An appealing young hero leads an indelible cast in this entertaining thriller.
A teenager faces a stalker menacing him and his rock star parents in this YA mystery.
Slate Volkov’s junior year at a Manhattan private academy is off to a bad start. He’s getting vaguely ominous texts from an anonymous “R” and spots a stranger following him. These threats soon name Slate’s parents—famous Russian rockers who can’t get United States citizenship until their American-born son is old enough to sponsor them. When his parents, headed back to their home country with their band mates, are in a car accident, there’s a chance this mishap was actually a deliberate attempt on their lives. As Slate struggles to identify as well as evade the “perv” incessantly stalking him, he learns that Russian thugs have been intimidating Galina Minkin, his motherly, full-time guardian in New York. As the new school year pushes on, he balances a semesterlong project with his amateur but potentially dangerous investigation. Luckily, new pals at the academy, along with his trustworthy best friend, John “Dash” Dasher, lend support as Slate fights to keep himself and his family safe. Mularz’s engaging tale moves at a steady clip, hitting the ground running as Slate receives an unnerving, cryptic text. But the teens’ compelling personal dramas take precedence over the mystery. Slate’s parents spend more time partying hard than with their only child, while Dash’s father, also a celebrity musician, seems even more neglectful. Furthermore, Slate’s fellow students include one who resents his wealth and privilege and another whose father may be abusing him. Still, it’s fun to watch Slate piece together certain clues, which he manages to do without putting himself or his friends in too much peril. Ample scenes pairing Slate and Dash make this a mostly lighthearted offering, as their version of rebelling against famous parents is jamming in their two-man, country-music band.
An appealing young hero leads an indelible cast in this entertaining thriller.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950613-76-2
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Taylor and Seale Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter.
After a Nigerian British girl goes off to an exclusive boarding school that seems to prey on less-privileged students, she discovers there might be some truth behind an urban legend.
Ife Adebola joins the Urban Achievers scholarship program at pricey, high-pressure Nithercott School, arriving shortly after a student called Leon mysteriously disappeared. Gossip says he’s a victim of the glowing-eyed Changing Man who targets the lonely, leaving them changed. Ife doesn’t believe in the myth, but amid the stresses of Nithercott’s competitive, privileged, majority-white environment, where she is constantly reminded of her state school background, she does miss her friends and family. When Malika, a fellow Black scholarship student, disappears and then returns, acting strangely devoid of personality, Ife worries the Changing Man is real—and that she’s next. Ife joins forces with classmate Bijal and Benny, Leon’s younger brother, to uncover the truth about who the Changing Man is and what he wants. Culminating in a detailed, gory, and extended climactic battle, this verbose thriller tempts readers with a nefarious mystery involving racial and class-based violence but never quite lives up to its potential and peters out thematically by its explosive finale. However, this debut offers highly visually evocative and eerie descriptions of characters and events and will appeal to fans of creature horror, social commentary, and dark academia.
A descriptive and atmospheric paranormal social thriller that could be a bit tighter. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250868138
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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
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