From Publishers Weekly
An electrifying, unforgettable novel that unfolds with the logic of a Greek tragedy, Carroll's parable on moral cowardice starts out as a quirky romance in laid-back southern California but gradually descends into nightmare. Max Fischer, a Los Angeles cartoonist, is a bachelor when he moves in with eccentric, opinionated Lily Aaron, a restaurant manager, and her precocious 10-year-old son, Lincoln. Sensing that Lily is hiding something, Max hires a detective and does some snooping of his own. He discovers, to his horror, that Lily's ex-husband is nonexistent, a fabrication, and worse, that Lily--whom he deeply loves--is a kidnapper, having stolen Lincoln as an infant. When Lily eventually confesses to her crime, which she committed as a college dropout fleeing drugs and an abusive boyfriend, Max decides to marry her anyway and create a stable family. But seven years later, when Lincoln, now a sullen, crack-addicted adolescent, discovers Lily's crime and the reputed identity of his real parents--tragic events unwind with terrifying inevitability. Carroll ( Outside the Dog Museum ) writes with uncompromising honesty about how secrets gnaw and kill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-An all-absorbing story that begins with warmth, light, and humor. Max has found the seemingly perfect mate in Lily, who comes with the seemingly perfect son, nine-year-old Lincoln. They marry and form the seemingly perfect, loving family. When Max begins to realize that their life is a lie, he searches Lily's past and learns that she kidnapped Lincoln as a baby. The love that flowed between them as a young family will die if Max tries to right this long-ago committed wrong, yet doing nothing is equally as devastating. When 17-year-old Lincoln finds Max's diary, however, the now rebellious, angry teen takes matters into his own hands and commits suicide. Readers may wonder why Lincoln, before even finding the diary, changes so drastically from a fun-loving, adoring son to the totally defiant opposite. The transformation seems exaggerated, since love, attention, and general concern were constants in his life. But the book is filled with truths and values that could perhaps open teens' eyes to the problems (both everyday and extraordinary) that parents face. A moving and very sad book.
_ Bunni Union, Geauga West Library, Chesterland, OH_
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.