Point of View

Dan Simmons uses third person point of view throughout the story. He jumps around between the boys in the Bike Patrol, though he leans heavily on Dale, Mike, and Duane, who are the primary characters of the story. He jumps outside of this small group of narrators only once, when he relates the death of Mr. Dennis Ashley-Montague. At no time in the story does the reader get a glimpse at the mind or point of view of any of the minions of the Bell of Borgia. Likewise, no female ever wrestles the point of view away from the boys, even Cordie Cooke, who is ostensibly one of the important protagonists in the story.

The first chapter is the only part of the book told in third person omniscient. It relates some of the history of Old Central, from the founding up until its slated closing...