Apt Pupil is a novella included in the collection Different Seasons, originally published in August of 1982.Warning, the following review does contain spoilers, just in case you have not read it yet.
Thirteen year old Todd Bowden learns that Arthur Denker, a man on his paper route, is actually Kurt Dussander, the "Blood Fiend" of the Patin death camp. Todd becomes obsessed and forces Denker to reveal his true identity and share the details of the horrific acts he was responsible for. At one point he forces Denker to march around in a Nazi SS uniform.
The key to Todd's power over Denker is the threat of revealing his secret. He tells Denker that he has a letter detailing everything with a friend who will expose it if anything should happen to Todd. Denker counters this with his own letter in a safety deposit box detailing his relationship with Todd. The two are trapped in a stalemate.
Once the school year is over, Todd begins killing. He kills to fend off the nightmares he has been having. Unknown to him, Denker has been killing for the same reason. They learn of each other's murder sprees when Denker has a heart attack while burying a body and is forced to call Todd for assistance.
This story really disturbed me when I first read it. The idea that a boy could become so obsessed with someone who had performed so many evil acts was beyond me. King gives the two main characters depth and realism and that makes it even more disturbing. Todd's transformation into a killer made for some thought provoking reading.
A lot of King's works force you to think about how a person perceives the world, and how that is both similar and different from the way you perceive it. This story really made me think and all of those thoughts came rushing back just writing this review.
This is a dark story that focuses on a horrible chapter in human history and exposes how that event can still breed evil so many years later. It is a very good story but be prepared to really reflect as you read this one.
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