THE RULES

A superrich but neglected teen mourns his equally shy sister and decides to get revenge on the teens he blames for her death.

August knows his absent parents care more for their wealthy lifestyle than they do for their children. They supply him and Alexa with abundant cash, planting the teens in a wealthy community north of San Francisco and leaving them there. When Alexa drowns in a swimming pool, August dwells on the disrespect and injuries she suffered from their fellow high school students. He plans a party in an abandoned cannery and invites his victims. They will all participate in a scavenger hunt with individualized prizes. Innocent Robin inadvertently crashes the party, and Kyle doesn’t seem to belong there either. Events quickly go awry when teens start to disappear. Readers know they’ve been murdered, but the teens don’t realize that until later, with August swearing he didn’t do it—but the teens keep dying. Holder and Viguié keep the action churning along as they bounce from teen to teen for different perspectives on the action, sometimes recording a murder with appropriate gore, sometimes an escape. Many of the personalities tend toward stereotypes; the focus here is on thrills rather than on character development. Though there’s blood enough for horror, there’s nothing supernatural about it.

There aren’t clues enough to make this a mystery, but thriller fans should enjoy it.