The Viper Within
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- ¥710
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- ¥710
発行者による作品情報
DISILLUSIONED WITH HIS childhood faith, Jon longs to restore that sense of belonging to something greater than himself. Enter Jeremiah, magnetic and mysterious founder of the Brotherhood of the Hebetheus. In Jon, Jeremiah finds a willing disciple for his “new” religion, and an eager participant in the Brotherhood’s daring plan: they will kidnap a classmate who Jeremiah believes is part of a terrorist cell. By foiling her plot to blow up their school, the boys of the Hebetheus will command the world’s attention, show a righteous religion as the only real tool to thwart terrorism, and become avenging heroes.
But fate and faith have a twist in store for Jon as the captive girl they call Snake causes him to confront the reflection of what he's become in her eyes. Will the appeal of a blind faith be enough to sustain Jon’s allegiance? Or will he be unable to deny the viper glimpsed within himself?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
U.K. author Mills's U.S. debut about a kidnapping gone haywire ventures into Edward Bloor/Ouida Sebestyen territory, but lacks the tension and shrewd psychological calculation to pull off its sensationalist plot. Jeremiah, an obviously sociopathic high-school student, has founded the Religion of the Hebetheus and persuaded a handful of his damaged peers to join his cult. Convincing his followers that he has overheard a beautiful, supposedly Muslim classmate named Padma (she's Hindu) tell a friend that she has plans to plant a bomb in her locker, he masterminds her kidnapping. The "brethren" hold her hostage for days in a cottage whose tenant, an old lady, lies in her bed, newly dead. Jon, the book's confused narrator, predictably falls for Padma and has a change of heart, as do other disciples; as none of them are any too bright, readers will find it hard to stay interested in their thinking. The fiery Waco-like showdown at the end feels not only obvious but overdue. Ages 14 up.
