Killing Boy

by Gloria D. Miklowitz

When Tim's recently orphaned cousin Brian comes to live with Tim and his family, Tim begins to notice his cousin's bizarre behavior and he begins to suspect that the death of Brian's parents was no accident

168 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

With a relentless concern about contemporary issues and problems that affect teenagers, Gloria D. Miklowitz (USA, b. 1927) examined such topics as rape, suicide, teen marriage, divorce, AIDS, sexual abuse, and racial prejudice in her novels. She helped teen readers look at underground militias, vigilantism, religious cults, steroid use among high school athletes, and the effects of nuclear war. She enabled readers to view the famous battle of Masada from both sides. She also wrote nonfiction on a variety of subjects, from earthquakes and raccoons to President Harry Truman, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and tennis star Tracy Austin.

Reviews

[Paul Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has potential in terms of horror. The villain was actually creepy though a bit bland because of his sociopathic nature that it makes me wonder what this guy is going to do.

In terms of horror, it's pretty...light. Not much scares occur that harms other characters but mostly property damage and poisoned cats. This book does feel more like psa on peer pressure since there are moments like that where Tim is badgered by his cousin that he's a wimp and he should be more free.

The main character, Tim, wasn't someone I feel for. I do like how protective he is to his family but there are moments where his actions make no sense or how he's easily duped he is by his cousin, despite the fact he's suspicious of him and doesn't like him.

Hmmm, I could recommend the book if only you want to read more on sociopaths characters.

[Matthew MacIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts us with Brian when we find out his house is on fire and his parents have died. But quickly we learn that Brian did it. His uncle and his family come to get him to bring him home to live with them in California. Our main character is Tim who is the same age as Brian and will be now sharing a room. Throughout the book, you see more more that Brian is a sociopath. He starts small by stealing from the store and spray painting walls. Slowly moving on to stealing his aunts car. While we hear about break-ins and cats being poisoned, we never see Brian doing any of these things. The only person who suspects Brian is Tim, he’s afraid for his family, including his younger sister because everyone has become super attached to Brian. Later it is implied that Brian kills his own kitten for sympathy, and this is when Tim decides to sit down with his parents and tell them about his suspicions of Brian. While the book isn’t very scary in a horror type of way, the sociopathic way Bryan acts sometimes even more scary. He’s able to fool almost everyone. Spoilers, it’s only at the last minute that he’s caught but he’s just sent away so he’s never really punished for most of his crimes and it seems like he still got away with murder.

[DaytonQ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoy this book. in my opinion its an good read for anyone who has time and enjoes to read , its not an big book and in all honestly its not exsacly an small book eiter . Keeping me on my feet with every page i recomend it to all my friends

[Sally]

"Mom, can we have The Good Son?"
"We have The Good Son at home."