4 Stars for FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven is a child of William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies and The Walking Dead's Negan episodes. Lord of the Flies because of the deeper psychological element that makes us question the darker side of ourselves and that of others. Lord of the Flies is also loaded with symbolism representing intellect, unbridled violence, and leadership. All of these characteristics are found in humanity. They are also represented in the tribe leaders, intellects and violent acts of the Pirates and Warthogs in the book, FantasticLand. 

The underlying question of this book is why did a group of teenagers turn so quickly to gruesome acts of violence? In quick summary: FantasticLand is about a little over 200 teenagers who find themselves stranded in an amusement park for several weeks. They begin killing each other in less than a week. Why? I feel the answer to this question lies within our human psyche and the small percentage of real psychos out there that can (leadership) manipulate others who are weakened by tragedy, thus the hurricane that stranded the teens. 

As mentioned, this also reminded me of the Walking Dead Negan episodes because the bad Pirate group in the story used fear tactics much like Negan and his men. That scared me worse than the blood shed. Scarier than the Pirates was the Warthogs. The chapter on the Warthogs was the best chapter. I understand there is a sequel here. I definitely want to get my hands on it. This leads me to why I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5. That rating came from the Warthog chapter. After reading that chapter every other chapter fell short. The warthog chapter found the magic of suspense and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. The rest of the book intrigued me, but nothing like that one. 

That said: Bockoven wove together a clever book with a dynamic premise. FantasticLand was told in several interviews piecing together the massacre. Bockoven's ability to create very distinct voices throughout brought a real human element to the monsters of FantasticLand. In the end, you may question what group you fall into: Pirates, Shop Girls, Deadpools, Fairies. You notice I didn't include the Warthogs. Hopefully, you don't either.