![]() ![]() The hedge was well-watered and well-clipped. It was white with green shutters and green trim. The house was a small bungalow set discreetly back on its lot. Now he brought his bike to a halt in front of 963 Claremont Street and stepped off it. If he’d done any better-straight A’s, for example-his friends might have begun to think he was weird. Straight A’s and B’s all the way up the line. Upshaw had scratched: “Todd is an extremely apt pupil.” He was, too. Her favorite was his final fourth-grade card, on which Mrs. She had kept all of Todd’s old school report cards in a folder. His mom had majored in French in college and had met Todd’s father when he desperately needed a tutor. His dad was an architectural engineer who made forty thousand dollars a year. He looked like the sort of boy who might whistle while he worked, and he often did so. They were the kind that come with your name printed inside-JACK AND MARY BURKE, OR DON AND SALLY, OR THE MURCHISONS. He also looked like the kind of kid who might sell greeting cards for premiums, and he had done that, too. ![]() He looked like the kind of kid who might have a paper route, and as a matter of fact, he did-he delivered the Santo Donato Clarion. He was smiling a summer vacation smile as he pedaled through the sun and shade not too far from his own house. ![]() I cannot get enough of your work and will keep devouring the stories whenever I can.He looked like the total all-American kid as he pedaled his twenty-six-inch Schwinn with the apehanger handlebars up the residential suburban street, and that’s just what he was: Todd Bowden, thirteen years old, five-feet-eight and a healthy one hundred and forty pounds, hair the color of ripe corn, blue eyes, white even teeth, lightly tanned skin marred by not even the first shadow of adolescent acne. Even an apt pupil will sometimes speak of the lessons his instructor inculcates through daily interactions! These secrets have a way of getting out, even if Dussander and Todd try to keep them hidden. The story works well and King is able to develop it in such a way that the reader cannot know what to expect, while knowing the end result at the same time. The handful of secondary characters work well in this piece to serve as backdrops to keep the story moving, though none make too much of a lasting impact. Both characters engage in some highly suspicious behaviour, as though feeding their secrets with the pain of others. Though elderly, Dussander knows that he would not be handled gently and wishes to take his horrible past to the grave. On the flip side, Kurt Dussander finds that the life he has tried to keep hidden from everyone is one telephone call from being revealed. This spiral out of control leads to many an issue and Todd is soon trapped inside a game of blackmail tug-of-war with an old war criminal. His curiosity gets the best of him and he soon finds himself caught up in a web of lies and horrible tales that he could not likely fathom on his own. Todd Bowden is a sharp student who has everything going for him. King portrays the interaction between two characters with little in common yet almost a match made in heaven, where they must rely on one another. The versatility of Stephen King’s work is on display here with something that is less horrific in its true sense, yet still spine tingling. Recommended to those who love a good dose of Stephen King, as well as those who enjoy novellas filled with masterful narratives. Dussander’s ultimate secret remains under wraps, though time might push the truth along faster than anyone could have expected it. From there, the story moves into a set of odd occurrences, whereby both Todd and Dussander target those who are less fortunate for their own sick joys, still extorting one another in a way. Todd and Dussander enter into an agreement with one another to keep both their secrets safe, growing closer as they do. Dussander thinks that he might be beholden to the boy, until Todd begins having horrible nightmares about what he is being told and his grades take a nose dive. After some deflection, Dussander admits to it, allowing himself to be extorted as Todd asks many questions about the time running one of the concentration camps. Todd explains that he knows Dussander is not who he purports to be, but rather a Nazi war criminal hiding in plain sight. While delivering a newspaper to one of his customers, Todd confronts the elderly Mr. He is also quite intuitive, something he likes to show those who pay him some mind. Todd Bowden is a great student, who has mastered many of his classes at school. Turning to another of my Stephen King novellas, I wanted to see about the hype this story has received over the years, as I fit it into my reading experience. ![]()
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