American Vineyard

Lowry, author of the SF novel Constellation Chronicles: The Lost Civilization of Ares, demonstrates his versatility with this memorable coming-of-age narrative. The prologue provides the dramatic context for what is to follow, as narrator Davy Blake alludes to a trauma that occurred in 1982, when he was 13 years old and living in Huckleberry, N.Mex. He had five close friends at the time and thought that they would remain connected forever, until “the lightning split the sky and flooded the desert mesa” and an unexpected evil that “had been lurking at the edge of the horizon” struck, violently claiming a life. Lowry then alternates between 1982 and 2001, when an adult Davy, who still suffers from nightmares, learns of the death of the father of one of his clique. That news prompts him to begin writing a journal about the events leading up to the murder of his unnamed friend; the delayed reveal of whom he lost is an effective hook that sustains engagement. [em](BookLife) [/em]