BROTHERS

by Julian F. Thompson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1998

In a windy tale of role reversal, a teenager searches for his father-figure older brother and reassesses their relationship. Chris thought that Cameron was just away at college, and is thunderstruck to learn that his older brother is missing from a mental institution in the Berkshires. Off to investigate, he finds compelling evidence that Cam had crossed from borderline obsessive to outright delusional. Conveniently, Cain's fellow inmate Michelle knows where he is; with her sister Millie tagging along to keep her properly medicated, she and Chris embark on a meandering journey across country. The trip gives Chris plenty of time to meander mentally, too, through disquisitions on his brother, mother and food, as well as ruminations about Cam's inner landscape and a developing relationship with Millie. Cam turns out to be holed up with a group of South Dakota militants, trying to convert them to the vision of cosmic oneness he has received directly from God; they are more interested in his money. Chris arrives shortly before the authorities, and in the ensuing armed standoff takes a bullet as he's engineering an escape. Readers who aren't stopped by the story's unlikely turns and lack of dramatic tension may be mildly amused by Chris's adolescent digressions, and although Cam and Michelle are observed mostly from a distance, some hints of their inner states emerge.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 210

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S