ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN

by Alexander Key ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 8, 1968

Mr. Key's first were Rivets and Sprockets and Bolts and this is similarly mechanical in contrast to the mounting terror and moral outrage of The Forgotten Door. The problem is partly premature disclosure: Tony and younger sister Tia are tagged as refugees from outer space on the first page so that their credibility is undermined and their powers--talking soundlessly, opening locked doors, exercising command over objects--fail to astonish. The burden of the book is thrown on its weakest link, one Lucas Deranian, who reminds the children, literally, of the devil: why is he after them and what is his connection with their arrival on earth, which they barely remember? The gradual unblocking of their memory, largely fortuitous, accompanies their flight from Deranian and his accomplices to the Blue Ridge Mountains (to which they were directed in a chance encounter with an elderly nun), assisted by a priest, Father O'Day, who has a convenient friend in the area. Untangling the multiple complexities introduces the Hungarian uprising and identifies communists as their chief tormentors: why are they so evil? ""because human rights and suffering mean nothing to a communist."" The two finally escape in a flying saucer--but you can't believe this one from the beginning.

Pub Date: April 8, 1968

ISBN: 1402237812

Page Count: -

Publisher: Westminster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION