Blacklands

November 16, 2009
British author Bauer's solid debut focuses on Steven Lamb, an unhappy 12-year-old boy who lives with his mother, grandmother, and five-year-old brother in Shipcolt, Somerset. Steven's grandmother is still haunted by the disappearance and suspected murder of her 11-year-old son, Billy, 19 years earlier. The authorities assume Billy was killed by pedophile Arnold Avery, who was convicted of six counts of murder and is serving a life sentence in Longmoor prison. Determined to find Billy's remains, Steven has been methodically digging up the moor near his house. Frustrated by his lack of progress, he writes a letter to Avery asking for information, and so begins a cat-and-mouse game that will have dire consequences. Bauer creates believable tension within the Lamb household as her characters shoulder enormous psychological burdens, though a somewhat far-fetched climax dilutes the quiet power of the preceding story.

Starred review from November 1, 2009
In Bauer's spare, haunting debut, a 12-year-old boy corresponds with a serial killer to learn the location of his uncle's grave.

Nineteen years ago, 11-year-old Billy Peters disappeared from his home in a village on the edge of Exmoor, a craggy expanse of heather, gorse and Bronze Age ruins in Southwest England. His nephew Steven can see that Nan (the boy's name for his grandmother) has lived a wan half-life ever since, waiting for news even though Arnold Avery was convicted of multiple child abductions and murders, including her son's. (Police found Billy's Nikes in Arnold's van, but his body was never recovered.) Steven's mother Lettie still lives with Nan, despite the fact that she neglected her daughter for years after losing Billy, her favorite. In turn, single mom Lettie favors younger son Davey over Steven. Since many of Avery's victims were found buried on Exmoor, Steven searches the moor with his friend Lewis for Billy's grave, digging with a cherished spade given to him by his favorite surrogate father, Lettie's on-again-off-again boyfriend Jude. With a child's magical thinking, sensitively portrayed in Bauer's inventive, ironic diction, Steven believes that the gaping hole in his family will be filled by the unearthing of Billy's remains, thereby ending Nan's uncertainty. He writes to Avery, a model prisoner hoping for parole in two years, in an effort to trick him into revealing the gravesite; Avery responds with tantalizing but puzzling hints. When Steven inadvertently sends a photo of himself, revealing that he is of the age particularly favored by this serial killer, Avery's compulsion mandates that he must escape and make Steven his next victim. A dispute between a prison guard and Avery's only friend, fomented by Avery himself, provides the opportunity. Meanwhile, Steven's ambivalent friendship with the manipulative Lewis will have crucial consequences all its own.

Bauer displays remarkable talent in pacing, plotting and, most important of all, getting beneath the skin of even her most repellent characters.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 15, 2009
Twelve-year-old Steven's hardscrabble life in tiny Shipcolt, England, on the edge of Exmoor has a predictable monotony: he spends most of his free time with his best friend, Lewis, dodging the local bullies and trying to garner the favor of his mother, Lettie, and his Nan (grandmother), who seem to disapprove of his every move. The two women exist in a state of emotional limbo, still mourning the death of his Uncle Billy, who was abducted and murdered as an 11 year old by a serial killer serving time in a nearby prison. Steven enters into a bold planto find his uncle's killer and thus win the affection of his mother and grandmother. But once he begins a secret correspondence with the killer, Steven starts down a treacherous path that could endanger his own life. VERDICT In her debut, self-described dishwasher-bookmaker-journalist-turned-novelist Bauer offers a compelling, fast-paced, and suspenseful drama that will keep readers engaged from the first page. Fans of Ruth Rendell will likely be drawn to Bauer's work. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 9/15/09.]Caroline Mann, Univ. of Portland Lib., OR

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2009
Bauer, whose intent was to write a small story about a boy and his grandmother, didnt quite succeed. Yes, theres a grandmother and her 12-year-old grandson, but Bauers debut is hardly a small (read simple and uncomplicated) story. Its an unsettling novel, with the sort of devastating emotional content that makes it both difficult to read and difficult to forget. Steven Lamb wants nothing more than to find the body of his uncle, taken as young boy (and presumably murdered) by pedophile Arnold Avery, who is now in prison. Its Stevens desperate wish that by finding the body, hell heal his dysfunctional family and repair his grandmothers broken heart. Digging holes in the nearby moor (the blacklands), where many of Averys victims were found, has revealed nothing, leaving the pedophile himself as Stevens only hope for ending his familys pain. Thus begins a carefully orchestrated mail correspondencejust a few words here and therepassed between the two in letters that the recipients must puzzle out. Unfortunately for Steven, Avery quickly gains control of the conversation, which allows him to live in glorious memory of his killings. If the turn of events isnt totally unexpected, its a riveting journey nonetheless, with Bauer remaining fully invested in her troubled characters: one a clever, vicious manipulator; the other an unappreciated, bullied 12-year-old, desperate for love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)