Harrison Squared - Daryl Gregory

Harrison Harrison isn't your average teenager. First off, he's saddled with the name Harrison Harrison thanks to an old family tradition. As if that wasn't bad enough, his dad was killed in a mysterious boating accident that also left Harrison without one of his legs at a very young age. He was always told a piece of scrap off the ship was responsible, but he remembers it differently; long tentacles with suckers, and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Believing this is his imagination's way of filling in blank parts of his memory, he tries to live his life as normally as possible.

Harrison's mother is a marine researcher of the ABM category, or Absent-Minded Professor; she shuts out almost everything when she's working, even Harrison. When she decides to follow her research to middle-of-nowhere Massachusetts, Harrison manages to convince her to let him tag along. It seems like a good idea until they arrive in Dunnsmouth, a tiny town with no cable and plenty of creepy inhabitants. On the surface, the school is full of students who seem as if they've been brainwashed: uniforms exactly in place, no talking during or even between classes, and following expectations to the letter. The teachers are even creepier, leading the students in daily ritual chants and pointing them towards the wrong ideas. Harrison's attendance record in the first week is sketchy at best, but then his mother goes missing while placing one of the research buoys necessary for collecting data and he uncovers the hidden side of the students. Although they seem compliant on the surface, they're secretly rebelling against the "religion" being forced onto them at the school and by their relatives. As Harrison desperately searches to find his mother, he reveals the dark secret of Dunnsmouth, one that goes back centuries and pulled in all of the town's inhabitants. Shockingly enough, it might even have something to do with his father's death and the loss of his leg. Will he and the other children be able to defeat the evil that hangs over Dunnsmouth, or will they too become victims of an ancient cult?

Talk about "couldn't-put-it-down" reads. When I started reading this one, I was really unimpressed, but it only took until about the third chapter before I was totally hooked. One minute you think you're reading a straight-up mystery and then POW! Sea monsters and evil cults and super creepy scrimshanders (which I learned the definition of in this book). I went from "I guess I'll finish it just so I can get it off my to read pile" to "I WILL MAKE A FOREVER HOME FOR YOU ON MY SHELF"!

Pros:

• Super multi-dimensional plot keeps things very interesting
• Mystery + horror + adventure = <3
•  Really bizarre, fun characters

Cons:

• Some of the plot points didn't add up (e.g. estranged aunt dropping everything to come live with Harrison when his mother disappears)
• Ending goes really fast compared to the rest of the story
• Fair bit of language