Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of this book. It went on for so long, was dragged on with actually very little horror in it, and it really wasn’t my cup of tea. There seemed to be two different stories, and I’m unsure as to whether they should have been connected. Both would have been really good as separate stories, as the plot didn’t really align as much as it should have done. I know there was probably an intellectual reason for doing it, but the story itself just wasn’t for me, and it did take a long time to finish. I liked the morals in the book, like how Carl learns to deal with the grief of his best friend - I do think that’s quite cool. Other than that, I don’t think this book was one of my favourites. 

 

We follow Carl as his parents take him to a holiday house. It’s a holiday house, but they’re not there on holiday. They’re there so that Carl can escape. 

Carl and Jack were best friends since the day they were born. Their families intertwined, both each other’s parents saw the other boy as their son. They were so connected. Even when Jack started hanging out with Lamborghini, the school bully who liked to pick on everyone, they always seemed to stay friends. 

Lamborghini liked to steal cars, drove them around and tell people that the cars belong to his uncle, and he’s just borrowing it. One day, after months and months of Lamborghini picking between the two boys and turning them against each other, he asks Carl to drive in one of his cars. He says no. But Jack says yes. Carl is furious. So furious, in fact, that he calls the police to report it. 

However, Lamborghini ends up crashing. He makes it out alive, but Jack, unfortunately, is not so lucky. 

Carl is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. Everyone seems to be moving on, but he can’t. He blames himself. If the police hadn’t been called, and they hadn’t chased Lamborghini, he might not have panicked and sped up, and Jack would still be alive. He is irritable, and annoyed with both of his parents, who are trying to help but he doesn’t want it. 

He becomes friends with a farmer nearby, with a very quiet wife and a girl who isn’t actually his daughter, but she pretty much is. He helps them with some farming, as he tries to get out of the house as much as possible. The farmer tells him a story about a lost lad, which Carl is sure he hears wallowing at night. 

Eventually, Carl falls asleep in a cave. He hears someone yelling his name, although he’s not sure if it’s the lost boy, or Jack calling for him. But after that, he feels a lot better. He knows how to keep Jack’s memories alive, but also how to move on.