A review by will_cherico
Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives by Adam Cesare

4.0

This was a really strong second entry in what I think is going to be a trilogy, but I"m not really sure how. This one wraps things up pretty neatly, and lacks the sequel setups the first one had. I really liked a lot of the characters in this - Jheri was a great addition to the main team and Mayor Maybrook' had a fun sheriff-from-Jaws kind of role for his sadly short appearances. I liked Rust and Cole together, but it was annoying to see them bicker almost the entire time they were together. It didn't really feel realistic that they would still be together when they're doing literally nothing but fighting. I loved the villains of this one, Frendo being even more of a symbol than the first time around. It had a January 6th-ish vibe and I think it made for a really good allegory of the way people will so viciously believe anything but the possibility that America has a problem with mass violence, even if part of that denial is resorting to violence. It's a surprisingly thoughtful book for a YA slasher novel, and it made the already well-paced story a lot better. Very interested to see what Adam Cesare has in store for the third one.