I just reread a novel I last read over 40 years ago. The Queen of America by Russell H. Greenan was published in 1972 and was marketed as a horror story at the time. When I read it back then, I enjoyed the novel for its edgy plot and memorable characters. The fact that I recalled it fondly says a lot about the story line and characters within. The protagonist is fourteen-year-old Ignacio (Ig) Never who lives with his father in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dad is a famous Spanish historian who is becoming increasingly anxious and paranoid—which has prompted him to seclude himself in his bedroom. He only communicates to his son by intercom and hand-written notes. Which no adult supervision, Ig roams Harvard Square and surrounding coffee shops and student hangouts with his dog Ripper. He befriends an assorted mix of adolescents and young adults (a 15-year-old mathematics genius attending MIT, an 18-year-old movie porn director, a 19-year-old drug dealer, and a 19-year-old furniture maker). Into this mix appears 16-year-old Betsy, who walks into the coffee house frequented by the characters after riding through a snowstorm on a motorcycle. She’s beautiful with blonde hair and a delightful personality. She’s also a serial killer who loves slashing to death anyone who insults her, regardless of how minor the insult was.
I won’t go any further in my discussion of the plot. By any stretch of the imagination, The Queen of America would not cut it as a horror story in today’s market. There’s no unique twist to the murders or to the killer. Nonetheless, the story was as enjoyable as I remembered it. The characters are great and pretty unique. I cared about them and wondered what the heck was going to happen to them (and the outcomes for many of them are unexpected). Boston circa 1970 is described in a way that is now almost nostalgic—and which probably wasn’t intentional at the time. The technology and dialog are almost quaint which add to the book’s charm. The scenes of horror, while few and far between, are jolting and gory and were probably brutal at the time of publication. They still had the effect for me, most likely due to the rich cast of characters for whom I cared a great deal.
I won’t go any further in my discussion of the plot. By any stretch of the imagination, The Queen of America would not cut it as a horror story in today’s market. There’s no unique twist to the murders or to the killer. Nonetheless, the story was as enjoyable as I remembered it. The characters are great and pretty unique. I cared about them and wondered what the heck was going to happen to them (and the outcomes for many of them are unexpected). Boston circa 1970 is described in a way that is now almost nostalgic—and which probably wasn’t intentional at the time. The technology and dialog are almost quaint which add to the book’s charm. The scenes of horror, while few and far between, are jolting and gory and were probably brutal at the time of publication. They still had the effect for me, most likely due to the rich cast of characters for whom I cared a great deal.
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