Tom Henderson (a.k.a. King Dork, Chi-mo, Hender-fag, and Sheepie) is a typical American high school loser until he discovers the book, The Catcher in the Rye, that will change the world as he knows it. When Tom discovers his deceased father’s copy of the Salinger classic, he finds himself in the middle of several interlocking conspiracies and at least half a dozen mysteries involving dead people, naked people, fake people, ESP, blood, a secret code, guitars, monks, witchcraft, the Bible, girls, the Crusades, a devil head, and rock and roll. And it all looks like it’s just the tip of a very odd iceberg of clues that may very well unravel the puzzle of his father’s death and-oddly-reveal the secret to attracting semihot girls. Being in a band could possibly be the secret to the girl thing-but good luck finding a drummer who can count to four. .
eMusic Review 0
The clever debut novel by the founder of the punk-pop band Mr. T Experience.
In his two years of high school, Tom Henderson (a.k.a. Chi-Mo, the nickname lovingly bestowed on him by fellow classmates when a vocational test turned up his potential aptitude for priesthood and thus his potential to become a child molester) has spent most of his time maintaining an ever-changing imaginary band (replete with imaginary names, album covers, lyrics and lineups) and thinking about girls he will never make out with.
He has also come to the conclusion that, like most of high school “academics,” the Catcher in the Rye is highly overrated — that is, until he discovers his late father’s copy with its cryptic handwritten notes. The scrawling leads him into a web of clues that could explain a lot about his father and the odd circumstances of his death. Meanwhile, Tom has other mysteries to solve, like the reason his one friend Sam Hellerman is suddenly hanging out with the drama kids and the real identity of a pseudo-mod girl named Fiona who he meets at a party but who may or may not really exist. This clever debut novel by the founder of the punk-pop band Mr. T Experience captures all the ridiculousness and pain of the high school experience when hot babes, working amps and the easy certitude of “normal” people are just out of reach.