Lovely Bones: 4

Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold

Mystery, thriller

233/328

In this section of the book on the first chapter Lindsey (Susie’s sister) constantly observes Mr. Hervey’s (the murderer) house. Lindsey joined the boys soccer team. Mr. Harvey’s house is visible from the court for soccer. Lindsey is constantly looking towards the house and Mr. Harvey knows that he fooled everyone except the Salmon family. After sometime Mr. Harvey leaves his house. Lindsey fakes that she isn’t feeling well and then she secretly goes to his house. When she gets there she decides to break in through the basement window. When she does enter the house she figures out that the house it set up just like her house.  For a moment Lindsey sees her sister for a split second and follows her into a where all of the other girls/ women Mr. Harvey has killed are (including Susie right now). Lindsey starts to look around the room and finds Mr. Harvey’s sketchbook where he sketched the cornfield (where he murdered Susie). Lindsey finds out that there is a hole in the cornfield and that is exactly where her sister was killed. She hears that Mr. Harvey is back and quickly rips out the page from the sketchbook and opens the window so she can get away. Mr. Harvey hears her and sees her running away. In the next chapter Mr. Harvey remembers how he used to shoplift with his mother and how sometimes they would get caught. After that he starts to get really nervous but decides to call the police and they come to see how serious it is. Mr. Harvey doesn’t try to blame Lindsey for what she did as he calls her “Poor little girl”. Mr. Harvey at first didn’t tell the police the drawing from the sketchbook was missing even though he knew it wasn’t there, because of that the police almost arrests him. He then manages to convince the police that he didn’t know that is was missing. He claimed that he was trying to figure out how Susie was killed (actually he was planning how to kill her). The following chapter was the anniversary of Susie’s murder. Ruth (Susie’s friend who Susie touched as she was leaving earth after that experience Ruth became obsessed by Susie) came to Ray’s (Susie’s ex-boyfriend) house and they then went to the cornfield. When they arrived there they saw that Samuel and Hal were there and some others were there left flowers and left. The neighbors see the kids there so people start gathering up on the cornfield in memory of Susie. Abigail (Susie’s mother) isn’t interested in coming while Jack (Susie’s father) and Lindsey go to the cornfield. In the final chapter of this section that I read this week at the beginning of summer 1975 Abigail (Susie’s mom) leaves, leaving Lindsey and Buckley alone with Jack. Grandma Lynn then says she is going to move in with them to help out. Mr. Harvey packed his bags and left and no one could find, there were no records of him, he disappeared. One day Lindsey goes down to the station where she finds her mothers scarf in Len’s (police officer) desk and that is when she gets that her mother had an affair with him. Buckley then builds a fort for Susie and in there he often comes to read to keep his mind off of his mother.  Len finds some evidence against Mr. Harvey and he finally gets that Jack was right the whole time. Now Len feels guilty that he didn’t solve the crime because Mr. Harvey is nowhere to be found. Susie now sees something that Len doesn’t, a hunter found her charm bracelet near the bones of a child’s foot in Connecticut. After a couple of years Len discovers what Susie knew this whole time, he discovers the charm near a body of a girl found in 1976. Later on in the chapter Hal (Samuels brother) meats a biker whose mother was murdered by someone who matched Mr. Harvey’s description and he calls Len. At the end Holiday (Susie’s dog) dies and joins her in heaven. I have learned many things in this section especially that Mr. Harvey leaves. That influenced many things because if he stayed in town Len would’ve caught him. But since he disappeared that made the story more interesting and more intense.

I am blown away, shocked, amazed and stunned. I can’t believe what I have read. As it is seen in my summary there are many things that happen in the last couple of chapters. My recent reading has totally fulfilled my expectations because so many drastic things happened in this section of the book. I expect that the police after some time will find Mr. Harvey and arrest him for what he has done. I am very satisfied with what I have read so far I couldn’t have expected more.

I have a big concern currently; I am worried that Mr. Harvey won’t get punished for what he did to Susie and the other girls/ women he killed. I also two additional questions where did Mr. Harvey go and how is he staying undercover for so long.

“”The young woman that broke in”, the officer began, “she did take something. It was a drawing of the cornfield and a sort of structure in it”” (-Sebold -192)

This passage is my favorite part in this section. It was when the officer told Mr. Harvey that Lindsey took something (even though he already knew that). This passage in a way delighted me because at that point for a second I thought that he is going to go to jail for what he did, but then he managed to convince the police that he didn’t notice it missing.