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Apt Pupil (1982) is a novella by Stephen King, originally published in the 1982 novella collection...

Apt Pupil (1982) is a novella by Stephen King, originally published in the 1982 novella collection Different Seasons, subtitled "Summer of Corruption". Apt Pupil consists of 29 chapters, many of which are headed by a month. Set in a fictional suburb of San Diego in California called "Santo Donato", the story unfolds over a period of about four years, with most of the action taking place during the first year and the last months. It is the only novella in Different Seasons to be narrated in the third person. Paper boy Todd Bowden meets neighbor Arthur Denker and discovers his dark secret. The pair form a bond over the next few months which deepens when Todd is also implicated in keeping the secrets he feeds on and thrills to as well as keeping company with a war criminal and forging his own school records as a cover up for his activities. The secrets and the shared experiences bring emotional problems for both and in their personal choice of outlets in an attempt to assuage their disturbance, both indulge in murder and social menace. Both Todd and Denker use moves and counter moves to blackmail each other, but within four years circumstances expose them and spin out of their