Wait Until Twilight by Sang Pak

"Their heads are way too big, and their arms and legs are all different lengths. Some long, some just stumps with little fingernails stuck in a semicircle. Even their eyes are different sizes, one larger than the other, and their twisted little noses are hardly there."

Title: Wait Until Twilight
Author: Sang Pak
ISBN: 9780061733295
Publisher: Harper Collins/2009
Pages: 229

Samuel is a 16 year old boy who has lost his mother. He lives with his dad in Georgia. His older brother Jim, is in college and has drifted apart from the family after the loss of their mother. He has do a Video shoot for one of his school project. When his friend David takes him to a family for such a shoot, he simply freaks out. There he sees three babies who are triplets and are totally deformed. Their mother thinks they have been divinely conceived and sees nothing wrong with them.

Although Samuel comes out of the house totally revolted but he can't get those monster children out of his mind. They take up all his waking thoughts. Then he meets the older brother of the triplets, who is a danger for the children. Samuel knows he has to save those children. However, he understands that he has his own demons to kill. Because giving in to the dark impulses is easy and overcoming those is the most difficult task.

We slowly see Samuel emerge from a boy to maturity. He constantly misses his mother. And yet knows that he has to make something of his life. His friendship with mixed races, and with people from different cultures is one step towards that goal. Despite his initial revulsion for the deformed children, he somehow comes to accept them as they are and knows he has to save them from their vile older brother Daryl, who wishes them dead at any cost. Samuel also tries to build bridges with his older brother Jim, whom he had missed so much.

The story is told from the point of view of Samuel and is not really a very easy read. But well worth it. Sang Pak's debut novel really works. His handle of the language is good and he can uncannily know the ways the mind of an adolescent works. That too of one, who has lost his mother. It is all about the darkness within us, which we have to face and ultimately overcome. A coming-of-age novel, with a satisfying end. I just couldn't put it down after I started it.

Thanks to the author/publicist for the review copy.