Eventually he pays to return her to her mother in Milwaukee. Russ is Bone's best friend at the beginning of the narrative. He is a 16-year-old school dropout and stoner. He worked at the Video Den before he was fired for stealing from the cash register. Evening Star is an American heiress/socialite in Jamaica who uses her house to constantly host elite American guests who come down to partake of her parties, which include frequent drug use, reggae music, and what amounts to prostitution with the locals. Her house is called Starport and nicknamed the Mothership by Bone. Buster Brown is a pedophile who bought Froggy from her mother. He is also the manager for a rap group called "The Soul Assassins". Ken is Mrs. Dorset's husband and Bone's stepfather. He is sexually abusive and an alcoholic. Bruce is the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang, Adirondack Iron, which is based in Russ's apartment above the Video Den, where Bone stays when he first runs away from home. After the apartment catches on fire, Bruce goes back to save Bone, causing Bone to remember him fondly. Major themes Many different reviewers compared Rule of the Bone to other coming of age novels such as Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye. Reception Rule of the Bone received mixed reviews. In one article, Ed Peaco gave praise to the novel by saying, “Like Huck Finn, Bone’s slyly unsophisticated voice explores big questions like love, sex, crime, sin, race, class, and the fate of children in a fractured society.” Critics admired Banks’ style with one quoting: “...When it inhabits the wised-up consciousness of Chappie, aka “Bone”, it’s harder to get away from than a Big Issue ambush...It features a wandering street urchin whom critics have likened to Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield.” Most praised Banks’ for his likeness to Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, comparing one of the characters in Huck Finn, Jim, to I-man, a middle aged rastafarian who resembles Huck's companion. Others were not as pleased with the structure of Banks' novel. In the book review from The Nation'''s Jess Mowry states: “...Unfortunately [it's] jumbled together like The Hobbit gets Kidnapped by Peter Pan on Treasure Island''. References External links New York Times Review 1995 American novels Novels by Russell Banks American bildungsromans Novels set in New York (state) HarperCollins books