is the first novel by Christopher Rice, son of Anne Rice (I actually did not connect the two prior to reading, so I thought you would like to know before you ever started, "Rice" isn't an uncommon enough name for me to assume they are related). Anyway, the story mostly follows a group of kids who grew up together, and then apart once they hit high school. There's a lot of drama, naturally, and a "twist" ending. Everybody else on goodreads.com thinks it's a twist, anyway, I saw it coming from the middle of the book, but whatever.
It's thriller/mystery novel, and I can see how Rice just *knew* it was going to be turned into a movie at some point; much of the narrative is imagery instead of plot. If this were to ever get the big-screen treatment, here's who I would see in the roles of the kids, the adults are going to get their own post, it's too much for one post.
We see a brief time when the kids are young, around 12 or 13, but for 99% of the story they move from age 15 to 21, so actors in their 20s will likely be used for the whole story- they'll just be made to look a little younger in the beginning.
Stephen Conlin is our main character. It is revealed early on that he is gay, and he is very stereotypically so: He cries at the drop of a hat, is involved in drama, is absurdly attached to his teachers, a complete social outcast and worships the football players. Regardless of stereotypes, he is the protagonist and really the only decent human being we deal with in this story. He's kind and polite, he has genuine feelings and emotions and steels himself against the harsh culture surrounding him. He puts up with the bullying and the social tortures with aplomb rarely found in young people. This is a tough part, he's supposed to handsome and blond, vulnerable and yet strong as nails underneath. I see somebody like Aaron Hill taking this on.
Brandon Charbonnet is the main antagonist throughout the story. He is homophobic to the highest degree; not in the way the media paints homophobes, but in the real sense of the word. He is terrified of what Stephen means to him, and how he feels about it. He resorts to the worst sort of actions, violence and eventually terrorism as the story moves on. He's angry and unstable and the portrait of a psychopath. I see somebody like Xavier Samuel in this role; handsome but with a dangerous, mysterious quality.
Meredith Ducote is the only girl in our story, and she's written in a way that proves the young author had no idea what girls thought or acted like. She develops bulimia just to fit in, becomes a raging alcoholic out of boredom, tries to make her boyfriend beat her up and engages in all other manner of incredibly curious behavior. She's beautiful and voluptuous and tempestuous and defiant of any authority figures in her life. I think a girl like Adrianne Palicki would do well here.
Greg Darby is the fourth wheel of the original "core" of characters, and the one who we see the least. He isn't around for much of the story, though we learn that he beats his girlfriend, is a closet homosexual and was responsible for a lot of the story (more so than you realize at first). I like somebody like Matt Dallas taking this on. (Random factoid: I went to high school with Matt Dallas. I watched him as a teenager in The Music Man and Grease.)
Kate is Meredith's best friend. She's the typical cheerleader type; shallow, drunk, bulimic, beautiful, blond... I see somebody like Sasha Jackson. It's not a big role, but it's fairly important.
Jeff Haugh starts as a sideline character, but returns later in the novel as a love interest for one of the main characters. He's audacious and confident and handsome. I like somebody smiley and handsome, like Ian Harding.
Jordan Charbonnet is the older brother of Brandon, the homophobic-nutcase. Jordan was the most popular boy in high school, two years ahead of the other characters. He was the valedictorian, and went on to Princeton. He's handsome and dark and brooding and big, raging ball of charisma. I know this actor is pretty big to be taking on a role like this, but there's not a lot of uber-masculine men in this generation (the geeky and the metrosexuals have taken hold), and I see somebody like Channing Tatum in a role like this.
I'll tackle the adults (parents) in the next post.
You can read my review of this book on GoodReads.com
