Billy (novel)

Billy is a 1990 novel by Whitley Strieber. The novel tells the story of the abduction of a child and the terror of his experience.

Plot summary

Barton Royal is an overweight man in his 40s who is obsessed with pubescent boys. He lives in Los Angeles but travels out of State to find and abduct a suitable young boy so he can be his 'father'. When he spots 12-year-old Billy Neary in an Iowa shopping mall, Barton is smitten: "The face was the sort you could look at for hours; such beauty was a kind of food." He follows the boy home, abducts him late that night, and drives back to California with Billy strapped into the back of his Aerostar minivan. The narrative includes glimpses of Barton's miserable childhood, especially the physical and sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and his recollections of what he has done to other boys before Billy. Billy is not only a stunningly attractive boy, he’s also bright and does everything he can to humour Barton. He tries to escape and also manages to make a few telephone calls, both on the road to and in the bedroom of Barton's home. Barton cuddles Billy and kisses him many times, but doesn’t abuse him sexually. His psychotic behaviour switches between extreme violence (he whips Billy mercilessly) and interludes of self-delusion when he imagines that Billy could somehow love him and call him Daddy. Billy finds his way into Barton’s dungeon, his "black room", and discovers the remains of many other young boys. Billy’s father beats the police to Billy's location, just barely preventing Barton from torturing and killing him.

See also

• Pedophilia
• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in fiction (boys)