Davis's debut novel is a morality play about despair and faith wrapped around the story of a kidnapping. The victim, young...

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SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN

Davis's debut novel is a morality play about despair and faith wrapped around the story of a kidnapping. The victim, young Billy Bauer, is afflicted by Tourette's syndrome, which provokes him to uncontrollable bouts of obscenity and blasphemy; his community, clustered around his father's fundamentalist church in Azalea, California, recoils from Billy despite their love for Rev. Bauer. Enter Dave Strickland, a private eye on the run from religious faith since the deaths of his wife and daughter two years ago. The mystery--was Billy snatched by a rebellious local rocker, or an unusually sympathetic child molester, or someone closer to home?--takes a back seat to Dave's romance with Charlene Benton and his string of moral debates with Rev. Bauer. Simple, stark, and dramatically effective.

Pub Date: Nov. 22, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1991

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