The Caretaker of Lorne Field

by Dave Zeltserman

Overview

A cursed teenager must contend with the flames of adolescence—and rescue kids from the flames of hell—in this humorous tale of terror.

“My name’s Henry Dudlow. I’m fifteen and a half. And I’m cursed. Or damned. Take your pick. The reason? I see demons.” 

So begins the latest novel by horror master Dave Zeltserman. The setting is quiet Newton, Massachussetts, where nothing ever happens. Nothing, that is, until two months after Henry Dudlow’s thirteenth birthday, when his neighbor, Mr. Hanley, suddenly starts to look . . . different. While everyone else sees a balding man with a beer belly, Henry suddenly sees a nasty, bilious, rage-filled demon. 

Once Henry catches onto the real Mr. Hanley, he starts to see demons all around him, and his boring, adolescent life is transformed. There’s no more time for friends or sports or the lovely Sally Freeman—instead Henry must work his way through ancient texts and hunt down the demons before they steal any more innocent children. And if hunting demons is hard at any age, it’s borderline impossible when your parents are on your case, and your grades are getting worse, and you can’t tell anyone about your chosen mission. 

A very scary novel written with verve and flashes of great humor, The Boy Who Killed Demons is Dave Zeltserman’s most accomplished and entertaining horror novel yet. 

Praise for The Boy Who Killed Demons

“Like Stephen King, Dave Zeltserman makes the incredible come alive.” —Bookreporter.com

“Amusing. . . . Zeltserman manages the voice of a teenager deftly, and the adolescent angst rings true. The demons are almost background to a tale about growing up. Zeltserman has written an entertaining novel but not one that will keep you from turning off the lights.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590205389
Publisher:	ABRAMS, Inc.
Publication date:	08/16/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	140
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Dave Zeltserman is the author of ten horror and crime novels, including Monster, a Booklist Top 10 Horror Fiction selection; The Caretaker of Lorne Field, shortlisted by the American Library Association for best horror novel of 2010; and A Killer's Essence. He lives in the Boston area.

Editorial Reviews

Zeltserman’s superb mix of humor and horror focuses on Jack Durkin, the ninth generation of firstborn sons in his family who have daily weeded Lorne Field to purge it of Aukowies, bloodthirsty plants that could overrun the world in weeks if not attended to. Though Jack takes his job seriously, no one else does: his oldest son doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps; his wife is tired of living poorly on his caretaker’s salary; and the townspeople who subsidize him are increasingly skeptical of purported menaces that no one has ever seen because Jack diligently nips them in the bud. With his support dwindling, Jack finds himself driven to desperate measures to prove that he’s truly saving the world. Zeltserman (Pariah) orchestrates events perfectly, making it impossible to tell if Jack is genuinely humankind’s unsung hero or merely the latest descendant of a family of superstitious loonies. Readers will keep turning the pages to see how the ambiguous plot resolves. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"If Stephen King had a true Noir calling and Peter Straub added contemporary horrorS and Dean Koontz threw in his fine depiction of ordinary life on the edge of the unknownS then bring the specter of James M. Cain to write the narrative, you'd come close to describing the whole effect of this stunning slice for the zeitgeist wondrous novel and the writing is- pure dark bliss." — Ken Bruen, author of London Boulevard

"The Caretaker of Lorne Field is a magnificent novel, with truly believable characters and suspense that keeps building to an explosive climax. There it is, plain and simple." — Seymour Shubin, Edgar Award finalist, author of Anyone's My Name

This superbly crafted horror story explores the dichotomy between belief and rationality. Why has a small town maintained a contract since the eighteenth century with a member of the community and his heirs to pull weeds in Lorne Field? Jack Durkin, the current and ninth generation of Lorne Field caretakers, says the things he pulls from the ground aren't weeds; they are something called Aukowies, and if they're not pulled up by the roots and burned every day, the world will end. Under pressure from his wife to get a real job; from the town fathers (looking to save a few bucks and end the contract); and from his sons, who don't see themselves as career weed- pullers, Durkin is finally out of a job. No more weed pulling. So is he just a nut case, or does the novel segue into another Little Shop of Horrors? Sorry, we don't do spoilers. Horror fans will have to read this first-class cautionary tale themselves. — Elliott Swanson, Booklist

"Zeltserman is the author of increasingly accomplished crime novels, distinguished by spare and crisp prose, believable dialogue, imaginative plot twists and tightly wound characters who don't wear out their welcome." — Newsday

"Delicious horror-ish novel-Zeltserman is fully in control." — Newsday (Long Island)

"Dark and exciting as all hellS With every chapter Zeltserman turns up the tensionS This is one of those novels, like Cormac McCarthy's The Road, that should be shoved in the hands of young readers to show them that books can be complex thematically while also fucking thrilling at the same time. The prose, typical of Zeltserman's work, is tight, no-bullshit stuff and the story masterfully never tips its hand or oversells its message." -Spinetingler Magazine

"Zeltserman deftly drags the reader through the story, keeping you wondering about the truth." — Dallas Morning News

"Superb mix of humor and horrorSZeltserman orchestrates events perfectlySReaders will keep turning pages to see how the ambiguous plot resolves." — Publishers Weekly

"Harrowing. Zeltserman colors it black with the best of them." — Kirkus Reviews

"The black comedy of errors that ensues invites comparison to storiesby Kafka, David Prill, James Hynes, William Browning Spencer, and other authors who have mused on the dark side of daily breadwinningS Though Zeltserman's approach is clearly tongue-in-cheek, he deftly balances the competing interests of the characters to keep the truth of the narrative events ambiguous. A few deaths at conveniently inopportune moments and several coincidental fades to black only add to the dramatic tension of the narrative. Stories of this kind are hard to pull off and often collapse under the weight of their outrageous premises long before they end. It's to Zeltserman's credit that his novel holds together up to and through the final paragraph, and that it compels the reader to stay with it for that long." — LOCUS Magazine

"Crime writer Zeltserman has produced a nail-biter...The narrative is straightforward and gritty, reminiscent of works of Dashiell Hammett...gripping and actually Ohorrifying," this title is recommended for horror fans and readers who may relish unpleasant surprises." — Library Journal

"The Caretaker of Lorne Field is a fabulous amusing tale that grips the reader with a need to know whether the monster is real, a centuries old con, or generational lunacy" — Midwest Book Review

"Part noir and part Stephen Cain, with a dash of James M. Cain thrown in for good measure. Zeltserman is one of the more cogent of the neo-noirists, and this might be his best yetS Book by book, Zeltserman is proving himself to be one of the best." — CrimeTime Blog

"The Caretaker of Lorne Field succeeds as a horror novel, a psychological thriller and a haunting parable, even in some ways that Zeltserman may not have intended. There are dark levels to this work, some of which are immediately evident and others of which reveal themselves only upon later reflection. I don't know if the book will come to be regarded as a classic, either now or at some point in the future, but it deserves to be." —Bookreporter

From the Publisher