it has been lived for generations. There are some wise observations, as when one character tells Corey, ?We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible. Told to act our age. Told to grow up, for God's sake. And you know why we were told that? Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they'd allowed to wither in themselves.? It has been more than 25 years since BOY?S LIFE was first published and one wonders how it would be received today in a time of intense and divisive personal politics in America, and when hostility toward the white Southern culture depicted between it pages is commonplace in the public square. Would it be accused of fostering ?white supremacy? or guilty of ?cultural appropriation? in its portrayal of Black Americans? Many have unfavorably compared McCammon to Stephen King, who has written a number of Baby Boomer coming of age tales, most notably IT and THE BODY (adapted to the screen as STAND BY ME); I will be the first to admit that McCammon often lacks the subtly of King, or Peter Straub and Dan Simmons (who wrote the excellent SUMMER OF NIGHT) for that matter, nor possess anything approaching their style. McCammon is unabashedly sentimental, often uses on-the-nose dialog, and crams in too much wordy exposition, but those other guys have been guilty of those same literary crimes more than once. If King, Straub, and Simmons are HBO and Showtime, then Robert McCammon is most certainly, AMC or FX. In fact, BOY?S LIFE reads like a good TV mini-series, with each chapter an episode building to the complete whole. But what no one can take away is that Robert McCammon is a true story teller; that he has mastered the knack of creating compelling characters along with the ability to keep the reader guessing and turning the pages to see what happens next. There are more than a few autobiographical touches, such as Corey?s enthusiasm for horror films of the period, especially those starring Vincent Price and in his budding desire to be a writer, inspired in part after compilation of Ray Bradbury stories, proving that people living far from the cultural centers of America could live rich and creative lives. Sadly, for those of us who are McCammon fans, he has written little since this book came out, a victim of changes in the publishing industry, according to his Wikepedia page, which caused him to take a long hiatus from writing. I bet Robert McCammon still has that magic and I hope we hear from him again soon.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Cory Mackenson has had more adventures in his 12th year than many have had in their entire life. The novel begins in 1961 during the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. While on a dairy route with his father, the two witness a car in front of them drive into Saxon's Lake, where it begins to sink into the abyss. When his father jumps in to rescue the driver, he discovers a deceased white man who had been beaten and strangled handcuffed to the steering wheel. This is only the first of many notable events in one year of this boy's young life.Cory is very imaginative boy who enjoys writing stories, which this event became one. It also motivates him to investigate the events around this event when the police are unable to solve or unwilling to investigate. The reader is introduced to many colorful, well-written, characters in Zephr, a small Alabama town. The town is so well described that I could easily imagine riding my bike with Cory as we navigated the town. The novel incorporates elements of magical realism, which may be why this novel won the World Fantasy Award in 1992. The primary character's childhood was congruent with mine; therefore many of the cultural artifacts mentioned in the novel, I experienced, which made this novel more enjoyable. Cory's return to Zephr as a married adult with children was particularly poignant as I could connect with his experience of going home again as I engaged in a similar pilgrimage recently after a 45 year absence. This novel is a new favorite for the year and Mr. McCammon is a new author for me. I plan to read his other books.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is pure magic and a joy to read. Narrated by a boygrowing up in a simpler time in a small southern town.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    ?Stand by Me? meets ?O Brother, Where Art Thou?? Wonderful coming of age story set in the early 60s that mixes memoir with magical realism and stirs in the fantasy imagination of an 11-year old.Cory Jay Mackenson lives in Zephyr, Alabama, has two loving but struggling blue collar parents, good friends, bad enemies, knows his hometown and all the people in it, including the black community of Bruton and the Lady, its queen. At school he hates his bullying teacher and the bullying boys who make his summer baseball games hell. Cory is kind-hearted, richly imaginative, and true. And he?s lucky to own a magical bicycle named Rocket that he was rewarded with by Lady and the people of Bruton for saving one of their own from drowning during a great flood.Zephyr is a place of memory and fantasy, able to support solid citizens, petty criminals, and the secrets of a dangerous murderer. The action starts when Cory accompanies his dad, Tom, on his milk route and they see a car plunge into the bottomless lake. Tom dives in to try to rescue the man who he sees is naked, hand-cuffed to the wheel, and whose throat is cut. Terrified and left ashore, Cory sees a figure in a hat and overcoat, and later discovers a green feather at the scene. This incident nearly destroys his father