Black Chuck

Regan Mcdonell

Description

Psycho. Sick. Dangerous. Réal Dufresne's reputation precedes him.

When the mangled body of his best friend, Shaun, turns up in a field just east of town, tough-as-hell Réal blames himself. But except for the nightmares, all Ré remembers is beating the living crap out of Shaun the night of his death. Shaun's girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Evie Hawley, keeps her feelings locked up tight. But now she's pregnant, and the father of her baby is dead. And when Réal looks to her to atone for his sins, everything goes sideways. Fast.

The tighter Evie and Réal get, the faster things seem to fall apart. And falling in love might just be the card that knocks the whole house down.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Sujets

• Psychological
• Thrillers
• Young Adult Fiction
• Wendigo
• Suspense

Informations

• Publié par: Orca Book Publishers
• Date de parution: 03 avril 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781459816329
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Black Chuck
“A stunning work of prose—poetic and haunting, tender and gritty—this is a remarkable novel.”
—Andrew Smith , Michael L. Printz Honor and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award–winning author
“Superb debut novel; the pain and angst of both Ré and Evie is palpable, and the struggles they face within their respective relationships are real and nuanced…This is a brutal, heartbreaking, and yet strangely uplifting novel about the consequences of lies, the gravity of love, and the courage it takes to prevail over self-condemnation.”
—Booklist
“Atmospheric…Ojibwe mythology and language add texture as the mystery surrounding what really happened to Shaun, and who—or what—is at fault, deepens.”
—Publishers Weekly
“McDonell provides a strong sense of character for each of her players, drawing them to a crashing conclusion through a series of impactful events. The author also displays an adeptness in handling themes such as inevitability, loyalty, and guilt, making this a read that sticks in the gut…This book delivers on a stirring psychological drama fans of Carol Plum-Ucci’s The Body of Christopher Creed and of the CW’s Riverdale will tear through.”
—School Library Journal
“McDonell deftly handles a surprisingly complex narrative…Her characters are well developed and well deserving of empathy while not always likeable… Black Chuck surprises at nearly every turn; it’s a powerful debut.”
—Quill & Quire
“Dynamically complex characterization and storytelling…brooding and absorbing.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A gritty, dark mystery…McDonell captures the characters’ diverging paths with heart and talent, exploring the secrets we keep from others and ourselves, and the decisions that determine who we are.”
—Amy Mathers , National Reading Campaign
“A beautiful and painful novel…McDonell’s background in creative writing and poetry is evident in this excellent debut novel…A strange, brutal, heartbreaking, and strangely uplifting novel about lies, love, friendship, courage, and the struggle to overcome guilt. Recommended.”
—Rob Bittner , LitBit blog
“This novel is Orca at its most mature. The characters are living on the edge, with such raw intensity that it is painful to remember that they are still teens…As these four teens struggle with their demons, we are pulled through their living nightmares by McDonell’s harrowing depiction, and hope for their sakes that they can each find their road.”
—Resource Links
“A book unlike anything I have read before…McDonell has developed characters who are diverse, multidimensional, and flawed, which makes them relatable…Highly recommended.”
—CM Magazine
“A darkly atmospheric story, filled with heartfelt, yet perfectly-flawed characters. I loved it.”
—Ash Parsons , award-winning author of The Falling Between Us
“ Black Chuck is easy to get lost in, haunting, hard not to think about. This story is compelling, chillingly real and sad. Timeless, yet contemporary. A pleasure to read.”
—Genevieve Scott , author of Catch My Drift
“McDonell has captured the brashness and insecurity of adolescence in this gravel-splattering joy-ride.”
—Karen Nesbitt , author of Subject to Change
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Regan McDonell
Bla c k Chuck
Copyright © 2018 Regan McDonell
All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training and similar technologies. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication McDonell, Regan, 1974–, author Black Chuck / Regan McDonell. Issued in print and electronic formats. isbn 978-1-4598-1630-5 (softcover).— isbn 978-1-4598-1631-2 ( pdf ).— isbn 978-1-4598-1632-9 ( epub ) I. Title. ps8625.d774b53 2018 jc813'.6 c2017-904574-1 c2017-904575-x
