Kerosene is about Cal Sampson, a pyromaniac fifteen year old. He is cripplingly shy, and has problems talking to people. He usually just gets left alone, until some girls at school start messing with his head, tricking him into thinking they liked him. His way out of it all is through fire. At first he just appreciates the calming effects of striking a match and watching it burn, but the obsession grows, and Cal moves on to bigger things.... It is one of the best books I've read recently, with an interesting plot and characters (while also completely believable) and a decidely modern feel to it. The author has clearly either researched a lot, or had experience in, a lot of the things that happen in the book. The terminology is extremely up to date (I can't stand it when books "sound old", I'm all for big vocabulary, but if there's a new word for something, using the old word sounds stupid) and most of the occurances of the storyline are true to life, these two things give the book the thoroughly modern feel (which I like). No part of the book bored me, so the only thing I can groan about is the length. It's short!!! Maybe a sequel (Although given the book's ending I seriously doubt it) ??? All in all, I can highly reccomend this book to anyone.
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Welcome to Ciao. Sounds like an interesting book. Maureen
jillmurphy 07.05.2004 20:30
Welcome to Ciao! It does sound rather interesting, this book. Um... when you talk about modern style, do you mean that he uses a slang and techie-based vocabulary, or that the grammar is more of the spoken than the RP?
elkiedee 07.05.2004 19:40
A well written review. Can I just suggest you put a line between your paragraphs to make it easier to read. Maybe ytou could say just a little more about the main character too - as I'm book mad I'm always looking for info about new authors and books even though I don't need it as I've got years of reading available at home without ever buying another book. Luci
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