*69 would’ve helped

29. In the Middle of the Night – Robert Cormier

The scenario that drives the tension for the protagonist of this book is barely possible today. Sure, there are many people with land lines, also businesses, but if someone’s father made a terrible decision that cost the lives of many disadvantaged children, they’d just be haunted on the internet instead of via repetitive phone calls. A Google-haunting has a very different kind of tension than repeated phone calls to a landline in the middle of the night (Ha.). It’s a little harder to utilize online threats and harassment to drive a novel’s plot forward. I’ve read a few novels that used texts and snippets of online postings and for the most part I find that timely but sterile and I guess at some point it’s all going to seem dated anyway… Datedness aside, Robert Cormier is very good with dark topics and slowly revealing important details and this book is a good example of his talents. To be fair, a time when it was only possible to get a hold of someone when they were actually near a landline feels like a dark topic in and of itself to some- but I definitely miss it on occasion.

Don’t even think about waking Murderface up from her nap with threatening phone calls – or anything else.

Mixtape:

1. Christian Woman – Type O Negative

2. Under the Spell – Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats

3. Dirty Black Summer – Danzig

4. Crux – Electric Citizen

5. Need Some Air – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

6. Teen Age Riot – Sonic Youth

7. Wake Me Up – The Raveonettes

8. Lost Boys and Girls Club – Dum Dum Girls

9. Want Remover – Protomartyr

10. Charmer – Kings of Leon

11. Under My Chin – Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster

12. Tension – Zebras

13. Evil! – Grinderman

14. Older No Wiser – Red Desert

15. Guilt – Those Poor Bastards

16. Motherfucker – Faith No More