ROSEBUSH

Fear and anticipation stalk this psychological thriller as popular, pretty Jane tries to recover from a hit-and-run accident while wondering which of her beloved friends is trying to murder her. All of Jane’s friends are pretty—in fact every young character seems to have stepped straight out of Vogue—and most are super-wealthy. Jane’s fears come across as somewhat more realistic than her friends do, however, as she copes with threatening phone calls, dire messages written on mirrors and frightening gifts delivered to her in her hospital room. Plausible red herrings abound, along with the creeping suspicion that Jane might be imagining things. Jaffe manages the suspense marvelously while also unfolding Jane’s emotional life, especially her estrangement from her mother and her hidden knowledge of the death of another friend. The friends alter before readers’ eyes as they learn ever more about them through the veil of the unreliable narrator, who, as her hospital orderly observes, is a lousy judge of character. Cleverly written with a finger on the pulse of the target audience—a winner. (Thriller. 14 & up)