The story about Ox and the strange boy is not about love alone, there is revenge in it which changes the mode of the story for some time. Ox was just a twelve-year-old boy when the story starts and at the beginning of the novel, the listeners are told that Ox is good for nothing.
It is through his father that the audience comes to know that Ox is good for nothing sort of a guy and he is destined to live alone. Then a strange boy enters the town and into Ox’s life all of a sudden. The boy was not very talkative but when he met Ox, the conversation seemed to be the unending type. Both of them talked all day and in the evening too.
Ox was quite surprised to notice that the boy had a strange kind of attraction towards him and soon the secret got leaked. The boys were quite engaged in each other’s company when a terrible thing happened to Ox. The boy just could not bear the sight and went after the criminal to take revenge for what he has done to Ox. Since then Ox didn’t meet the boy anymore because he left the town and went after the enemy.
Now years later the boy returns in the form of a fully grown-up man which gives a tickling effect to Ox once again. T.J. Klune is a real master in such mature themes that the author has depicted in The Lightning-Struck Heart and Under the Whispering Door before this series.
Kirt Graves’s splendid performance as the narrator has also added a lot to the entire scene. The love-making scenes are not recommended for the kids but for the adults, they will serve as a joy ride.