and is to endanger Cory.The novel circles around this murder and its solution all the while spinning a story of the glory days that are the cusp of adolescence. As the novel draws to its close, we see how adults need to learn to trust and children need to learn not to.McCammon writes a totally engaging book that perfectly captures the foggy interface of reality and dream in which old children and young adults exist. All the characters are finely drawn, rich, and multi-dimensional. McCammon is brilliant at integrating the facts of the early Civil Rights era into the fabric of his tale and at showing us how those events shape the man-child and the adults of this rural Alabama community. Great book ? perfect mix of Southern Gothic, magical realism, and bildungsroman.Truman Capote would envy and love this novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book opens with Cory Mackenson and his father witnessing a murder made to look like a car accident whilst they are on a milk round. This eventful start though (graphically depicted on the cover of my copy of the book) really does not even begin to hint at the content of this book.Yes that mystery is key to a greater part of the story, but this book is more a coming of age story than a murder mystery. And it is a very fine example of such a story too.There is conflict in the story. Some of it is racial conflict, other is just about bullying, and power, and what money can buy you and what it can't. There are good families, unorthodox ones and downright odd ones. There is an eccentric millionaire who likes to walk around without clothes. There are stories of boy's own adventures, magical bicycles and dark plots.This book cannot really be summed up and placed in a single category. It works on so many levels, but it really does work. I enjoyed it very much, and would have no hesitation in recommending it. It made me yearn for a slice of American life I never had and now perhaps no longer exists.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another great book that I stumbled across and will never forget. A coming of age story with a bit of fantasy/horror thrown in the mix (but not so much as to alienate anyone who just loves a moving story). A definate 5 star book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent short novel, keeps your interest all through highly recommended .
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Well here is a novel that is better than the average bear. Robert McCammon has created a very special book with Boy's Life. He's managed to capture time in a bottle, just like Jim Croce tried to in that song long ago. He's also captured that magic one has when one is young. When one dreams of flying, and a boy and his bike can ride, and have adventures with friends. McCammon clearly remembers those day, like the last day of school, when the ticking clock counts down to the start of summer vacation. As we get older we tend to forget the importance those small events held in life. We view them through a lens of nostalgia, recalling favorite movies or books or times we went on bike rides exploring. McCammon brings those things to clear focus, makes them fresh and of the moment. Although the story is set mostly in the year 1964 the story itself is a rather timeless memory of anyone's youth. There is a dark side to the book also. Dark events that start very early, and pulse through our whole journey with young Cory Mackenson. This isn't a perfect book but it is darn close. The book slowly took me under it's spell and I loved it. It caught my attention immediately when I started reading it, but the sheer enjoyment of it was something that grew as I read through it. This is one of those books that one wishes would not end. There are some almost perfect moments in this book, and some perfect ones. There are also one or two elements that push the ability to suspend belief just a little too far. There are good things and some very bad things. Moments captured and described so well. I don't think one needs to have lived through those days to appreciate the perfect touches, but knowing those days makes those touches all the more delicious. I really liked this book.McCammon paid a great deal of attention to details when writing the book, with the brand names of candies and toys, hair tonics and household things, and the names of stores from the past. There was one thing though that I am fairly certain he got wrong. A rather big deal is made in the story about milk. The protaganist of the story is young Cory Mackenson, who is 12 in 1964. His father is a home delivery milkman in a small Alabama town. When a supermarket opens in a nearby town it spells the beginning of the end for the dairy and the home delivery of milk in glass bottles. It is mentioned several times that the supermarket has a whole row of milk in plastic jugs. Imagine that, the people say, milk in plastic jugs. Well, I don't think there were plastic milk jugs in 1964. When I was a child the glass bottles of milk from the dairy were replaced with wax coated paper milk cartons, and also a plastic coated paper carton and those paper milk cartons were used as the standard for quite a few years. The plastic jugs that are now the standard for buying milk in supermarkets began being used many years after the introduction of the paper cartons. So making a big deal about the plastic jugs of milk kept nagging me.When I finished reading this I felt like I had read a memoir from McCammon. I don't know if there is any truth behind the adventures in the story, but i am sure there is some moments from his youth within it, and certainly some of his heart. This was a fine novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very well written and narrated for a YA novel. Captivating.