A proficient, sympathetic hero elevates this straightforward but entertaining thriller.
A teenager adjusts to his new life and family while trying to solve a decades-old murder in this YA mystery.
Sage Christopher isn’t exactly distraught when his father, Marty, dies in a car accident. This alcoholic, abusive, and hapless con man, the only family Sage has known, wasn’t much of a dad. Still, the 13-year-old Las Vegas denizen is surprised when a social worker sends him to live with grandparents on the other side of the country. He meets them for the first time, and Pops and Gram show him nothing but kindness and hospitality. Regardless, Sage has plans to high-tail it out of Evansville, Connecticut—but first he’s got a murder to look into. Marty left behind indications that he was shaking down a killer in this small East Coast town. The apparent victim was a local newspaper tycoon missing for nearly 20 years, and the paper has a standing million-dollar reward for whomever finds him. All Sage has to go on is a threatening note the killer sent Marty, coldly asserting that “Murder is easy” and signing it “C.” That could be any number of people, from a few townsfolk to Pops and Gram, who share their grandson’s surname. Sage nevertheless quickly whittles down his suspect list and zeroes in on a potential murderer. He looks for clues in old newspaper articles and the rooms he searches when alone. This puts him closer to a million-dollar payout but may also catch the attention of someone who’s made it abundantly clear that killing won’t be a problem.
Troy aptly develops this story’s young protagonist; he’s an unfortunate kid without a real home or a dependable family who suddenly has both. Sage begins the story living in a seedy motel room. The foster-care system just wants to get rid of him, with the social worker practically pushing him onto an eastbound train. His grandparents are sweet but not cloying; Gram cooks regular meals for this food-insecure teen but subtly gives him the chore of washing dishes afterward. In addition, the teen valiantly stands up against the school bully and makes several new friends, most notably Sonny. Sage compares Sonny to Jimmy Olsen (Superman’s photojournalist friend). But the mystery plot is not quite as enthralling. Sage doesn’t do much investigating, and none of the clues he digs up are entirely unexpected. Still, he’s a street-smart teen who utilizes skills that Marty taught him, such as furtively eavesdropping on others and successfully stashing any evidence he’s collected. The author blankets the overall narrative in suspense, as Sage at one point feels an unknown murderer has eyes on him. Even when he’s sure he’s identified the culprit, he can’t always ensure his safety. There are touches of humor as well. Sage eliminates Chester as the killer C not because he’s a floppy-eared bloodhound—the dog is simply too lazy to commit a murder. This budding investigative journalist may pop up in a sequel, especially since readers never get to see a couple of Sage’s skills in action.
A proficient, sympathetic hero elevates this straightforward but entertaining thriller.Pub Date: March 31, 2022
ISBN: 979-8424748578
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting supernatural mystery with a pair of brave protagonists.
The disappearance of a child unveils what lies hiding in the woods at the edge of a small town.
There are all sorts of stories about Picnic, Illinois, but it’s not until her toddler cousin, Madison, goes missing from her crib one night that 15-year-old Luce starts to believe them—and especially when she notices a pair of glowing, wolflike eyes through the windows of her house. To everybody’s relief, Madison is returned to her crib, seemingly safe and sound, soon after she vanished, but Luce and the child’s mother notice discomfiting differences in the 2-year-old. And yet, no one else seems to give credence to their concerns. Luce, prompted by a teacher, starts to research Picnic’s history and the many disappearances—and sudden reappearances—of baby girls, going back decades. Meanwhile, deep in the woods, Fanya, who narrates alternating chapters, tends to the baby girl and prepares for the ritual to welcome her as part of her pack when the full moon comes. As Luce’s and Fanya’s stories converge, so do past and present in Lund’s atmospheric novel. The story borrows elements from South Slavic lore about women who turn into animals to tell an affecting tale about small-town secrets, wronged people, and the bravery of two girls bent on getting to the truth in order to save lives. All characters are assumed White.
An affecting supernatural mystery with a pair of brave protagonists. (Paranormal thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-35109-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This compassionate and beautifully rendered novel packs an emotional punch
From death row, a young man navigates prison and writes to his best friend in this powerful work of realistic fiction.
A poignant story of loyalty, abuse, and poverty is woven throughout a narrative that alternates between flashbacks to Luke and Toby’s senior year of high school (presented from their perspectives in the third person) and the present-day experience of Luke’s incarceration (told in first person through his letters to Toby). This structure allows the novel to build a slow and gripping tension as it progresses, revealing the horrific events that led to Luke’s arrest only at the very end, as the other details of the boys’ lives naturally unfold. Both are seemingly white. The two struggle to guard their friendship fiercely even as Toby becomes sexually involved with a likable but troubled young woman and Luke falls for a different girl. The two have been lifelong friends, supporting each other through family struggles—Toby’s with a physically abusive father and Luke’s with a neglectful mother who leaves him playing a parental role to his two younger brothers. Readers will easily empathize with quiet, tightly controlled Luke, who’s college-bound on a wrestling scholarship, and goofy, self-effacing Toby.
This compassionate and beautifully rendered novel packs an emotional punch . (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249427-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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