Teenager Emily Wood has had a recurring nightmare involving a place she cannot name, a dead woman, and a menacing presence. Although she’s deeply frightened by it, she feels unable to share the details with anyone. At school she lurks in the back row, hides behind a curtain of hair, and is labeled an underachiever. Her concerned parents are now sending her to a special summer camp where a renowned educator promises to “cure” her. The camp and the people who work there turn out to be the participants in Emily’s nightmare and she is in danger from the murderer. Eccentric new friends help her find the answers. Nixon lays out the clues cleverly without resorting to overloading the reader with red herrings. The adult characters are somewhat one-dimensional, but after all that’s how teenagers see them. A taut, well-constructed mystery by a writer who will be missed. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2003
ISBN: 0-385-73026-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2003
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER
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A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
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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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Paisley, a true-crime podcaster, finds herself at the center of a mystery.
Six teen influencers in the worlds of beauty, gaming, books, and more are invited to a late medieval Gothic era–themed resort, the brainchild of a billionaire who has spared no expense in building an eerie amusement park on the newly created, human-made Jagged Island. The influencers get to see everything before it’s open to the public—they have one exclusive weekend of posting to their collective audiences. The rides are great, but the staff is limited, and a big storm is closing in. Things turn sinister when one of the influencers goes missing, the island’s internet connection is sabotaged, and the cell service is jammed. Paisley needs to use her intuition, honed from digging into murder cases, to figure out who is doing this and why. Preston displays her usual exceptional pacing, with murderous delight sprinkled throughout the plot. The author effectively presents a mystery littered with clues, including red herrings, shown through the lens of a paranoid protagonist. In essence, this is a slasher film in book form, filled with the gore and violence fans anticipate and expect. Most characters, including Paisley, read White; an island staff member and one influencer are cued Black.
Will leave readers looking nervously over their shoulders. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-48149-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY & THRILLER
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