Publisher Comments:

A terrified three-year-old boy is found clinging to a wire fence at the side of a country road. His mother had whispered to him to never let go, and then she vanished. The only clue found by authorities as to the child's identity is a photograph of two summering teenage girls and a letter presumably written from one to the other. Sixteen years later, Walker Devereaux finds himself in Toronto to uncover the truth about his biological parents, of whom he has a dim memory. Working as a cab driver, Walker befriends Krista, a pretty, demanding, wheelchair-bound night dispatcher. Krista and Walker become fast friends, and she can't help but involve herself with Walker's quest to understand his shrouded identity. Soon enough, though, their off-hours sleuthing turns perilous as they become the prey of another abandoned boy who has transformed himself into the embodiment of his own desperate, violent, and sinister pathologies.

Review:

"Adapted from a popular Canadian radio drama, this light, engaging first novel by playwright Nichol is a coming-of-age story steeped in mystery. Abandoned by the roadside at the age of three, 19-year-old Walker Devereaux sets off to find his birth parents with the aid of only two clues: a photo of his mother as a child and a cryptic letter to her from her best friend. In pursuit of his past, he leaves his adoptive family and girlfriend in Big River and moves to Toronto, where he finds work on the graveyard shift at a cab company. He falls in with his dispatcher, the attractive, wheelchair-bound Krista Papadopoulos. Together, they follow the trail of Walker's parents as it leads from Toronto's chic Forest Hill neighborhood to the shores of Lake Erie and finally to Kingston, Jamaica. Nichol weaves in the story of Bobby, an animal-torturing, Hannibal Lechter — like character who Walker must confront if he is to learn his family's dark past. In an attempt to dissuade them from probing further, Bobby sets Krista's car on fire and kills Walker's cat, Kerouac. Undeterred, Walker soldiers on. Nichol's instincts as a playwright serve him well. The dialogue between Walker and Krista is quick and playful, and though the suspense rarely builds to Hitchcockian heights, the novel is well paced and the pages turn quickly." 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　----Publishers Weekly

Synopsis:

Abandoned by his mother 16 years ago, Walker Devereaux is in Toronto to find the truth about his parents. Working as a cab driver, Walker befriends Krista, a wheelchair-bound night dispatcher. But they soon become the prey of another abandoned boy who has transformed himself into the embodiment of his own desperate, violent, and sinister pathologies.

Abandoned by his mother 16 years ago, Walker Devereaux is in Toronto to find the truth about his parents. Working as a cab driver, Walker befriends Krista, a wheelchair-bound night dispatcher. But they soon become the prey of another abandoned boy who has transformed himself into the embodiment of his own desperate, violent, and sinister pathologies.

Book Dimension

Height (mm) 237 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Width (mm) 163