Hyde and Zeke: Cutie and the Beast

Kirkus review: People are mysteriously disappearing in Langston’s SF fantasy set in small-town Georgia. It’s 1981, and Granville high school senior Denver Stow, school yearbook photographer, is having a very bad day. His girlfriend has broken up with him—a circumstance that, to him, confirms that he’s a loser. He seeks refuge in the woods behind his home, and as he sits by a tree, a gentle, soft-coated little animal appears; he has six legs, soulful eyes, and mysterious origins. He gently wraps his minklike body around Denver’s hand and sighs what sounds like the name “Zeke”; Denver describes it as “a quiet, breathy kind of voice that dwelt on the vowel sound. That clinched it; we were formally introduced.”

Denver brings his new friend back to a building on his parents’ property that he’s been using as his darkroom and private residence. The story briefly backtracks a couple of months, setting the stage for what’s to follow; Denver is shooting photos of the senior class, including the girlfriend who’s yet to dump him, when the school bully and star of the high school football team, Burt Boeheim, goes missing. Police Det. Weiner sets his sights on Denver as a suspect, prompting Langston’s entertaining narrative to gain steam.

While Denver is nursing his broken heart, he befriends a girl named Jinks, a shy high-school junior who, it turns out, is the only other person who’s seen Zeke, albeit briefly. This bond adds a sweet romantic element to the tale, counterbalancing the horror-tinged chills of the action scenes involving Zeke’s symbiotic partner—a carnivorous monster.

The novel is populated with a diverse secondary cast that includes a plethora of dim and thuggish bad guys working for the mysterious Cossack, an evil gang leader who’s been terrorizing the town. Denver serves well as the pleasantly sarcastic, self-deprecating primary narrator, and although the novel isn’t quite tense enough to be a thriller, it is an enjoyable ride, with at least one incident that’s laugh-out-loud funny and a surprise denouement. An amusing, imaginative read featuring a lovable furry critter with unique qualities.