Malcolm "Mackie" Doyle is a very strange teenager. He tries
to fit in, but can't. He's known as a weird and creepy boy
who is very
pale, blond-haired, and dark-eyed. Mackie is allergic to
iron. When he sees blood, he becomes very ill. He tries
his best not to bring attention to himself for reasons that
are accepted but not really stated. The town of Gentry,
where he lives, is almost as strange as Mackie.
Mackie also hides a dark secret, one his parents and sister
hide from the world. They even keep the most important
facts from him. Mackie knows he's not normal, but no one
will tell him why. That is, until one of Mackie's
schoolmates, Tate, experiences a family tragedy. Tate's
little sister, Natalie, has been killed, or I think she has
been killed, but again, everyone seems to dance around the
situation that has occurred. Tate knows her sister's death
was due to an evil influence,
but finding the answers will be very difficult
because everyone around her ignores the signs and pretends
that nothing is wrong. However, Mackie is getting closer
to the truth about himself and Tate's sister.
Mackie replaced the real Malcolm Doyle when he was only a baby.
He's known as a Castoff and was expected to die, but instead
he thrived. Now the creatures of the underground, the ones
that have jagged teeth and ugly features, want Mackie to
join them. If he doesn't, he will continue to weaken. His
sister Emma will also suffer, for she was the one who was
able to save him from dying when he was only a baby.
THE REPLACEMENT is a very dark and strange book with which I
could not connect. I felt no connection to Mackie, his
predicament, or the spooky atmosphere. Though it started
with an interesting premise, ultimately the story felt
superficial and hollow. This book may appeal to some readers
who enjoy the macabre; unfortunately, I am not one of them.
Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie comes
from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of
living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is
a Replacement—left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years
ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and
consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world.
Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on
his bass or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl named
Tate. But when Tate’s baby sister goes missing, Mackie is
drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as
Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps
and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.
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