Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

 

They were the outcast group, the ones with issues and poverty-stricken houses.  Jamie and Dennis were brothers but Dennis has mental issues.  Clay is a black guy with vitiligo, the disease where his skin had huge white splotches.  Mia is a goth girl who won't change for anything and could care less what anyone thinks. They  all can't wait until they can grow up and leave Black Mouth, a dying town that offers nothing good.   One summer when they are about thirteen, they meet The Magician.

He seems to be homeless and living near the old mine shafts.  Middle-aged, he wears an eye patch to cover the eye he lost somehow.  He is scary looking, but seems to have plenty of time for the four and is willing to teach them magic tricks.  Soon, they are spending all their spare time with him.  They don't realize when things start to change and he asks them to do more dangerous things.  Then finally, when The Magician thinks he has them under control, he tries to make them kill Dennis.  But he is wrong and as the teens run from him, they set off a disaster that ends in tragedy regardless.

Now grown, Jamie has never been back.  His life has been guilt and alcoholism and attempts to forget that summer.  He lives from job to job.  But when he gets the call, he has to go.  His mother has died after all these years and arrangements have to be made for Dennis who has stayed in Black Mouth.  He thinks he will be there only a week, but when he arrives, he hears the news about a young girl who has stabbed her best friend to death and who says a man living in the woods made her do it.  Mia coincidentally is also there and calls Clay who is now a social worker.  They believe that The Magician is back and they must band together one more time in order to defeat him.

Ronald Malfi always delivers a great horror novel but this one may be my favorite.  The mystery and the contrast between that summer when they are teenagers and now that this one when they are adults and supposedly more able to fight evil.  The affection between these four who found affection in short supply growing up is admirable and a great offset to all that is happening.  Dennis is a loveable character who shows unimagined knowledge and strength in the battle.  Jamie's love for him is touching and the interplay between the characters who meet up again for the first time since that summer is great.  I listened to this novel and the narrator did a marvelous job.  This book is recommended for horror readers.