Stalked by James Broderick

Stalked
by
James F. Broderick
As its title states, Stalked is a story of pursuit, the target of which is generally truth and specifically the existence or not of a nasty creature called the Indiana Corn Weasel.
The pursuers are a mother and son team, and the alien territory on which the pursuit is centered, a small town in Indiana, brought to this reviewer’s mind Anna and the King of Siam. The loving relationship between single mom, Kelsey Kane, and her 7/8-year-old son is at the heart of James Broderick’s totally compelling tale of collision between cultures, ideologies, and political and ethical philosophies. That all of this can be handled within the confines of a can’t-put-it-down suspense novel that is at once thriller, horror story, and detective yarn is a tribute to the story-telling and writing skills of the author.
Broderick populates his story with a wondrous group of supporting characters, each etched with care and compassion. They not only don’t get in the way of, but actively assist in, driving the story to its shattering conclusion.
As his earlier works demonstrate, Broderick is a master story teller. He folds in exposition with the skill of a 5-star chef adding beaten egg whites to a soufflé mixture; he drops in plot hooks like an expert angler. He is allergic to mundane and commonplace expression, never more evident than when he describes the mundane and commonplace. The novel is a joy to read.
At one point a character in Stalked expresses the intention of saving up stories for a later novel. Readers of Stalked should be grateful that the wait is over.