Monday, January 10, 2011

The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks




The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks is a fictional story about two brothers trying to uncover the truth about their sister's murder. Ruben (14) and his older brother Cole are half gypsy, and live with their mother in a London breaker yard. Their sister Rachel was violently raped and murdered while on a trip visiting an old friend. "I want my daughter back, Mr. Merton. She's been dead three days. I want to bring her back home and bury her. She shouldn't have to be on her own in a place she doesn't know. She's been through enough already. She doesn't deserve any more" (12). All their mother wants is to bury her beloved daughter, however, the police refused. They explained how they needed her body in attempt to find the murderer, and the process could take weeks, or even months. They said that once the killer was caught and identified, Rachel's body would be released. Seeing their mother's devistation, Ruben and Cole decided to take matters into their own hands by traveling to the place of her death and investigating themselves. Once in Lynchcomb, the village where Rachel was murdered, they started to snoop around. They felt like people knew things that they were not sharing. Lynchcomb itself provides a creepy setting; it is described as having barren slopes, a longely grey road, and fading hills in the distance. In Lynchcomb, they find themselves getting into a lot of trouble. The townspeople do not like them around, and some would do almost anything to keep make them go away.


Throughout the novel, Ruben, the narrator, tries to explain his special gift of being able to "feel things". For example, he can feel what his brother is feeling, and he felt the fear that Rachel had the night that she died. He can sense certain things despite the fact that he cannot see them or understand them. This unique and confusing ability allows him to know that Rachel's killer is in fact dead, but their identity remains a mystery throughout the course of the book.




Unfortunately, I cannot say much more without giving anything away.

1. If you were Ruben, would you have gone to Lynchcomb even though it would be a very dangerous journey?
2. Suppose you were given the chance to be able to sense things like Ruben could. Would you take the offer? (Would you take on the heavy burden and it's occasional perks, or would you rather be left unknowing?)

14 comments:

Josie D 7/8 said...

1. If I were Ruben, I think I would have done it. It seems to me that Ruben really loves his mother and he loved his sister. I would want to be able to help my mother to get through the pain of the death, even if it meant doing something I felt was uncomfortable.
2. I think I would leave it. While it would be interesting to be able to "feel things" like Ruben, but sometimes I feel that it can be better not to know some things.

Kyle N.1-2 said...

1. Yeah, i might have gone to Lynchcomb to give my mother support. And its a book and there has to be more reasons to go that we don't know of right now.

2. I don't know. It would be cool to have that gift, you'd be able to know what others are thinking about at that moment (or is it just feelings?) but you'd also get too much information sometimes.

Brandon Messner said...

1. I suppose I would have gone to Lynchcomb despite the dangerous journey. After all, my mother's request could not be considered unreasonable and, frankly, I don't blame her for wanting to put her daughter to rest in a peaceful manner. I would do just to keep my mother happy (It's also likely that I care about my sister too).

2. I would definitely refuse the whole supernatural ability thing. If there's anything that I learned from 65.4% of the movies I've ever seen, its that one is better off without having any magical powers. Supernatural stuff always leads to trouble, and who needs more trouble during their sophomore year of high school?

Ashlyn W. 7-8 said...

I would want to go for sure, but it would be very dangerous. I would like to think I would go, but you never really know until you're in the situation exactly what you would do.

Freddy B. 7-8 said...

1.I agree with Ashlyn. Family is worth the risk
2. I agree with Kyle. It would probably be too much too handle

Garret Edward Patrick Graehling 1/2 said...

Family is definitely worth the risk and i do believe it would be alot to handle

Kaitlyn K 7-8 said...

I would not want to be able to feel things like Ruben does.

Sevgim A.1-2 said...

1. Yes I would go and try to find my sister. Even though it would be dangerous I would still go.

2. Yes I would take the role of sensing things like Ruben. I would rather know more than nothing at all.

Laura P 7-8 said...

1.) I think if I had someone with me, like Ruben had Cole, I would feel a lot better snooping around for a killer than being by myself.
2.) Something tells me that if I could feel what everyone else could it would be far to much to handle and I would definitely rather keep it unknown.

Sydney S. 1-2 said...

@ Everyone:
I agree with all of you! I think that no matter what, family is worth the risk. Ruben went because he loves his mom and loved his sister. I also think that having those powers would be a little too much to handle. To Ruben, they were helpful sometimes, but they were also very hard to deal with.

Sara D. 7-8 said...

#1 Yes, I think I would go to Lynchcomb. For my sister and for my mother, so that we would be able to get her body back and be able to bury her.

Andrew C 7-8 said...

I would have gone to Lynchcomb because to me, family is very important and they probbably would have done the same thing for me if they were in the same situation.

Adam B. 7-8 said...

1) If I were in his situation I would have gone because it would mean so much to my family to find who did and would bring closure to the whole situation.

Mrs. Sherwood said...

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