Creature of the Night Book

I hate to say it, but I really did not like this book at all. I think I have a high tolerance for foul language and misguided actions (I work in a high school and hear it all of the time), but it was just so excessive in this book. Bobby is 14-years-old. He drives, steals, lies (at one point, saying his mother has cancer), smokes, drinks, and swears constantly. Almost every page has the word "fuck, "bastard," "piss," or "kill." He has a terrible mother, and they are very abusive toward each other. He calls her a "fucking bitch" and a "lazy cow" and she calls him a "little shit." The fact that the author turns his behavior around in the last ten pages doesn't make this okay to me, as a reader. I didn't find the mystery to be very developed or believable, and I thought his bad behavior overshadowed that aspect of the plot.

I just don't see this as a book that I would want any teens reading. Bobby is a terrible role model. The only redeeming quality about him is that he treats his brother with respect. He mistreats everyone else around him and is incredibly selfish.