First Published in the United States, 2018
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017949715
Summary: In this gritty young adult novel, Réal struggles with his guilt over a friend’s violent death and his feelings for the dead boy’s pregnant girlfriend.
Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book on Forest Stewardship Council ® certified paper.
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover images by Getty Images and Shutterstock.com Edited by Sarah N. Harvey Design by Rachel Page Author photo by Guy Glover
orca book publishers orcabook.com
For the boys I didn’t love And the one I did
1
R
Réal hunched into his old jean jacket, running a cut lip between his teeth and not looking anyone in the eye. Beside him, Alex Janes flicked a silver coin between his knuckles. Eyes pinned to his dirty boots, jaw set so hard it could crack, Alex looked like he could barely keep his lid on. Like he was about to explode. Across the sidewalk, Sunny kicked her heel against a broken chain-link fence, talking with a speed that killed any chance of getting a word in.
Compared to his friends, Ré felt weirdly quiet, weirdly still—even for him.
Past Sunny, on the other side of the chain link, mist rose off North Cold Water Collegiate’s pretty green football field. It was a bright, sunny, almost-summer morning just like any other, and Ré was thinking, Nothing. Nothing on earth gonna make this day go easy.
Sunny shook her long black hair. “I’m not telling her. Hells no,” she said. She’d tossed her backpack in the dust at her feet and was staring down the hill with red, swollen eyes. As usual, it was all about her.
“And anyway,” she went on, “someone for sure went over there last night, right? I mean, one of her other friends—she has other friends, right? God, I can’t fucking believe this. I seriously can’t be the one to tell her—”
Réal closed his eyes and pressed his back teeth together, the sound of her voice starting to grate. “Jesus,” he snarled. “I’ll tell her. Just shut up already.”
Sunny narrowed her eyes on him. “Nice,” she said. “First words you’ve spoken all day. Glad you decided to join us, dickhead.”
He stared her down, mouth closed, and she just stared back, stone cold.
“She’s here,” Alex said. He’d stopped rolling the coin and rubbed his thumb across its corrugated edge.
Down the long hill, Evie Hawley emerged from the mess of yellow buses and kids fighting for parking. Réal could see the big black headphones covering her ears, dark hair like a curtain over her eyes. As she got closer, he saw that dreamy, other-planet look pasted to her face. As if she didn’t already know. As if no one had told her last night, when the kids had found it. Sunny’s words echoed in his head. Somebody got to her before now. We can’t be the first—
Sunny pounced on Evie, yanking the headphones off.
“Hey, wha—” Evie pulled back.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Sunny blurted out.
As Evie glanced at each of them, Réal looked away quick. He swallowed. She didn’t know. She really didn’t know. “ Câlisse ,” he swore under his breath.
Evie shook Sunny off and pulled her backpack from her shoulder, stuffing her headphones into the front pocket. “What’s going on?”
Sunny’s eyes widened. “Didn’t your mom tell you?”
“Mom’s on graveyard,” Evie said, flicking her hair over her shoulder and scanning them all again. “I haven’t seen her in a week.”
Sunny turned to Réal, and he felt something dark and poisonous whirl up in his gut. Goddammit, Sunny, he thought, flashing her a look of pure evil. She just twisted her jaw and glared at him, pressing him to step in. You promised .
He shoved his fists deeper into his jean-jacket pockets, pulling his shoulders to his ears, hoping to disappear. Nothing, he thought, not even Sunny , is gonna make this day go easy.
He took a long breath. His eyes fell back to that field. And then, because there was nothing else he could do, he just opened his mouth and said it. “Shaun is dead.”
E
Evie buzzed like a bell struck by a hammer. She stared at Réal, but he just looked away over the fence, bomb dropped.
She turned to Alex, whose face crumpled instantly as the words all tumbled out—the bloody grass, Shaun’s belly torn open, the police dog, the kids all coming across that field at twilight, screaming. “He had no shoes on, man,” Alex said, his voice a broken mess. “Who would take his fuckin’ shoes?”
The backpack slipped from Evie’s hand. Her eyes went wide, but she saw nothing. Her ears rang—she heard nothing. “ No way .”
She’d been with Shaun just days ago. Nursing fries and bad coffee at the Olympia, talking about—what? It all left her head the instant that word came out of Réal’s mouth. A blown fuse, a bulb burned out.
Pop .
Crack .
Dead?
Shaun Henry-Deacon? Fearless frickin’ Shaun Henry-De