and its characters but the general mood of the town is not so lifeless. There are aspects seen in this setting which look as though they could have been pulled out of one of Collins's descriptions in The Keepers of Truth. For example common things such as cars of that time are prevalent in both texts. Bill has his convertible, a reminder of the prosperous times and his old money background and it features in the story a number of times mainly when Collins is describing the relationship between Bill and Ronny's estranged and the way that she was in awe of it. Teri, Ronny's estranged wife was attracted to Bill and the car played a big part in the development of this relationship. This is similar in the way that Jim Williams's young lover, Billy Hansen owned and loved a big old late 70s style car. The thing that is most similar in the part that these cars play in the texts is that, as Bill knew Teri loved the car maybe more so than she loved him, Jim also knew that Billy's car was his favourite thing. This is shown when a female Voodoo doctor is performing a ritual at the site of Billy's grave and she asks Jim what was something that he liked. The thing that immediately sprang to Jims mind was the car.
             "That car was his pride and joy"
             Bill and Jim, prominent characters in both texts live in extremely large houses. Jim's house covered an entire block whilst Bills mansion was built on a family refrigeration empire. Although this is a minor similarity there is a major difference in the way that they acquired these houses. Bill is from old money, although there may not be a whole lot left to show for it now. Unlike Jim he did not build his own wealth. Williams describes his wealth as nouveau riche, being 11 years old but he also remarks that "it is the riche that counts".
             A common theme shared by the two texts is death. In The Keepers of Truth Bills dad shoots himself after life i...