The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs

When 16-year-old Ivy learns that her father is one of the two aged, identical Rumbaugh twins, the surprise is overshadowed by her obsessive love for her mother. But if the Rumbaugh curse plays true in Ivy's veins, she may take her inherited knack for taxidermy too far. With skill, Lisa Datz brings the subtle, dark humor laced throughout the story to the surface. She also does an admirable job delivering various international accents and the Rumbaugh twins' clipped way of communicating. Datz's crowning achievement with this performance, however, is her projecting of a confidence and chilling intelligence in Ivy that leaves listeners believing in her dark destiny. J.M.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

May 1, 2006
Are personalities determined by genes or by environment? Is it possible to love one's mother too much? Is there really such a thing as free will? Can curses be passed down from one generation to the next? These are some of the questions raised in Gantos's (Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key
) black comedy in which teenager Ivy Spirco makes some disturbing discoveries about her heritage. The elderly Rumbaugh twins, two identical men who run the pharmacy where Ivy's mother used to work, have fascinated Ivy since she was a girl. It comes as quite a shock to her when on her 16th birthday Ivy learns that one of the twins—either Adolph or Abner—is her biological father. Even more unnerving to her is the possibility that she may have inherited the "Rumbaugh curse"—obsessive mother love. Ivy would be the first to admit that she deeply adores her mother, but will she follow in the twins' footsteps, attempting to preserve her mother's body for all eternity? Geared for a sophisticated audience familiar with the gothic genre, this offbeat novel, reflecting elements of Psycho
and Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," draws readers into a macabre world where taboos are lifted and unconventional desires unleashed. Unfortunately, the philosophical points made by the author are far less vivid and memorable as the image of old Mrs. Raumbaugh's dried-up corpse, painstakingly immortalized by her twin sons. Ages 12-up.

July 24, 2006
With a steady youthful voice,Datz gives an appropriately creepy and compelling edge to Gantos's strange, darkly comic novel of disturbing small-town goings-on. Upon her 16th birthday, narrator Ivy learns from her mother that one of the elderly identical twins—either Adolph or Abner Rumbaugh, who run the local pharmacy—is her biological father. She also learns that she may have inherited the Rumbaugh family curse: harboring freakishly obsessive love for one's mother. Will Ivy's future be determined by twisted DNA? Mystery, gossip, taxidermy (of the animal and human variety), horror, genetic experimentation and hints of incest are all themes that waft through this tale. Though the subject matter isn't for everyone, teens who take their humor black, and who may be discovering gothic literature or making forays into goth culture, are likely fans for this solidly produced recording. Ages 12-up.