Twelve

Twelve

by: Nick McDonell

Twelve follows White Mike, a dropout drug dealer, through the week between Christmas and New Year's 1999. Twelve is not a coming-of-age story, because its kids never had a childhood. Their parents are off on holiday in Bali or business in Brussels, leaving hired help to look the other way as the kids stay home alone in their multimillion-dollar town houses, partying with drugs and sex and, in the end, much worse. From page one, the pace is set toward an apocalyptic climax. In the penultimate party scene, when we thought we couldn't be surprised, we are shocked. And throughout the book, where there is an excess of everything but hope, we are filled with that very emotion as White Mike struggles for nothing less than his soul.

My rating ****

Nick McDonell does have a nice writing style. It is crisp, clean, and driven by contemporary language. He catches the inflections and slang of how high schoolers talk, think, and act. The book was written when McDonell was in high school , which only makes you itch with anticipation for what comes next. If he can write like that when his only 18 imagine what he can do in ten years?

The way the book is written it seems more like a real life conversation rather than novel. It gives you a feeling that the author is leaving something out, a bit of mystery which makes that book much more enjoyable and interesting.

As White Mike answers beeps and deals film canisters filled with pot, Twelve -- which gets its title from another drug he occasionally deals --skips to stories of others. His friends, their friends, the people he deals to, then back again, with the overall effect a quick building of tension as White Mike and the others race toward a shocking fate they cannot predict. The transitions between the stories sometimes hang on mere moments, on the smallest of details.

The book is mostly written from a perspective of White Mike, who never actually used drugs so it's a nice change to see a world of drugs from thru sober eyes. The story is not really surprising or very challenging but very entertaining.

Great book, very quick and interesting read. Worth reading.