Rating: 3 stars

Devin, Ethan, Peter, Alex & Simon are into gaming—the role-playing type—and constantly torturing Peter; whom, they simply tolerate. Gaming is one way to fight the boredom that comes with living in a small town; however, these small-town boys are more Lord of the Flies than Andy Griffith. In addition to drinking, smoking and thinking about girls, the boys dream of playing in a heavy metal band.

Every Friday the group “roles” at Alex’s house. Alex, Peter and Devin are waiting for the others to arrive; the time being passed at Peter’s expense. Ethan is the first to show, then Colin Mulroney; whom ranks on the same sub-social scale as Peter. The boys turn out the lights, pretending not to be there; eliciting the usual whining pleas from Colin. Sneaking towards Colin from the back, Ethan grabs a fiberglass pole. What starts as a prank turns into Ethan exercising his own demons, the result of a beat-down he suffered a month before; Ethan beat Colin until Simon stepped in, just in time.

From the opening paragraph we know Colin Mulroney ends up dead on the front porch of Alex’s house. We know it was Peter who did it. We just have all the usual questions as to why; which Devin will answer by taking us back to beginning of Pewter, Murder and Loaded Dice.

Pewter is a bit jarring. In addition to the boys-will-be-boys in-fighting, there’s a thread of brutality and violence that randomly popped up, keeping me on edge. The boys were reminiscent of those in Stand by Me—a movie they liked to quote, along with Wayne’s World; not to mention an unacknowledged nod to Breakfast Club that I happened to catch. The quotes served to lull the reader into a false sense of status quo, while a certain rawness lay in wait; which was difficult to read at times—especially when it’s coming from a group of 8th graders.

Hopefully Nick Sconce was going for dark and gritty; because he succeeded.
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Hardcover: 364 pages
Publisher: National Writers Press (December 1, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0881001471