The Good Son: A Novel [Abridged] [Audio Cassette]

Ian McEwan (Adapter), Todd Strasser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

After the death of his mother, young Mark goes to live with relatives, only to fall prey to the machinations and intrigues of his malevolent cousin Henry, who is plotting to kill off his own family. Book available. Movie tie-in.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Harper Audio; Abridged edition (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559948213
• ISBN-13: 978-1559948210
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,770,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Todd Strasser is the author of more than 120 novels for teens
and middle graders, including If I Grow Up, Boot Camp, Can't Get There From Here, Give a Boy a Gun, the Impact Zone series, and the DriftX series. He lives in a suburb of New York and speaks frequently at schools.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Good Son, January 22, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The GOOD SON - (MOVIE-TIE-IN) (Paperback)

The Good Son
By Todd Strasser

Saddened by his mother's death and left by his father who went on business trip, 12-year old Mark finds himself staying with his cousin, Henry, throughout his winter break. While he is there something totally surprising happens. His 12-year old cousin seems.. well.. evil! After killing a dog and threaten to kill his family, Mark decides he has to put stop to this. Unfortunately, more he hangs out with Henry, the more Henry scares him. Nobody believes Mark, so he has to gather up his courage and take the risk in order to save Henry's family.

"Mark looked over the rock. On the other side of the stream was the brown and white dog- the one that had chased them over the footbridge. It was trotting along the water's edge unaware of Henry and Mark. Henry began to move the spike gun in tome with the dog. It seemed to Mark that Henry was aiming right at it.
What are you doing? -Asked Mark
There was a click and a loud sprung."

This book really shows that you have to trust in yourself to achieve something. I think that this book will really stop your heartbeat, and I promise you that you will be put through a scary, but an exciting adventure. It's a book that you will cherish forever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Todd Strasser's 'GOOD SON' is indeed very good, August 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The GOOD SON - (MOVIE-TIE-IN) (Paperback)

Some movie novelizations are very bad. Others are very good. "THE GOOD SON" falls in with that good category. The book is chilling and very good writing. It gives us a portrait of our young hero, Mark, played by Elijah Wood in the movie from 20th Century Fox, that is not seen in the movie. We can hear his thoughts on the death of his mother. The character of Mark in the movie seems at times selfish and mean to those trying to help him, like Alice Davenport. In the book we see why he acts like this. Of course, the movie can't be blamed for this; it is just a movie and it would be distracting if we actually did hear Mark's thoughts. The best part of this book is the portrayal of Henry, played by Macaulay Culkin in arguably his best performance. The movie does not have time to show the darkest sides of Henry and the book makes him more evil and more heartless. The movie is dark and exciting, but it is not often scary. I read the book before the movie, and both are very good. Both gi

5.0 out of 5 stars The Good Son, May 22, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The GOOD SON - (MOVIE-TIE-IN) (Paperback)

The Good Son is about a boy named Mark. His mom recently died so now he only has his father. Mark's dad has to go on a business trip in Japan so Mark has to live with evil cousin name Henry. Mark and Henry are both about 12 year old. Henry killed his own brother two years ago, but no one knew except for Mark. In the end Henry died and everyone figured it out.
Here is what I like about Mark and things I don't. To begin Mark never quit. He was determined to bust Henry out. One thing I did not like was that he had evidence that he did not use against Henry. Mark should have shown them the garage. Those were some things I like about Mark and things I didn't like.