A Map of the Dark

It's Halloween night, 1963, in De Pere, Wisconsin. Local children dressed as ghosts, vampires, and hoboes chase one another on and off porches and through the streets, hunting for Dum Dums, Slo Pokes, and thrills. Meanwhile their parents fill the local bars, joking and fighting, bobbing for apples, and dancing to the jukebox. But all is not well. Evelyn Schmidt's life is almost at an end; she's been diagnosed with cancer and given only days to live. She'll be damned if she'll go quietly, though, in the hospital or at home. She's heading for the Idle Hour to drink up a storm, whether her fellow drinkers want her there or not. Steve Omsted is only sixteen, but it seems to him his life might as well be over. He's on academic probation, he's been kicked off the football team, and now his girlfriend has dropped him. He's looking for an easy target for his rage and has set up a nighttime ambush for his victim. Chuck Williams feels like his life hasn't even started yet, but he can't wait any longer. He'll go trick-or-treating, but he doesn't want to end up waxing windows with the other fifth-graders; he's aiming to hang out with the older kids and cause some real trouble. As the evening unfolds, the paths of these and other characters converge in a series of shocking events that will change the lives of all involved. In stark language and with bold, cinematic vision, John Dixon delivers a stunning portrait of a small town at war with itself.

From Publishers Weekly

Halloween turns into a very grim holiday in Dixon's stark but flawed debut novel about a group of teenage boys on the rampage in small town De Pere, Wis., in 1963. Rambunctious fifth-grader Chuck Williams wants to hang out with the older boys—Omsted, Carner and Rusch—for an evening of more tricks than treats. He gets his wish as the night unfolds, but his choice of companions proves fateful when the gang quickly graduates from wreaking havoc amid innocent revelers to a fight over a girl that ends in the murder of Putzie Van Vonderan. Between descriptions of the teenagers' violent mayhem, Dixon details the downward arc of Evelyn Schmidt, a cancer victim who goes on a drunken bender as her son, David, floats in and out of the chaos. Dixon's story churns with action as the boys hurl insults and test their limits, and Evelyn Schmidt agitates for another drink at the local bar. But the novel's lack of backstory or character development makes the violence of this pivotal Halloween night feel especially random and gratuitous. Though the author demonstrates talent with the dark action sequences in this grim, charged portrayal of smalltown life in the early '60s, the novel remains thin and episodic. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

It s Halloween night, 1963, in De Pere, Wisconsin, and all is not well. Evelyn Schmidt s life is almost at an end she s been diagnosed with cancer and given only days to live. But she ll be damned if she ll go quietly, in the hospital or at home. She s heading for the Idle Hour to drink up a storm, whether her fellow drinkers want her there or not. Steve Omsted is only sixteen, but it seems to him his life might as well be over. He s on academic probation, he s been kicked off the football team, and now his girlfriend has dropped him. He s looking for an easy target for his rage and has set up a nighttime ambush for his victim. Chuck Williams feels his life hasn t even started yet but he can t wait any longer. Sure, he ll go trick-or-treating, but he doesn t want to end up waxing windows with the other fifth-graders; he s aiming to hang out with the older kids and cause some real trouble. As the evening unfolds, the paths of these and other characters in their town converge in a series of shocking events that will change the lives of everyone involved.In stark language and with bold, cinematic vision, John Dixon delivers a stunning portrait of a small town at war with itself."Recalling the work of fellow Midwesterner Sinclair Lewis in its stark portrayal of social hierarchies and the lengths to which people will go in order to fit in . . . In this debut novel, adults are mean, but little boys are meaner." -- Kirkus Reviews "Churns with action . . . the author demonstrates talent with the dark action sequences in this grim, charged portrayal of smalltown life in the early 60s," -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Novelist and playwright John Dixon was born in De Pere, Wisconsin, in 1952. He lived in San Francisco, California, for many years, where he worked at American Conservatory Theatre. After being diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's Disease, he moved back to his home town, where he began work on a series of novels set in De Pere. "A Map of the Dark" was the first of a planned seven books and was published in 2005. John Dixon died in 2007.

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