Where does the total lack of discipline and loving attention end? How is cruelty bon and how does any semblance of compassion die?

Seeing the title of this book, the reader will probably sense the upcoming hell and have the temptation to run! However, this book not only should be read by a few interested people but also should be mandatory reading in all schools and by all parents. Wiley Coates, Kevin Reynolds, and Bryce Spencer are best friends, united in their protective and raging front to peers who continuously and mercilessly torment them.

Laced into this slowly but powerfully evolving nightmare, Foertmeyer weaves the living legend of the Blind valley Hermit. How could Sam, the 19th century legend, with his trusty Sharpe rifle, still be alive and communicating with anyone entering an ancient caldera bowl deep in the Colorado mountains?

Where is the moral consciousness in students who thrive on demeaning certain classmates? How could parents miss the solitary habits and rising hatred in children who are even less than popular among their peers? Why is there no reflective forethought about giving a .357 New Model Blackhawk magnum gun "comfortably nested in a Hunter Model 158 holster" as a birthday present to one such lonely teenager? This poignant story will definitely foster similar thoughts in any reader. However, it needs to do more than foster awareness, questions, and reflections.

Rather than exploiting the Columbine killings, C. H. Foertmeyer has crafted a wonderful story that meets the criteria for one of the best tension-paced crime stories, but so much more importantly, this amazing writer has penned a message that screams for acknowledgment and action about each and every young adult who naively or decisively may be part of this "voiceless hell."

Awards are usually offered for books that masterfully depict real life. Foertmeyer deserves the highest praise and such an award for creating a book that has the timely potential to improve real life for countless young men and woman.

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