Gory and campy horror, perfect for the Halloween season.
An escape room competition turns deadly when contestants start dying one by one.
Seventeen-year-old Persey and seven other young adults qualify for the first annual escape room All-Star Competition for a chance to win a cash prize of $10 million and become ultrafamous. The competition, formerly run by Escape-Capades (now under new management after a scandal led to the murder-suicide of its previous owners), has high stakes and supposedly impossible-to-break puzzles and only the best of the best—Persey included—are competing. Persey can certainly do with the money if she wins, but it’s obvious that something is very wrong with the competition, as people start getting killed in the increasingly dangerous rooms, with no option left but to go forward. The survivors need to work together and cooperate, but suspicion abounds, as one of them may be the killer. The question is why? This stand-alone prequel companion to McNeil’s #MurderTrending series combines inventive, geeky puzzles; twisted locked-room(s) murder mysteries; and vengeful horror. Flashbacks to Persey’s abusive childhood are interspersed throughout the narrative and give insight into her frame of mind and motivation; other characters are less well fleshed-out. Although the main plot twist is telegraphed, it doesn’t ruin the fun of its gory puzzle-break-or-die premise. Persey is assumed White in a diverse cast.
Gory and campy horror, perfect for the Halloween season. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-368-02626-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Freeform/Disney
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2020
A gripping tribute to resilience.
A girl with amnesia and a boy suspected of harming his girlfriend overcome adversity to find the answers they seek.
A 17-year-old girl wakes up in a ditch, disoriented and with no memory of who she is or what happened. Found by the Alton, Oregon, police, she is brought to the station. Soon after, Wayne Boone, a man claiming to be her father, shows up. He has photos of her on his phone and her high school ID card, with the name Mary Boone. Wayne convinces the police to release Mary into his custody. The more time Mary spends with Wayne, however, the weirder things get: He’s unaware of her food allergy, and as her memories start to return, they don’t conform with Wayne’s versions of her life. In the town of Washington City, across the Willamette River, Drew is in a bad place. His girlfriend, Lola, has disappeared, and Drew was the last person to see her. His adoptive dads and cousin are the only ones who support him; everyone else, including the sheriff, thinks he’s responsible for Lola’s disappearance. Intent on finding Lola, Drew finds help in an unlikely ally, Lola’s best friend, Autumn, who is the sheriff’s daughter. But will they find Lola in time? The two immersive storylines bring to life the trials and frustrations each main character faces in this debut, which is a thrilling delight right up to the unexpected and bittersweet conclusion. Most characters are cued white; one of Drew’s dads is Guatemalan.
A gripping tribute to resilience. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781728270111
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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