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I really did not like this book. Turned me off of Robert McCammon for good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    great book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A brilliant, captivating journey, in which the author succeeds in making you as reader one with his main character - 11 year old Cory Mackenson. At times you will hold your breath and wish that if you closed YOUR eyes the bad things would go away and things would be better for Cory... sometimes you will find yourself laughing out loud - unable to stop the joy from bubbling over... and more often than anyone would wish a little kid to, you will feel terrible sadness and pain - as if someone has ripped your heart out of your chest... Such is the power and realism with which this story is told - truly a journey that every boy (and girl) from I'd say about 10 to 100 should experience, by reading... no LIVING through Cory's long, exhausting adventure!If you have any children of your own, or any children in your life that you care about (young nephews/nieces, cousins, etc) - do them the favour of giving them a copy of this book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wonderful story about a boy growing up in a small town. The boy, Corey, is in his early teens. The essence of life for a pre-teen in a small town is beautifully captured: the joy of leaving school for summer break - which is both too long and too short; the ability to believe fantastic, magical things; the stirring of love; and the realization that one's parents are not invincible. Beautifully written and completely enchanting.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A wonderful read that everyone should take the time to thoroughly enjoy. It's filled with the joy and magic of a youngster's awakening to the worldaround him. Full of surprises and nostalgia for a time lost to most of us. I highly recommend this to everyone of every age.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This maybe my favorite book of all time. Fantasy mixed with drama set in an American bygone era. Wonderfully compelling characters. Just a breathtaking book
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Sometimes you read a book that you sense will become a classic. For me, Boy's Life by Robert McCammon is one of those novels. I've read reviews of this and it was always highly recommended. I've been a McCammon fan for years but have just not pulled this one off my shelf. Now that I've finished it, I wonder why I've waited so long.Boy?s Life is the coming of age story of a young boy in a small town set in the early 60s. McCammon manages to make this time and place come alive in so many ways. The atmosphere is spot on, the characters believable and you feel their pain and anguish as well as their joy and unbridled freedom and young boy would feel at that pre-teen age. The story covers for the most part a little under a year or so I believe, but oh so much happens. Some is a bit fantastic and of course not realistic, but it?s hard to tell if it is there on purpose, to add to the fanciful storyline, or if it is meant to be more of insight into a youngsters mind and thoughts where fantasy easily becomes reality.This is definitely one for the ages and one of McCammon's best. If you haven't tried McCammon yet, don't be scared away by his typical categorization into the horror section as this is not your typical horror, other than the horror of ones childhood (or how one may remember it when looking back years later). This is one I would highly recommend.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Three specific scenes from Robert R. McCammon's Boy's Life come to mind, another of my favorite novels which I re-read every few years.

    Early on in the book, not long after school ends for the year, and before anything really mystical or magical happens, the young protagonist and his buddies go for their annual bike ride, and like they do every year, they begin to fly.

    Man, do I remember when I could fly.

    Later on in the book, Cory runs away from home and finds himself in a railroad car with three vagrants. One of them is dressed in rags, with a voice like dust. Another has an aversion to the sun. The third has a curious bolt coming out of his neck. In their various ways, they persuade young Cory that . . . perhaps . . . there's no place like home. Pure magic.

    And honorable mention to the scene where he discovers this great new rock band. I tellya, that scene was as if McCammon had been watching my own boyhood unfold.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A great life adventure.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A tale set in the early 60s, reminiscient of Stephen King's "Stand by Me." The thread binding "Boy's Life" together is the mystery surrounding the dead man in Saxon's Lake. Who killed him and why? But, this novel is so much more - it is the memories of a boy's childhood - some good and some not. This novel will make you laugh, it will bring you to tears and it will make you think. Spending some time in the town of Zephyr and mingling with it's inhabitants is well worth your time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A very touching and enjoyable book. Brought tears to my eyes, bringing me back to childhood.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Highly recommended. A wonderful story.