A twisty whodunit filled with unreliable narrators.
In this closed-circle thriller, a group of teens become stranded on a Colorado mountain during a snowstorm while a killer picks them off.
After all their original preferences for the Senior Excursion trips offered by moneyed Warner Prep fall through, a group with a history of bad blood find themselves stuck in a remote cabin with their hard-nosed guidance counselor, Ms. Silva, for an enforced technology-free weekend. The students smuggle in illicit booze, and the very first night, they drug Ms. Silva with Ambien so they can party. By the following morning, someone is dead. A volley of first-person narration alternates among the perspectives of Piper, Willa, and Delaney; third-person interludes focus on each of the other teens—Eden, Camille, Liam, Wyatt, and Declan. The multiple voices make for an intricate setup. Donne also switches the narrative back and forth in time between the present and another night of alcohol- and drug-induced chaos three years earlier—one that resulted in tragedy—further contributing to an unsettled feeling. Many in the large cast of lightly developed characters are image focused, self-involved, and not particularly likable, and this element works in favor of this plot-driven thriller. Readers will be kept guessing until the end about which of the duplicitous, secretive people in question may be the murderer. Most cast members present white, Liam is cued as having some East Asian ancestry, and Piper is asexual.
A twisty whodunit filled with unreliable narrators. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780593651063
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
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
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
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