An undemanding read for fans of slim, fast-paced mysteries.
Sixteen-year-old Rig is a reluctant hero when he seeks to discover who is obsessed enough with his sister to set up a website about her and possibly do something more dangerous.
Rig and his sister Karma were once close, but when their parents divorced, Karma remained with their dad and Rig with their mom, and the two drifted apart. Now Karma is in college, and even though Rig tries to stay in touch, Karma seems even busier than she was as a popular high-school student. When Rig comes across a website devoted to his sister, he suspects someone is stalking Karma and that she could be in danger. His flighty mother is unable to see the problem, so he turns to his father. Their relationship is strained, but Mr. Ebro is as alarmed as Rig, and the two quickly head for Karma’s small college town. Despite their presence, they are unable to halt the stalker’s determination to take Karma and perhaps cause harm. The police are reluctant to follow Rig’s suggestions, so it's up to him and his family to protect Karma. This is a simplistic thriller with pacing that makes it suitable for reluctant readers. The plot is predictable, as is the family dynamic. Rig, though, a lonely obsessive teen who fears he has too much in common with the lonely stalker, is an interesting character who lifts the story and demonstrates how there can be similarities between a villain and a hero.
An undemanding read for fans of slim, fast-paced mysteries. (Thriller. 12 & up)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2358-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lukewarm thriller.
In England, a group of teenagers tries to stay alive when a long weekend in an abandoned castle goes wrong.
When Bessie and her friends decide to join a party their classmate Allegra is throwing in her family’s abandoned castle before it’s converted into apartments, they think the biggest issues they’ll face are making it there before a big storm hits and keeping their plans secret from their parents and teachers. Once they arrive at the castle, however, Bessie and best friend Kashvi discover menacing graffiti and evidence that someone has been staying in the cellar. They also learn that protestors from the nearby village are angry about the development plans for the castle—one of them even argues that it would be better to burn it down. A handful of classmates manage to get there before the storm gets too severe. But when the teens wake up the next day to discover one of their own dead, and the storm makes it impossible for them to leave, they quickly realize that they’re in danger. But is the killer one of the members of the Facebook protestors’ group…or one of their own? Despite the book’s intriguing setup, the prose is dominated by repetitive conversations that convey little substance. Still, readers may still find themselves propelled forward by a need to discover the identity of the murderer. The central cast is racially diverse.
A lukewarm thriller. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593704080
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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