I’m starting my review of The Girl in the Corn, with the that there are big time TRIGGERS in this book. After all, it’s a horror book and therefore there are several horror images. Perhaps they could be more so, but even what they do show (such as the murder of a child, the brutal murder of the dog and several other people, plus drug use/abuse, guns, kidnapping, sex, and what I consider rape) is not pleasant to say the least, and, of course could be disturbing. In fact, I had to stop and think if I wanted to finish reading after the death of the dog. (Yes, I was “not-okay-okay” with the human deaths, but it was the dog that finally got me). I would go on and finish it, but honestly, I’m not really sure why, as it did not get better.
Yet, I was wondering what was driving author Jason Offutt, as they have an interesting outlook on life, the supernatural and mental illness. Is this story “real” or all in the mind of our main character? (And is the main character Thomas or Bobby?) They also follow the idea of who/what is good and who/what is evil? Or is there really a way to say? And is there really good and evil or just “what we are” and that is a combination of both?
Then we get to the story. We follow Thomas (Tommy when he was six) and his journey into madness. Or are fairies and magic and evil monsters real? As a child he sees a fairy in the corn one day. She seems nice, but things start to happen. There are supernatural and evil things that are also happening around them, but what can you trust? Your eyes or heart? Then we have the showdown in part one, where the “big baddie” is stopped. Flash forward to Thomas as a teen in a mental institution, and then flash forward to several years as an adult. Simultaneously we are following Bobby. He is a few years older than Thomas, has uber religious parents who some would say are borderline abusive, others would say full out abusive. He kills another teen (who was trying to molest him) and that starts his journey into understanding his darker side. Bobby and Thomas’ worlds intertwine on the page and all hell breaks loose.
In my opinion, none of the characters are likable, even the supposedly “good” people. The one character I somewhat liked is (spoiler) killed. The violence is unpleasant to say the least and overall, this was not an easy read. Reader discussion material is included. And the sequel The Boy from Two Worlds is due June 2024 and is what started this insane ride. One entry in an online catalog made me think, “Well that sounds interesting and that’s a nice cover,” find book one and start reading. Did I like this book? Not exactly. Was it an experience? Oh heck (only I didn’t say heck) yes!
