Mystery Walk (1983)

by Robert R. McCammon

Billy Creekmore inherits his Choctaw mother's supernatural powers, and they exist as pariahs in their community—until someone has need of their power to lay ghosts to rest, that is.

 

Meanwhile, Little Wayne Falconer, raised by an influential fire-and-brimstone tent revivalist, discovers his own powers.

 

Robert McCammon’s fine novel is a supernatural Bildungsroman that shows how the lives of these young men intertwine until they come together fatefully in a Mexican desert in a confrontation with the mysterious shape-changer that stalks them both.

 

Robert R. McCammon

McCammon is always reliable and he doesn’t disappoint here.

 

The action stretches from the late 60s into the 70s, which is a fun period to read about.

 

The episodic narrative features many well-drawn characters: Dr. Mirakle, who runs a carnival ghost show; the demon-possessed Octopus ride and the man it has enslaved; and Krepsin, a reclusive and debauched gangster germaphobe whom I wish had gotten more story time, just to name some of the most prominent. 

My only complaint is that the resolution is a bit too straightforward and uncomplicated, and the nature of the shape-changer was never revealed to my satisfaction.

"The Trails of Terror (Spanish)

"Mysterious Return" (Bulgarian)

"The Mysterious March" (French)

"Inscrutable Path" (Russian)

"The Dark Way" (Italian)