“I mean, yeah, you have taken it all a step further, sure, but it’s not like anyone over the age of fifty has ever really given a shit about us.”

The best way to describe this book is as if Hot Fuzz also had Twisty the Clown in it.

The story begins with Quinn and her father, Glenn, moving into the small town, Kettle Springs. When Quinn starts school, she finds herself becoming friends with a popular group of kids. However, these kids have built up a reputation, a reputation of being wild careless teenagers. But as they continue maintaining this reputation, the adults in the community start to harbor negative feels towards them. This leads to a confrontation of epic proportion.

First off, I don’t know how this book has not been talked about more. In the beginning, I felt that the story was a bit slow, but it’s mostly because of the town building and learning about the town dynamics with Quinn. However, after about five chapters, the story starts to pick up. As this horrific scene begins to unfold, the story stops being about Quinn and her move to Kettle Springs and shifts to Cole and his relationship with the people in Kettle Springs.

In a sense, the shift between Quinn and Cole makes sense since both of them are dealing with the aftermath of the death of a family member. Both have dealt with being the “talk of the town” at one point. Both are victims of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. With Quinn being lumped with Cole’s troubled crew, after laughing in a tense situation, she also becomes a target for the townspeople to start disliking. The only downside is that their friendship was fleshed out.

Second, so much gore. I loved it. No notes or issues there.

Third, the reasoning. Once the villains are revealed their reason for them wreaking havoc, it was pretty disappointing. Perhaps, it is because I’m not a crazed psychopath who wants revenge on people who have wronged me. But the fact that these villains place so much of their misfortune on the youth is baffling. Unsurprisingly, it is a common theme of each generation to hate on the younger generation because, you know, they lack respect or direction. Each generation has its strengths and weaknesses, except for boomers. But do I want to go on a rampage to wipe their generation out of existence? No.
As Kettle Springs is a small town, the tension between the generations is more palpable. They can’t escape each other, which adds to the frustration, confusion, and resentment of both generations.

Overall, this book being a little commentary on the generational gap, delivered on the horror and gore elements.