I really enjoyed reading Steve Lopez's Strangers' paths cross, and a boy's life hangs in the balance. While he was telling the story, I felt like i was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen to the boy and if he would make it out alive.
Right away, Lopez starts to set the scene by saying...
"Ten-year-old Danny White, red-haired and freckled, was riding his skateboard while his mother walked a friend's dog.Ron Dobson was on the corner after a day of revisions on a screenplay, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun on his face, eyes closed and head tilted back.
Myra Crowe was on her way to a ballet class for one of her three kids, all of whom were in her Honda Pilot as she headed out of her town house driveway and onto Palisades Circle at the very moment Danny approached.Crowe never saw him."
I liked how he wrote it. It wasn't just told, he really painted a picture for us, and the last sentence in a way gives you chills because you know something bad is about to happen.
There isn't too much dialogue, but what is there is good.
"Lady, you were dragging a kid under your car," Dobson told her, and Crowe slumped to the ground in shock.
This part of the story is good b/c it doesn't just leave the quote by itself. You also get the woman's reaction to being told she was dragging the child.
Another technique that really works in this story is the 3rd person approach. Lopez had to use it b/c he wasn't there. It works well b/c there are many people in the story and we are able to read what they all heard/saw/felt.
Crowe heard faint screams while driving the car. A chill came over her, but she still had no idea a 10-year-old was clinging to life under the floorboards.
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