Bowler uses both archetypal and original imagery in this dismal apocalyptic tale. In the opening scene, unidentified figures row off an island in darkness, find a man on an offshore rock and bludgeon him with clubs. A “long, eerie moan” sounds from underwater. Fifteen-year-old Kit, sailing with his parents, hears the moan—which becomes the first of many foreboding signs and violent events. While reaching for a tiny carved boat in the sea that’s grasped from underwater by a full-grown man with Kit’s own face (including ugly birthmark), Kit sends their boat crashing off-course to wreck on the island. On the island live violent religious zealots determined to kill Kit and the look-alike man. Kit’s parents disappear and Kit meets an outcast girl. Pursuit and torture (including crucifixion) are relentless. Is the look-alike man God? Is he the Devil? Is Kit? Apocalypse is averted—barely; explanations remain cryptic. Grimly haunting. (Fantasy. YA)
