The Last Domino

May 30, 2005
Meyer's harrowing first novel moves at a breakneck pace as it examines a multitude of factors that lead to horrific violence. Travis Ellroy is a self-doubting junior and a frequent target of bullies, particularly star running back P.J., whose windshield Travis has damaged by lobbing stones from a hilltop. Travis also lives in the shadow of his older brother, a "golden boy" who shot himself six years earlier. As Travis befriends a new student, Daniel, he becomes more confident; a voice within him emerges that says things he himself is too scared to say. This voice both terrifies and bolsters Travis: "These words were mine somehow, though they came from a place I'd never known about." As Travis's relationship with Daniel strengthens (he teaches Travis how to fire a gun and gives him dating tips: "All girls play hard to get. You just have to keep pushing them until they give you what you want"), things take a turn for the worse. After Travis's date with a classmate ends badly, he and Daniel smash P.J.'s newly fixed windshield and get caught; then Travis launches into a murderous spree. Like Walter Dean Myers's recent Shooter, this novel intersperses the narrative with police interviews and journal entries. Although Meyer's story lacks the taut structure and deeper characterizations of Shooter, his book nonetheless sounds a chilling call to attention for parents and teachers. Ages 13-up.

November 1, 2005
Gr 9 Up -Most of the dominoes have already fallen when Travis places the barrel of the gun in his mouth in the opening scene of this horrific story. But realizing that, unlike his older brother Richie, he lacks the courage to kill himself, Travis stalks across the field to his high school to exact revenge on those he perceives as his tormentors. Flashing back 16 days, readers then meet Travis's dysfunctional parents and various schoolmates whose taunts and threats lead to the tragic, climactic carnage. Two voices drive the teen crazy: in his head he hears Richie, and in almost daily encounters he grows dependent on Daniel, a new kid who revels in manipulating him. There is no sugarcoating, no surprise turns or twists in the plot, just an all-too-familiar sequence of events portraying the tragedy of school violence, punctuated by realistically nasty language ranging from the rude to the obscene. The violence is detailed, with victims pleading for their lives, tumbling bodies, and blood-slicked floors. So is the aftermath, as Travis is sentenced to life in prison for the murders -including those of his parents' -he doesn't remember committing. Chapters are interspersed with -documentary - items such as transcripts of police interviews, journal entries, and letters that add depth to the characterizations and complexity to the plot. Meyer clearly communicates that insane crimes have reasons, and that the only sad certainty is that they can happen anywhere. This book does for school gun-violence what Alex Flinn did for dating violence in "Breathing Underwater" (HarperCollins, 2001)." -Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 2, 2005
Meyer's harrowing first novel moves at a breakneck pace as it examines a multitude of factors that lead to horrific violence. Travis Ellroy is a self-doubting junior and a frequent target of bullies, particularly star running back P.J., whose windshield Travis has damaged by lobbing stones from a hilltop. Travis also lives in the shadow of his older brother, a "golden boy" who shot himself six years earlier. As Travis befriends a new student, Daniel, he becomes more confident; a voice within him emerges that says things he himself is too scared to say. This voice both terrifies and bolsters Travis: "These words were mine somehow, though they came from a place I'd never known about." As Travis's relationship with Daniel strengthens (he teaches Travis how to fire a gun and gives him dating tips: "All girls play hard to get. You just have to keep pushing them until they give you what you want"), things take a turn for the worse. After Travis's date with a classmate ends badly, he and Daniel smash P.J.'s newly fixed windshield and get caught; then Travis launches into a murderous spree. Like Walter Dean Myers's recent Shooter, this novel intersperses the narrative with police interviews and journal entries. Although Meyer's story lacks the taut structure and deeper characterizations of Shooter, his book nonetheless sounds a chilling call to attention for parents and teachers. Ages 13-up.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2005
Gr. 10-12. High-school junior Travis' manipulative new friend, Daniel, taps easily into the depression and anger that Travis has developed during the years since his older brother's suicide. Daniel carefully coaches Travis, whose acting out evolves from simple bad manners to petty crime to a deadly shooting spree that begins in his home and ends at school. Although several elements are too coincidental (for example, Travis' brother's girlfriend grew up to be the school counselor), Meyer effectively manages both his characterizations and the onward rush of fate, reinforcing the momentum with chapter heads that count the days: "16 Days to Go." Obviously, the subject matter isn't for every teen reader, but the social psychology is compelling, making the book a good springboard for discussion with mature teens, who will be able to see how the details of Travis' bloody spree bring relationships into sharp focus. The interspersed "documents" (police interviews and journal entries) echo the technique used in Walter Dean Myers' similarly themed " Shooter" (2004). Don't look for ultimate salvation in this tale; it isn't here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)