“Wild Justice” by Theodore Cromack (CreateSpace, 186 pages, $9.95)
Ted Cromack of Shelburne writes with spare precision and keeps his reader guessing.
In his fourth book, “Wild Justice,” Cromack tells a story that revolves around three figures. Roy Matthews and Barry Hapgood meet in elementary school in their medium-size New England town. Their lives continue to intersect into their teenage years. Elton Brook works as a security guard at the college the two enter as freshmen.
The book opens with a crime on a beautiful May morning. A runner is suddenly overtaken and pushed into a nearby river. His head hits a boulder as he falls into the water.
Cromack then moves to the back story of his main characters. Raised by a single mother, Roy is studious, quiet, and easily bullied. The bully-in-chief is Barry, whose domineering father alternates between ignoring him and yelling at him.
Elton is a popular figure on the college campus at which he works. He knows every student by sight and keeps an eye on trends at the school.
The security guard has had several run-ins with Barry. The freshman harasses female students and faculty members, plays outrageously loud music, and continues to bully those around him.
When Barry ends up in a coma after the incident at the start of the book, however, Elton doesn’t suspect foul play, assuming that the fall was accidental. A hermit who lives on the edge of the town insists that he saw someone push Barry into the water … and identifies the security guard as the culprit.
Cromack does a nice job of drawing out the suspense in “Wild Justice.” It’s hard for the reader to believe that Elton would have tried to kill Barry, but references to a mysterious incident in the security guard’s past raise questions.
To make matters more complicated, when Barry awakens from his coma, he says he cannot recall who pushed him.
Cromack does an excellent job of conveying the anxiety Elton feels as he is arrested for attempted murder and fights for his freedom.
The author also paints a vivid word portrait of just about every character he introduces, from Barry’s bombastic father to one of the women the bully pursues.
“Wild Justice” could have used a little more editing; the book contains a number of grammatical and/or typographical errors. Nevertheless, Ted Cromack’s tale engages the reader easily and addresses an important topic in bullying.
Ted Cromack will talk about “Wild Justice” on Tuesday, March 7, at 1 p.m. at the Shelburne Senior Center and on Saturday, March 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Greenfield Public Library. Copies of the book may be purchased at those events from the author or at World Eye Bookshop.
Tinky Weisblat is the author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook” and “Pulling Taffy.” Visit her
website, www.TinkyCooks.com.