In the fall of 1993, the tranquil town of Harting Farms
near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland is thrown into turmoil
when teens start vanishing. No one is able to find any
trace of them until one of the girls turns up dead near the
city park. But she's the only one to be found. As fall
moves into winter and then into 1994, more disappearances
occur with no clues to help find the person dubbed the
Piper. The police are working overtime on the
investigation, with no results -- and no way to stop the
abductions.
Five local boys take it upon themselves to conduct their
own search to find out what's happened to the other teens.
After all, adults don't know the same things kids know
about other kids. As they pledge to keep their activities a
secret from everyone, their intense preoccupation with and
complex pursuit of the Piper is putting the boys at risk of
becoming one of his victims.
Told in first-person narrative by Angelo, one of the five
boys, and at 756 pages in length, DECEMBER PARK by
Ronald Malfi, is an intensely dark tale of how evil
can adversely affect a town. The plot is suspenseful with
complex characters, but it stretches out for way too long.
In the quiet suburb of Harting Farms, the weekly crime
blotter usually consists of graffiti or the occasional bout
of mailbox baseball. But in the fall of 1993, children
begin vanishing and one is found dead. Newspapers call him
the Piper because he has come to take the children away.
But there are darker names for him, too . . .
Vowing to stop the Piper’s reign of terror, five boys take
up the search. Their teenage pledge turns into a journey of
self-discovery . . . and a journey into the darkness of
their own hometown. On the twilit streets of Harting Farms,
everyone is a suspect. And any of the boys might be the
Piper’s next victim.
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