The Less-Dead
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Noah Nordstrom has been dissing the religious beliefs of his father, who hosts a popular Christian radio show and whom Noah accuses of spreading hate. When two local gay teens are murdered, Noah’s anti-evangelism intensifies—he’s convinced that the killer is a caller on his dad’s program.
Then Noah meets Will Reed, a cool guy. But when he learns that Will is gay, Noah gets a little weirded out. Especially since Will seems really into him. Noah gives Will the brush-off. Meanwhile, the killer is still at large . . . and soon Noah finds the next victim. It’s Will.
Racked with guilt, Noah decides to investigate. He knows the serial killer is targeting gay teens, but only those who live in foster homes, whose deaths are not that important to society; they are the less-dead. Noah, however, is determined to prove that someone cares. With the help of Will’s journal, which he pocketed at the scene of the crime and in which the killer has written clues, Noah closes in on an opponent more dangerous than he can guess.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Austin, Tex., 16-year-old Noah despises church and religion and phony youth pastors who think it s their job to save your soul. Noah s acts of rebellion have gotten him sent to an alternative school for juvenile delinquents, where he meets Will, a gay, homeless kid with whom he connects through a shared interest in music and poetry. When several gay teenagers are strangled and found with crosses carved into them and Bible passages nearby, Noah blames evangelical Christianity for contributing to an atmosphere of hate. And after Will becomes the next victim, Noah investigates the murder to avenge him. In her compelling mystery, Lurie (The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine) draws attention to the prejudice and hatred many gay teens face (the title is a reference to the idea that the deaths of youths like Will count less). While fundamentalism-fueled homophobia is central to the story, Lurie doesn t dismiss or caricaturize Christianity either. Though the book s politics can feel heavy-handed (an author s note offers rebuttals to scriptural stances against homosexuality), readers should still find it suspenseful and emotional. Ages 14 up.
