DULUTH -- Richard Hoeg remembers growing up in his family’s Woodland neighborhood home in Duluth that was filled with small owl statues that his father collected. So maybe that’s where it all started.

Taylor (The World Champion of Staying Awake) sends up old-fashioned suspense fiction by contrasting his hero’s puffed-up ego with his inept plans to capture things to eat. Newcomer Jullien paints Hoot ...