LOST

by Gary Devon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 14, 1986

Devon's first is a nimble chase novel featuring a 12-year-old psychopath and his horror dog, Chinaman. Just as lurid as it sounds, but kept with its feet on the ground by focusing on a spinster victim. Sherman Abbott shows some odd tendencies before he shoots himself in the head at age 12. But after the bullet has richocheated about in his skull, scrambling his brain, and he's remained unconscious for several months, he awakes as a bizarre creature indeed. Sherman's mother cares for him night and day, reads him the entire Bible, and seemingly brings him back to life by main motherly strength. His young brother Todd and seven-year-old sister Mamie still live in loving awe of him. Then one night Sherman bums down the house, killing his parents and brother. Survivor Mamie lands in the hospital, where she becomes the special case for visiting spinster Leona. When Leona tries to adopt Mamie and finds herself unable to, the woman withdraws all her money from the bank and kidnaps the child. Meanwhile, Sherman is on the loose, roaming the countryside with his neighbor's stolen dog Chinaman, a crazy beast that is half Chow, half timber wolf. Sherman's enraged: he and his dog fatally maul Leona's sister Emma, and later he burns down a bar full of drunks. The story follows Leona's flight all over Pennsylvania and Sherman's pursuit in the dead of winter. Midway, Leona finds two more waifs, a brother and sister who are mistreated by their alcoholic mother, and kidnaps them as well as playmates for Mamie. Eventually, the whole entourage has a car accident on ice and is put up at a farmhouse during a blizzard that leaves them snowbound. This isolation in no way deters Sherman and Chinaman--Leona is tracked down at last and must face the killer boy and his dog. Gripping entertainment, written with zip and the occasional fine passage.

Pub Date: Nov. 14, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION