by Howard Odentz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 13, 2017
A simmering psychological thriller bolstered by a dynamic narrative voice and a few unexpected twists.
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A group of close friends find themselves embroiled in a sinister plot in novelist and playwright Odentz’s (Wicked Dead, 2016, etc.) latest YA novel.
Four high school seniors wake up deep in the woods on the outskirts of bucolic Meadowfield, Massachusetts. To their horror, each of their bodies has been altered in some fashion, and none of the kids have any memories of the previous night. Odentz has the quick-witted Weston Kahn narrate the story with youthful personality and humor as he observes his friends, including local jock Anders Stephenson, who’s covered in blood; alien-conspiracy theorist Robbie Myers, who’s missing his glass eye; and confidante Marcy, who’s missing her pants. Weston himself has a tiny, triangular symbol burned into his arm. The shell-shocked quartet stumbles home, and each teen attempts to cover for the others. Further mayhem begins almost immediately: Weston thinks that Sandra Berman, a teenage girl who went missing three years ago, may have been the victim of a homicide just across the street from her house—the victim of a serial killer who threatens the sleepy town’s sense of security. Blurry memories start to return to the teen foursome, Anders begins exhibiting strangely violent behavior, and they eventually determine that someone drugged them all. They attempt to solve the mystery themselves even while admitting that going to “a hospital is probably the right thing to do—even the smart thing to do.” As the slightly convoluted puzzle pieces start to fall into place, deep secrets are revealed and guilty parties make their move to silence the group. Overall, this novel is creative, atmospheric, and effectively detailed, and Odentz maintains a firm grasp on the conversational tone and flow of the story, which seems tailor-made for YA suspense fans. He builds out his novel subtly and incrementally with interrelated characterizations of the teenagers and their family members, and he keeps the story moving with fine pacing, realistic dialogue, and a good sense of place. Throughout, he empowers his characters with intriguing histories, melodramatic infighting, and general teenage growing pains that bring them to vibrant life.
A simmering psychological thriller bolstered by a dynamic narrative voice and a few unexpected twists.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-6119483-6-3
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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