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A review by vikingwolf
If You Go Down to the Woods by Seth C. Adams
3.0
Joey and his family move to a new town and the summer begins with Joey saving Fat Bobby from the bullies and finding new friends in Jim and Tara. Things take a strange turn when they prise open an abandoned car, finding a dead body and a lot of money. As they debate what to do with the money, The Collector arrives in town. He killed the dead body and has returned to take it and the money and he isn't amused that the money is now gone, giving them an ultimatum. Return the money if you want to live. But the kids fear that he intends to kill them whatever they decide to do.
The characters in the book were kids I liked. Joey is a good narrator, a kid who is obsessed with comic books, whose dad is manager of a book store. He has a love-hate relationship with his sister Sarah which does get nasty at times but they come through for each other when it matters. He has his brave and faithful dog Bandit by his side and I loved how the dog played a big part in the story. They have moved to a small rural town and as he explores the woods he comes across three older boys bullying Fat Bobby and decides to step in and help, putting himself firmly in the line of fire. Dillon the lead bully just happens to be the son of the local racist, sexist Sheriff who is every bit as dangerous as his son as Joey is about to discover as he runs the gauntlet trying to avoid them all summer. Tara is working during the summer at the book store which is when Joey develops a crush on her and she is already friends with Bobby and Jim.
My favourite character is Fat Bobby. The boy is physically beaten by his father and picked on by bullies constantly. Finding a new friend like Joey is a lifeline to Bobby. He is introduced to the world of comic book heroes as a new hobby and he gets self defence lessons from Joey's dad to help boost his confidence. Hanging out with Joey, Tara, Jim and Bandit is the first happy summer that Bobby has-until they find the car. I also liked Jim, whose dad runs the local dump and that provides a good meeting place for the kids. He gets racist abuse from The Sheriff and the bullies but he is brave and refuses to back down from the fight. Sarah's relationship with Joey is difficult-she likes to inflict a bit of physical hurt on him but in saying that Joey is forever undermining her confidence by calling her ugly all the time so they can both be a little frustrating to read about.
The kids make some seriously stupid decisions, especially taking the money and not thinking of the consequences. The Collector is a pretty scary guy to get on the wrong side of and as soon as he comes to town, the kids are in danger. The Sheriff is pretty much a psycho, trying to hurt the kids who accused his son of coming after them with a knife, and picking a fight with Joey's family when they defend him. I actually liked seeing the relationships that the kids have with their parents. Jim and his dad Ernest are very close and spend time hanging out together at the dump, practicing their shooting. Joey is close to his own father and does confide in him about the bullies and his dad does not back down from a fight to defend his family. When they get in too deep with the worst bad guys, the kids decide to tell him everything but is it too late?
The book has a steady pace although there is not a ton of action in the first half. There is the rescue of Bobby and the incident at the fair but most of it is about developing the relationship between the kids which allows the reader to get to know them. Once the kids see The Sheriff in his true colours and find the body, things start happening a bit faster. There are quite a few tense run ins with various bad guys and a few surprising twists. I constantly found the book interesting enough to keep my attention but at the same time I was perhaps expecting just a little more out of it. I did still enjoy it as a thriller read and would look at other work by the author if I find good sounding plots that appeal to me.
For everyone who is concerned about Bandit, yes he does get into a bit of trouble defending his humans, but he does survive the events of the book. Knowing the fate of the dog is always very important to me so I thought I better share that with you!
The characters in the book were kids I liked. Joey is a good narrator, a kid who is obsessed with comic books, whose dad is manager of a book store. He has a love-hate relationship with his sister Sarah which does get nasty at times but they come through for each other when it matters. He has his brave and faithful dog Bandit by his side and I loved how the dog played a big part in the story. They have moved to a small rural town and as he explores the woods he comes across three older boys bullying Fat Bobby and decides to step in and help, putting himself firmly in the line of fire. Dillon the lead bully just happens to be the son of the local racist, sexist Sheriff who is every bit as dangerous as his son as Joey is about to discover as he runs the gauntlet trying to avoid them all summer. Tara is working during the summer at the book store which is when Joey develops a crush on her and she is already friends with Bobby and Jim.
My favourite character is Fat Bobby. The boy is physically beaten by his father and picked on by bullies constantly. Finding a new friend like Joey is a lifeline to Bobby. He is introduced to the world of comic book heroes as a new hobby and he gets self defence lessons from Joey's dad to help boost his confidence. Hanging out with Joey, Tara, Jim and Bandit is the first happy summer that Bobby has-until they find the car. I also liked Jim, whose dad runs the local dump and that provides a good meeting place for the kids. He gets racist abuse from The Sheriff and the bullies but he is brave and refuses to back down from the fight. Sarah's relationship with Joey is difficult-she likes to inflict a bit of physical hurt on him but in saying that Joey is forever undermining her confidence by calling her ugly all the time so they can both be a little frustrating to read about.
The kids make some seriously stupid decisions, especially taking the money and not thinking of the consequences. The Collector is a pretty scary guy to get on the wrong side of and as soon as he comes to town, the kids are in danger. The Sheriff is pretty much a psycho, trying to hurt the kids who accused his son of coming after them with a knife, and picking a fight with Joey's family when they defend him. I actually liked seeing the relationships that the kids have with their parents. Jim and his dad Ernest are very close and spend time hanging out together at the dump, practicing their shooting. Joey is close to his own father and does confide in him about the bullies and his dad does not back down from a fight to defend his family. When they get in too deep with the worst bad guys, the kids decide to tell him everything but is it too late?
The book has a steady pace although there is not a ton of action in the first half. There is the rescue of Bobby and the incident at the fair but most of it is about developing the relationship between the kids which allows the reader to get to know them. Once the kids see The Sheriff in his true colours and find the body, things start happening a bit faster. There are quite a few tense run ins with various bad guys and a few surprising twists. I constantly found the book interesting enough to keep my attention but at the same time I was perhaps expecting just a little more out of it. I did still enjoy it as a thriller read and would look at other work by the author if I find good sounding plots that appeal to me.
For everyone who is concerned about Bandit, yes he does get into a bit of trouble defending his humans, but he does survive the events of the book. Knowing the fate of the dog is always very important to me so I thought I better share that with you!