The Seven Days of Peter Crumb-Jonny Glynn

The Seven Days of Peter Crumb
Jonny Glynn
Harper, Jan 4 2008, $13.95
ISBN: 9780061351488

In London Peter Crumb has recently begun listening to the other voice’s recommendations. The conversations between Peter and the other Peter center on whether to rape and murder his neighbors. The other Peter insists he will be dead in a week anyway so forget the societal dictates of thou shall not kill and just have fun doing whatever you want to do.

Peter begins brutally killing his neighbors and raping prostitutes. As he completes one act, his voice tells him to do another. He begins to self analyze the two Peters and realizes that one is amoral while the other feels guilt but is cowardly. The amoral Peter continues to rule as THE SEVEN DAYS OF PETER CRUMB comes closer to ending at least in one of his egos with much of London in shock by the viciousness of a new serial killer rapist.

Readers will find the debate and discussions between the two Peters fascinating in a macabre way; similar to gawking at a car accident. His multiple personality disorder contains a remorseful but weak Peter and an amoral strong Peter who wins every argument as one kill leads to another. Even more interesting is how numb the audience feels towards the duel Peters graphically describing his methodology employed in his kills in the three decades since John Carpenter directed Halloween.

Harriet Klausner