WHO HAUNTS YOU

Featuring an autistic protagonist, this YA horror novel revolves around a high school senior who investigates the deaths of three of her classmates only to become entangled in a deadly mystery.

Rebecca “Bex” Koeltl is a loner, struggling daily to figure out who she is and where her future lies after graduation. And although her neurodiversity has posed problems in the past with her mother and older sister, Glory, her time with therapist Dr. Lesli Tamar has been nothing short of “life-changing.” But when seniors begin dying in notable ways—track star and academic standout Yunwen Lei runs off a cliff; basketball player Darrell Anolik is killed in a car accident; and introvert Oswaldo Husti perishes in a fire—Bex begins finding disturbing connections between the students. An adept hacker and tenacious investigator, she uncovers stunning revelations and comes up with a theory that seems difficult to believe. Someone has made these teenagers believe that they’re being haunted by long-dead (and nonexistent) family members and terrified them to such an extent that their fears killed them. But the question Bex asks herself is “Why?” Is it because someone in the highly competitive school wants to be valedictorian, or is the motivation much more sinister? When Bex begins to have seemingly supernatural visitations from a great aunt who never existed, she realizes that she is the murderer’s next victim.

The story’s narrative strengths include Wheaton’s ability to weave together relentless tension with an impressively knotty mystery. Reminiscent of Lois Duncan’s classic suspense novel I Know What You Did Last Summer, the book will keep readers guessing who the killer is until the very end. And although many of the characters fit neatly into cardboard stereotypes (entitled rich kids, the loner, the nerd), it’s the authenticity of Bex’s neurodivergent point of view that differentiates this work from other comparable titles. For example, Bex examines her “stimming,” a propensity to spin her hands at her wrists when she gets overexcited or emotionally overstimulated: “I can’t stop it if I tried. It’s automatic. I also do this quick drumming on my forehead with my thumb and forefinger. Whenever I’ve tried to demonstrate it for someone, it looks awkward and fake. But when it’s the real thing, it’s amazing how quickly it relieves internal pressure.” The author even pokes fun at autistic clichés in pop culture. Early on in the tale, when Bex sees a mysterious figure place something in a locker before school is in session, she thinks: “If I had the kind of autism they show on TV, I’d be able to instantly determine whose locker it was by counting the number of lockers from the end and pulling the owner’s identity from some mental catalog of All Useful Knowledge. But, as I have boring, normal autism, it’s just the memorial decorations and flowers around the locker visible even in the dim hallway that tell me it belonged to Yunwen Lei.” Additionally, Bex’s dry sense of humor—particularly when dealing with adversity—makes her a character whom readers will root for. In one sequence, when Bex uncovers a particularly frightening scene, she thinks: “I feel like I’ve stumbled into an episode of Scooby-Doo.”

An utterly readable teen murder tale with an intriguing twist and an endearing hero.