Leave: 11/29/08
The "Reed-of-the-month club" (p. 56) offering is "Leave."
It's a story about a family frantically trying to save their son from
alien recruitment for a never ending war.
The story is narrated by the "fond uncle," a friend of the
family who doesn't have any children of his own. He and his wife Cheryl
have become the uncle and aunt to their friends' children: Amanda and
Donnie (or L.D. for short).
"Leave" mostly focuses on L.D. who was a sweet child, a troubled
teen and a missing adult. His family suspects that he has been recruited
by the Kuipers for their on going war.
The war though isn't the point to Reed's story. It is there to cause
a reaction in LD's family. Most of "Leave" is the account
of their reaction. Through their attempts to find LD and to just come
to terms with his disappearance that we learn both about LD and the
people close to him.
Having read now six Robert Reed stories, I appreciate his flexibility
as a writer. "Leave" comes somewhere in the middle of my enjoyment.
My favorites so far remain "Five
Thrillers" and "Character
Flu."
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | robert reed | 2008
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