WEEKEND

Any teen who liked Slumber Party, the author's first suspense novel, will undoubtedly be drawn to Weekend--and will not be disappointed. Weekend is a gripping page-turner that will keep readers guessing until the end. Several months after Shani's wealthy best-friend Robin is poisoned at a drunken party given by a mutual friend and left with permanently damaged kidneys, every teen-ager who was at the party is invited to spend a weekend at Robin's family's beach house in Mexico. The weekend of pleasure, however, soon turns into a horribly real cat-and-mouse game as someone causes accidents, cuts the phone wires, and eventually isolates the kids in the remote house. Does someone know who tried to poison Robin? Is the poisoner preparing to strike again? Is someone looking for revenge? Pike's strength is in characterization, and in his ability to write a true young-adult suspenser. No watered-down adult mystery, this honestly engrossing novel about teens on the brink of adulthood is perfect fare for the reader who's past Nancy Drew but not yet ready for Agatha Christie. Parents may object to the heavy drinking scene (although the scene is realistic), to Shani's sexual fantasy, and to the unbelievably offhand attitude of the few adults in the book. However, as Grade B fiction goes, Weekend rates a solid B+.