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|date=May 2015
|isbn=978-0434023493
|video=hpzhO3iW7EQ
|cover=Smith_Boo
No one in Town is particularly goody-goody or perfect; it's not that kind of heaven. Johnny is troubled by nightmares from the murder. Whereas Boo is trying to remember his demise but doesn't feel badly enough affected for admission to the 'sadcon' – the hospital for the sad and confused. Thelma and Esther are the old hands showing them around... old being 13 of course.
There are some interesting subtle changes in the group as we go through the book. Indeed, it's reassuring that even after death, character development isn't neglected. In fact , in some ways , this is a coming of age story in a dead-and-not-aging ageing way.
Could Neil have just written a coming of age story based among the living? He could but then we'd lose the psychological twists around the after -effects of murder upon the victim and the unique edges such as the girl who had hoped for heavenly angel wings, not to mention the mystery of where everyone vanishes after 50 years have been clocked up.
''Boo'' does appear to be literary marmite as there are critical mumblings about over-suspending belief and inability to get into it. However, for each of those , there's someone like me who has fallen in love with its charm, fun and subtle eloquence. This may not be the biblical heaven but on the other hand, the biblical details are a little sketchy so who really knows? Ok, apart from Boo and Neil Smith!
(Thank you to William Heinemann for providing us with a copy for review.)