Ticking

This is a very intense story about neglected and abused children, even though they don't all appear to be, at first sight.  It is well worth a read; I've just finished it for the second time and am even more impressed than I was the first time through.  Even knowing the ending, it still packed a wallop when I got there.

The author has paid great attention to detail all the way through, and his foreshadowing is perfect.  Each step in the story unfolds with precision, inevitability, and utmost believability.  The main characters have, by and large, suffered enormously, a pain portrayed unflinchingly by the author, and which is not mitigated by the boys' fortunate circumstances.  The callousness, neglect, and outright abuse inflicted on them can be painful to read about, but I urge anyone who takes up this story to read it all the way through, if at all possible.  The subject matter may be grim, in some ways, but there are also moments of grace and humor, perhaps even redemption.  Not all is gloom; there is also great love shown, which gives real hope of healing.