Boy's Life

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Boy's Life is a novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert R. McCammon.

The book is the tale of eleven-year-old Cory Mackenson who grows up in the town of Zephyr, Alabama, where magic and surprise are commonplace. The plot of the story starts out as Cory's father Tom, on his ordinary milkman route, watches a car drive straight into a deep lake and plunge down to the bottom with a passenger inside. He jumps into the lake in an attempt to save the driver of the car, and that is when the tale turns for the worst. The driver of this car has been the victim of murder. He is stripped naked, strangled with a copper wire, and handcuffed to the steering wheel. This vision and the realization that there is evil in the small town of Zephyr is enough to haunt Cory's father. An old woman called the Lady might be able to help Cory's father, but he won't go to her. Cory also has several adventures with his friends ( Johnny, Davy Ray, and Ben) such as flying after school is out the last day of school. Cory has a dog named Rebel and a bike named Rocket. Cory also has an eccentric grandfather, whose name is Jaybird.

The story is set in the early 1960s and makes observations about changes that were happening in America at that time with particular emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement - several of the characters are connected to the Ku Klux Klan, and the segregation of the black community is referred to in some detail.

Cory's story with its pervading sense of childhood innocence tempered and compromised by experience is reminiscent of the stories of Ray Bradbury, and more recently some of Stephen King's novels; as such it transcends the horror genre despite the understated supernatural elements. At the heart of the story is Cory's relationship with his father which tinges the narrative with a subtle melancholy.

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