December Park

By: Ronald Malfi

Narrated by: Eric G. Dove

In the fall of 1993, the quiet suburb of Harting Farms is shocked when children begin to vanish, and one is found dead near December Park - a great, sweeping expanse that is sunken below the streets and surrounded on three sides by vast woodlands, a place children believe is haunted. Newspapers call the abductor the Piper because he has come to lead children away, while kids whisper darker names for him in the school halls. Angelo Mazzone and his friends discover a link to the dead girl and take up the search for the killer, vowing to stop the Piper's reign of terror. Their teenage pledge becomes a journey of self-discovery and an odyssey into the darkness of their own hometown.

©2014 Ronald Malfi (P)2017 Journalstone Publishing

Excellent

Not what I expected. Kept me guessing until the end. You won't be disappointed. Wow

Gripping

December Park is a coming of age horror story. The friendship between the five boys in the story is so real and what they do to survive the serial killer makes for a gripping thriller that won’t let you go. There are a lot of parallels with Stephen King’s IT but the story is well told so I don’t mind.

Excellent "coming of age" story!

Story 5+/5
Narration 5/5

This may be the best fiction I've read this year!

Excellent "coming of age" story with kidnappings, murders, and normal teen travails.

Highly recommended!

Not a bad author, but the reader . . .

First, this seemed very similar in Spirit to Stand By Me. That isn’t to say he plagiarized, but if you liked that King story, you’ll like this one. Though it wasn’t the best book I’ve read this year, Malfi is a competent of a storyteller that I will try another novel.

The reader chose odd places to take a breath. It was very evident the first two hours. Perhaps I became accustomed to it. I found the readers voice to be irritating, but that is a person preference and no comment on his characterization. After 10 hours I gave in and tried to relax, but I never got used to it.

Listen to a short bit of the novel to see how you feel. I did like the story.

Wonderful book

The story was great and I really enjoyed the characters just being curious kids and playing like kids should play

Great boys tale!

This book is at heart a tale of teenage boys while having lots of tension, it is at heart a tale of the bond teenage boys have.

December park: go visit it one day

Decent suspense novel. Takes a while to build up and feels a bit longish at points. The ending was a total surprise to me - didn't see that coming. The narrator is ok although felt monotonous at points too. Generally, I struggled through the initial 10-15 chapters but then the narration caught up with me and I felt compelled to finish it.

My favorite of Malfi's yet

It's an amazing, heart-wrenching story. I found myself in tears by the end of it. Very well written and as embarrassed as I am to say I am just now discovering the works of Mafli, I am excited to read and listen to more of his books.

Excellent!

I listened from start to finish in one go. The narrator is fantastic and the pacing of the book is excellent. So so good.

Memories

I laughed all the way through it thinking of my teenage years. The compassion, the humor, the bravery was very well reflected by the author.