Gods of Aberdeen, by Micah Nathan

Micah Nathan. Gods of Aberdeen. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005. 369 pages. ISBN 0743250826.

In Gods of Aberdeen, author Micah Nathan paints an evocative picture of life in a small New England liberal arts college. Young student Eric Dunne has been accepted into Aberdeen College as a 16-year old. He comes from a modest background and has to rely on financial aid to get by, including a work study position in the library. He also takes on a part time job helping a professor do research for a long-anticipated history book. Through his part-time work Eric becomes friends with his co-workers who are working on a secretive side project. As Eric learns more about their research efforts, he becomes increasingly afraid of what they're capable of. He goes along with them until he is put in the position of covering up for an accidental death of one of his fellow students, and he's forced to make a decision between recovering his integrity or protecting someone who he has learned can't be trusted.

I really enjoyed reading this book set on a college campus, although I found the library scenes to be ridiculously clichéd. The ancient librarian who heads the library sits at a desk near the circulation desk; he routinely allows rare books and manuscripts to be checked out; etc. I found it hard to read as impressionable Eric is manipulated into doing things that he knows is wrong, but kept reminding myself that he's only 16, and 16-year-olds do stupid things. Overall, the books drew me in and I had to keep reading to see what Eric would end up doing. I would recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries and suspense.