Timon's Tide

This ghost story is haunting, but not entirely comprehensible. Sixteen-year-old Daniel thwarted his older brother Timon's drug deal six years ago. Timon was subsequently tied up and left on the beach to drown as the tide came in, and the reasons are unclear: was it because of the delivery Daniel never made on Timon's behalf? or because of mysterious beings with flat white faces suspected of murdering other children in their small seaside town? When police found Timon, his face had been eaten away. As Daniel contemplates his possible role in his brother's death and copes with a new stepfather and stepsister, and his mother's pregnancy, Timon mysteriously reappears. Is he a ghost? Or was he never really dead? As in British author Butler's previous gothic, The Darkling, motivations and logic remain tangled even at the end. The third-person narrative switches perspectives so often that it's hard to keep track of who is conscious of what set of facts, and many of the more dramatic subplots take place offstage (in one outlandish sideline, the stepsister gets pregnant by Timon and Daniel's absentee father). But for those who don't mind putting character development on hold, there are chills aplenty that fright fans will likely enjoy nonetheless. Ages 12-up. (June)