"I am not yet whole. Had I been, I could make this entire yard of boys kill each other. Gleefully."
— Quincrux, The Twelve-Fingered Boy
The Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy is a series of books written by John Hornor Jacobs. The main focus of these books is Shreveport Justice Cannon (or "Shreve"), a smart-mouthed convict and candy dealer in Casimir Pulaski Juvenile Detention Center. However, Shreve's mundane life in prison is changed by the arrival of his new cell mate: Jack Graves. Jack is quiet and reserved; however, his most striking feature is his fingers. Namely, that he has twelve of them.
With the mystery of Jack's origins and powers along with an unnerving man determined to get him, Shreve certainly has his work cut out for him. Unfortunately, things are only getting started....
The Twelve-Fingered Boy series contains examples of:
- Big Bad: Quincrux, a mysterious psychic with his eyes on Jack. He isn't really the big bad.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Forcibly entering someone's mind is framed as an equivalent to sexual assault, a fact which is especially disturbing when Shreve does it to Jack.
- The Dragon: The Witch to Quincrux (although he isn't that broken up over her death...)
- Enemy Mine: Shreve and Quincrux against whatever is in Maryland.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Quincrux may be a sinister older man interested in Jack, but he is not a pedophile.
- Extra Digits: The book is named after Jack, who has six fingers on each hand.
- Great Escape: An escape from both prison and the people hunting Jack.
- Horrifying the Horror: Shreve manages the scare The Witch in the second book. And then he destroys her mind.
- Mind Rape: Is literally referred to as "rape", as the invasion of privacy and damage it may cause is similar.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: The Witch, A.K.A, Ilsa Moteff
- People Puppets: Powerful enough psychics can control several people at one time.
- Promotion to Parent: As a result of his alcoholic mother, Shreve became a father to his brother.
- Psychic Nosebleed: A common symptom of victims of possession or those doing the possessing.
- Sarcasm Failure: The main sign that something is seriously wrong with Shreve is that he loses is Deadpan Snarker tendencies.
- Sanity Slippage: The strain of reading minds and other psychic powers may lead to insanity.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Practically the defining trait of Booth, one of the correctional officers at Casimir Pulaski.
