Customer Reviews

Half Mast: A Novel

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4 star:		(3)
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Fiction at its best. The writing is tight, the story is compelling, and the characters are interesting. The principal character is a geeky, brainy guy whose high school life is made unbearable by the school's most brutal bully. When he decides to take his revenge, the consequences are as bad (or worse) than the brutality he has already suffered. The story is told without mushy sentiment - in a straight-forward, powerful way. I started reading it Saturday morning and couldn't stop until I finished it that evening. It has been years since the last time that happened. If you like good stories - read this book.

If you are looking for a book that is a real page turner -this is the one.
You really feel for Alex and what he goes though at the hands of the school bully Steve and his group of friends.
The book made me see revenge in a whole new light.
It's a must read.

Christopher Null's novel is a quickly-paced and tightly-drawn character study of fame and anonymity, brutality and friendship, desperation and rage. Best of all is how it captures the savage caste system that is the suburban high school. I haven't been so engrossed by a novel in years. Seriously. Highly recommended.

Fast, very timely and provacative read that gives tremendous insight into the ankst of teens who sit on or outside the fringe of social acceptance.

Gives great view of the emotions, processes, new logic and revenge that build-up around the main character.

Mr. Null captures the essence of anybody who couldn't figure out how to fit in high school. In Half Mast, we meet a normal kid, Alex, who is bullied and taunted to the brink. Alex is written as richly and deeply as any fictional character I've ever read. Along with Alex are a group of his friends who are also social outcasts, kids just waiting to graduate from high school and leave suburban hell behind them. Even Alex recognizes that his college days are nearing and his life will be infinitely better in a few years, but something happens to him that he can't forgive or forget. Alex fulfills the dream of every kid who has been the victim of a bully and the adults who just turn a blind eye. The truth is that almost everyone has Alex in us. This is a compelling story, and one that should be required reading for every high school teacher to understand how their less-than-popular students are feeling.

Chris Null's novel about a high school student who must endure constant bullying is intense and tightly written. In the novel's span readers witness the transformation of a young suburban kid from relatively 'normal' to bitter and consummed. Chris Null's depiction of Alex is realistic and anyone who has suffered through high school will relate to his plight. He reveals how the most seemingly normal communities and happy people have anger and violence seething not far from the surface. It's a book that you will have trouble putting down.

Half Mast is a great read. From the moment you start you're drawn into Alex's world, and anyone who was ever ridiculed (and really, who wasn't?) in high school -- or who did the ridiculing him or herself -- will instantly remember the pain and agony of being there. Chris Null's writing is sharp and exact, and he describes his characters so well by showing us who they are by their words, their actions, and their interactions. Though you know what is going to inevitably happen, you can't stop reading to find out how it all goes down.

A truly incredible book. I can't believe it's his first!

In brief, this story is about a teenager, who after several years of torment (though "torment" is an understatement) at the hands of a bully/school football star, decides to get even in the most drastic way you can.

He puts his plan in action a month or so before his tormentor is about to graduate and presumably leave his life for good. I was reminded of the Columbine shootists, who performed their unforgettable carnage shortly before they were to graduate, too. You might wonder why they couldn't hang on a little longer, but I think the book does a superb job of showing how each act of bullying piles up until you start seeing things in either/or terms.

Some of the bullying seemed so extreme and unbelievable, but I'm willing to chalk that up to the fact that I've never been a teenage boy. I also had some trouble with how indifferent the protagonist's parents seemed - even when the evidence that there was something seriously wrong going on in their son's life was staring them right in the face. What happened to the protagonist seemed to go far, far beyond even what the most indifferent would chalk up to "boys being boys."

Kudos to the author for resisting the urge to make his protagonist and his friends wealthy and famous while all the baddies got their comeuppance.

The next time something like Columbine happens, those who are looking for at least a few answers to the question of "why?" should read this book. Better yet, they should go talk to their kids.

A very tight, well written story about bullies, victims, and high school that kept me turning pages well past bed time. The victim, Alex, is a completely believable recreation of an teenage kid pushed well past his breaking point. The story was so convincing I was flashing back to high school the entire time I read it.

I think the best part of it was that author didn't take sides in the book. Because of that you are left thinking about the characters and the story well after you have finished reading it.

It was a good fast read, rather suspenseful especially towards the end. Good character development and an almost must read for any of us who have had to deal with bullies in grade school.