Jon disappears again, voluntarily this time, fearing that, like Wilbur, he’s the monster whose mere presence causes sickness and death. Soon after Jon's return, strange things begin happening to the people around him, from getting nosebleeds to fainting and even having a fatal heart attack. Lovecraft, particularly the novel The Dunwich Horror, which features a man named Wilbur Whateley, with whom Jon begins to identify. Four years later, a more muscular Jon emerges from the local mall with no memory of his captivity and a new obsession with the work of H.P. When Jon vanishes one morning-it’s revealed early on that his kidnapper is local substitute teacher Roger Blair-the relative speed with which the town’s interest wanes is nearly as devastating as his disappearance, a narrative trick Kepnes pulls off seamlessly. Kepnes ( Hidden Bodies, 2016, etc.) nails the tentative feelings that develop between kids from different middle school social strata.

He also loves fellow teen and popular budding artist Chloe Sayers, though he never admits as much. In Nashua, New Hampshire, young teen Jon Bronson is the sort of boy who loves newspapers and hamsters and takes the long way to school to avoid bullies. The mysterious return of a kidnapped boy is more curse than blessing in this novel-which is equal parts love story, thriller, and horror tale.

Hidden bodies book review