Night of the Moonbow seems to be a struggle between two parts of Tryon's talent. He had proven himself as adept in conjuring up a small community and conveying the mechanics of life within it and in quietly building up an atmosphere of unease. In The Other, Harvest Home and Lady, Tryon focused on the sinister under-currents that can be present in such small communities that didn't necessarily always have a supernatural origin. The books progressed at different speeds but there was always an element of subtlety in how those dark under-currents were revealed. The Night of the Moonbow is a bit ham-fisted by comparison. It's about a single summer in a religious youth camp that centers on an orphan named Leo Joaquim (Wack-Eem, "Wacko") with a mysterious past.Leo and other characters: Reece Harstig, Tiger Abernathy, Ma Seabrook, Honey Oliphant and others have moments where their characterization seems genuine, but it is rare when any of them have that drawn-from-life aura that I've found in the other novels I've read of Tryon's.I recognize that it's unfair to compare an authors books with one another as often they are completely different creatures. But in this case I was disappointed precisely because I read this book, which did not strike me as worth picking-up, only because Tryon wrote it. The last book of his like that I'd picked up, Lady, was one of the best reading surprises I've had all year. I'll still seek out his other books - even if this story didn't take off for me - because Tryon is a talented writer.
This story of a boy's Bible camp gone awry was slow-paced, but when those layers began to unfold, I had some difficulty sleeping. Set at the precipice of World War II and including a camp counselor who is also a member of the German American Bund, the story boils until explosion at the end. Boys will be boys, and boys will be cruel when they adore a cruel leader. However, left to their own devices, the boys were not completely heartless, making them feel true to life. All of the camp rituals and stories, including the novel's namesake, almost weren't needed.
