Bone, Ian. The song of an innocent bystander.

BONE, Ian. The song of an innocent bystander. Penguin, Dutton. 262p. c2002. 0-525-47282-7. $16.99. JS

This novel has been quite successful in Australia where it was first published. Bolinda Audiobooks has released an audiobook version, reviewed in this issue of KLIATT (See also for more details about the novel.)

The book is about a crime and its aftermath. A nine-year-old girl, Freda, is taken hostage in a fast-food restaurant by a madman angry at a world filled with large corporations, such as fast-food restaurant chains. (Freda had run in to pick up something, with her parents just outside; the fact that she was isolated from her parents during the siege is significant.) The novel looks at Freda years later, when she is still emotionally paralyzed by the long-ago trauma; and the narration cuts back to the event itself, from the child Freda's point of view. Freda at 19 cannot accept the little Freda who during the long hours of the siege was so affected by the gunman, seeking his approval, following his orders, but confused as well.

There are many layers to this story, especially the characterizations of Freda's mother, a powerful lawyer who has devoted ten years to defending Freda and protecting her. But of course, the mother wasn't actually there during the siege, and Freda knows her mother doesn't know the whole truth. The person who may know something is a university student who approaches Freda for an interview for a college newspaper--this young man's identity is hidden until the end. It turns out he was the other child present ten years ago, a child sheltered by his mother during the siege, which made all the difference in dealing with the post-trauma effects.

YAs interested in crime and psychology will be quite taken by this novel. Claire Rosser, KLIATT