James Dekker

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

SCUM is a brief novel that packs a punch.

Danny's violent death in a bar in the early hours one morning changes everything for his family and even touches the life of an innocent bystander.

It is everything a family fears when police detectives arrive at Megan's doorstep to bring the news of her brother's death. They tell Megan and her parents that he was shot in a bar and the shooting is under investigation.

Megan can't imagine that something like this could happen to her brother, although when she overhears a comment by the police stating that Danny had been "known to the police," she wonders if she really knew her brother. As the weeks pass there are no leads and the case is pushed aside, although the detective in charge of the case assures Megan's father they are still actively seeking information.

This lack of enthusiasm from the authorities causes Megan and her father to do some investigating of their own. It doesn't reveal anything new, but Megan does meet Titch, a young employee at the bar, and she hopes he might have some needed evidence.

Author James C. Dekker paints a painful picture of how death can tear apart those left behind. The survivors want to find answers, but they must also face their own grief and find a way to continue. Many often deal with the tragedy in different ways and at a different pace, only compounding the issues all must face.… (more)