by Abigail Johnson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 2020
Fast and intense, this is a galloping thriller with something extra for romantics.
The opening scenes set the pace for this stomach-clencher of a chase.
Katelyn’s mother, Melissa, doesn’t want anyone to know her business, and they move often. Why is not clear. Katelyn, ignorant of her mother’s motives, creates an online dating profile for Melissa, blowing their cover. Melissa’s words as she hectically starts packing bags are ominous: “They found us.” Katelyn knows things are serious when Melissa steals their elderly neighbor’s vehicle to use as a getaway car. Narrated in the first person by Katelyn, the story keeps readers as much in the dark as she is. To keep her safe, Melissa leaves Katelyn in a motel room while she goes off to deal with things, leaving Katelyn to untangle a somewhat overblown tale of thwarted love and a cold-case murder. Her first clue appears along with a brutal bounty hunter who busts into her room. Katelyn escapes and, in the process, rescues computer whiz Malcolm, whom the bounty hunter has kidnapped for his tech skills. Malcolm, who is Black in a default White cast, is able to tell Katelyn why Melissa is being sought. Together, the duo enters a cat-and-mouse game, trying to locate Melissa while staying one step ahead of the bounty hunter. The chapters are short, featuring terse chapter titles—“Flee,” “Evade,” “Hostage”—and each ends with a cliffhanger, making this page-turner appealing and accessible for reluctant readers.
Fast and intense, this is a galloping thriller with something extra for romantics. (Thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17981-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Underlined
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
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by Lisa Roecker Laura Roecker ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011
Secret societies dominate a posh co-educational private school in this suspenseful, possibly supernatural mystery. One or both of those societies may be responsible for the death of a girl, or so 15-year-old Kate believes. Kate’s best friend, Grace, was killed in a fire under mysterious circumstances a year earlier. When she gets an e-mail from her dead friend, Kate believes Grace is asking for justice and begins to investigate what really happened. The Roeckers populate the school with the standard drop-dead handsome rich guys and a few supermodel-style girls, but Kate finds herself more attracted to dangerous, scruffy Liam. Then there’s her annoying next-door neighbor, nerdy Seth, who has an obvious crush on her. Despite the difficulties they cause, the two help her so much that at last she enlists them in her quest. Tension mounts when the trio finds secret areas in the school and starts to track down who was really responsible on the night of the fire. A final confrontation solves the mystery, but can Kate really bring the culprit to justice? And is Grace’s ghost really haunting her? The authors create lively and memorable characters and keep the action moving in their lengthy whodunit; Kate’s interest in Latin adds an educational element. Clearly, the Roeckers had fun writing their story. Young mystery lovers may enjoy it just as much. (Mystery. 12-16)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4022-5633-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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by Ella Monroe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 13, 2012
Chick-lit on steroids.
In Washington, politics permeates everything, even the relationships of its adolescents in this second installment in the Capital Girls series.
This sequel assumes knowledge of major events in the first book and of characters introduced earlier as well. The story mostly follows Jackie, girlfriend to the female president’s son Andrew and daughter to her chief of staff; Laura Beth, daughter of the resolutely Southern widow of a major Republican operative; Whitney, who enjoys manipulating her friends even more than do the others; and Lettie, daughter of unaccountably financially poor parents. All except Lettie come across as privileged, spoiled, scheming and selfish and, frankly, may be difficult for readers to like. The convoluted plot turns on a car accident from the previous book; only the girls know that Andrew was driving at the time. Now someone is stalking Jackie, so she stays at the White House for safety. Monroe (a pseudonym for two co-authors) throws in the obligatory chick-lit focus on fashion, swerving the narrative to New York so Jackie can model for a famous designer, and label-drops with abandon. The broad emphasis of the book, however, appears to be the politics, in a general sense, inherent in the rivalries among the girls. The crowded plots and subplots create confusion amid the hope that these uber-sophisticated, entitled girls never take the reins of government.
Chick-lit on steroids. (Chick-lit. 12-16)Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-62305-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
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