The Caretaker of Lorne Field

Starred review from May 3, 2010
Zeltserman’s superb mix of humor and horror focuses on Jack Durkin, the ninth generation of firstborn sons in his family who have daily weeded Lorne Field to purge it of Aukowies, bloodthirsty plants that could overrun the world in weeks if not attended to. Though Jack takes his job seriously, no one else does: his oldest son doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps; his wife is tired of living poorly on his caretaker’s salary; and the townspeople who subsidize him are increasingly skeptical of purported menaces that no one has ever seen because Jack diligently nips them in the bud. With his support dwindling, Jack finds himself driven to desperate measures to prove that he’s truly saving the world. Zeltserman (Pariah) orchestrates events perfectly, making it impossible to tell if Jack is genuinely humankind’s unsung hero or merely the latest descendant of a family of superstitious loonies. Readers will keep turning the pages to see how the ambiguous plot resolves.

June 15, 2010

The Durkins have been saving the world for 300 years. The trouble is that nobody believes it.

Most of his fellow townspeople think of Jack Durkin as that dotty old weed-puller. Some get nastier. Pointedly, they insist that Durkin fingers have been in the town far too long. What hurts most is the viper in Jack's nest: Lydia, his distinctly anti-Penelope wife, who sides with his detractors. The mystery started in 1710 when the famous (or infamous) Contract was drawn up to recompense the heirs of the early, reluctantly heroic Durkin chosen to preserve the town, and by extension the world, from the assault of the Aukowies. Blanketing Lorne Field like a riot of weeds, they seemed less dangerous than unsightly, but no weed ever had such lethal potential. Catch them at two inches and they were manageable. Turn your back and they zoomed to five, requiring Herculean efforts to exterminate. Above five inches, the cause was lost. According to the Book of the Aukowies, it would take only weeks to "ravage the land," converting humankind into "mincemeat." Increasingly now, there are days when heartsick Jack, beset by ingrates, betrayed by those he loves most, contemplates his mission and considers it impossible.

Harrowing. Zeltserman (Killer, 2010, etc.) colors it black with the best of them.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2010
Crime writer Zeltserman ("Killer; Pariah" has produced a nail-biter. Caretaker Jack Durkin is obsessively faithful to an ancient book and a contract that requires him daily to weed a huge expanse from dawn to dusk, else "Aukowies," fiends nine feet tall with multiple fangs, will appear out of the ground to destroy the world. Jack knows he's an authentic superhero, but he is gradually betrayed by family and friends, unbelievers in the reality of his contract. Townsfolk sneer, and Jack suffers a variety of agonies, despite which he continues his exhausting labors, until finally he has no defender left. The narrative is straightforward and gritty, reminiscent of works of Dashiell Hammett. Place and time seem to float, and this tends to dislocate the reader, who may also come to doubt Jack's sanity. VERDICTNot literary or even stylish but gripping and actually "horrifying," this title is recommended for horror fans and readers who may relish unpleasant surprises.—Jonathan Pearce, California State Univ. at Stanislaus, Stockton

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
This superbly crafted horror story explores the dichotomy between belief and rationality. Why has a small town maintained a contract since the eighteenth century with a member of the community and his heirs to pull weeds in Lorne Field? Jack Durkin, the current and ninth generation of Lorne Field caretakers, says the things he pulls from the ground arent weeds; they are something called Aukowies, and if theyre not pulled up by the roots and burned every day, the world will end. Under pressure from his wife to get a real job; from the town fathers (looking to save a few bucks and end the contract); and from his sons, who dont see themselves as career weed-pullers, Durkin is finally out of a job. No more weed pulling. So is he just a nut case, or does the novel segue into another Little Shop of Horrors? Sorry, we dont do spoilers. Horror fans will have to read this first-class cautionary tale themselves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)