Street-thief Tina breaks in to the luxurious house where her mother was killed to steal from Mr. Greyhill and nail him for her mother’s murder. She is caught red-handed.
Saved by Mr. Greyhill’s gorgeous son, Michael, the pair set in motion a cascade of dangerous events that lead them deeper into the mystery, and reveal dark and shocking secrets from Tina’s past.
Tina and her mother fled the Congo years ago as refugees, trading the uncertain danger of their besieged village for a new, safer life in the bustling Kenyan metropolis. The corruption and politics of the Congo, and the gangster world of Sangui City, are behind Tina’s mother’s downfall. Is Tina tough enough to find the truth and bring the killer to justice?
Tina and her mother escaped the gang wars in the Congo to live in Kenya, where they worked and lived at the Greyhills. Tina grew up with the Greyhill's son Michael and then her little sister came along, a product of Tina's mum's affair with the master of the household. But when she is found murdered, Tina is sure that Mr Greyhill did it, and spends years working her way up in a street gang until she is strong and talented enough to break in and find the evidence she needs.
I don't think I've read a book set in Africa before and that made this thriller very interesting. Along with the metropolitan cityscape, there was a much darker underbelly, with gangs, racism, gun trade and large class gaps between rich and poor.
When Tina breaks into Mr Greyhill's office, she is surprised by Michael and he convinces her to let him help and prove his father's innocence. Thus begins a very uneasy partnership, as they search badly written police reports, old photographs and newspaper clippings for anything about Tina's mum's old life and who might have wanted her dead. Their search takes them, and Tina's friend BoyBoy, a hacker expert, back to Tina's home town.
This book was not at all what I expected and so much better. It was part crime thriller, part social commentary with lots of issues and discussions about race, civil unrest, the dangers for women in wartime (and out of wartime, while we're at it) and gang life. I honestly couldn't bear to put this book down, I desperately wanted to know the truth, for Tina and for Michael. A surprising new favourite that I've already recommended to my family, and a great story that shows the world a little differently.
Published 6th July 2017 by OneWorld. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
When Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI’s Naturals program, she had one goal: uncover the truth about her mother’s murder. But now, everything Cassie thought she knew about what happened that night has been called into question. Her mother is alive, and the people holding her captive are more powerful—and dangerous—than anything the Naturals have faced so far. As Cassie and the team work to uncover the secrets of a group that has been killing in secret for generations, they find themselves racing a ticking clock.
The bodies begin piling up, the deaths hit closer and closer to home, and it soon becomes apparent that this time, the Naturals aren’t just hunting serial killers.
They’re being hunted themselves.
This review for the finale in the Naturals series so going to be short, mostly because I don't want to give anything away. I will say I'm really glad I read books three and four so close together because the story stretches over both of them.
So, after the events of book three, we have a proper lead for Cassie's mother's case and it turns out to be pretty heart-breaking. Most of the story was about the big picture behind Cassie's mother and the band of serial killers that kidnapped her. But as Michael's childhood friend goes missing and fears she is their next victim, we learn more about Michael's guarded past and family, much of it becomes clear when we meet his father. Urgh, that man made my skin crawl and I suddenly understood why Michael pushes peoples buttons the way he does.
This a really well written finale, as loose ends come together and Cassie remembers crucial details about her past when the case takes them to a small town that Cassie used to call home and clues lead them to the friendly neighbourhood cult. Speaking of, this is where Lia came into herself. We didn't get nearly as much as detail about Lia's back story as I would have liked but with her, every scrap of information is like gold dust and you piece together what you can.
But the star of the show was Cassie; not just because it was her mother's case but also because she really stepped up, I think. Cassie was the only one who had memories of this town, pieces dangling just out of reach, and when it became deadly, she was brave and smart. I did totally have my heart in my throat though, and practically had whiplash from all the wrong turns and false leads but when the truth finally came out - holy crap! Definitely worth the wait! This is one of my favourite series, I might have mentioned before, and the finale was just as incredible and mind-blowing as the rest of the series.
Published 1st November 2016 by Disney-Hyperion.
Kate O'Brien has always been known as the scholarship kid, running away from a terrible past and overcoming obstacles, some more sinister than others. She's determined to make a better life for herself. She deserves it. And at the elite Waverly school, Kate is willing to do whatever it takes to climb the social ladder and land her spot at Yale.
There's one girl in particular that catches Kate's eye. Olivia Michelle Sumner, all born blonde and rich and just messed up enough for Kate to latch on to. As for Olivia, she's a damaged girl, looking to be mended. She finds something promising in Kate. A study buddy. A best friend. A sister she never had. But even a vulnerable girl like Olivia has her own dark past to contend with.
When the handsome and whip-smart Mark Redkin joins the Waverly administration, he manages to woo the whole student body, paying particular attention to Olivia - an affair she very much wants to keep to herself, especially from Kate. And as a man who knows just how to get what he wants, Kate realises that Mark poses a huge threat, in more ways than she is willing to admit.
I don't tend to read psychological thrillers but I'm glad I gave this one a try, even though it was super creepy. It tells of two girls: Kate has learned to depend only on herself, she's quick-witted, ambitious and not afraid to hurt someone to get what she wants. And what she wants is Yale. Olivia is just as smart but also privileged, the typical rich little girl who has never had to fight for anything.
The different perspectives were interesting. It was first person in Kate's head, so we could tell when she was lying, when she was distracting attention; and it was third person for Olivia, so all the information we got was very surface-based. We did get some insight into her background but not a whole lot and often only what she was willing to share out loud; also we couldn't tell what she was thinking a lot of the time. It became obvious that both girls were using the other: Kate needed Olivia for a home and, if she's lucky, her influence, while Olivia needed a friend and support at home while her dad was away for work. As the book progresses, it becomes less clear who is using whom exactly.
There were a lot of secrets, like way too many! Kate's past in particular was a whole slew of lies and desperate secrets, but also the truth behind Olivia's absence from school and her new medication. Then there was Mark. He was an amazing character; horrible yes but very interesting to read about. He was brilliant at his job, the flirting and schmoozing of the bigwigs at the school, but he was also slimy. When we first come across him, Kate pegs him as an excellent liar and, for want of a better word, a con man. Mark was definitely always working an angle and the way he could worm his way into the girls lives made my skin crawl.
This was all set in a competitive elite school, where getting into a good college was as much a daily influence as mental anxieties and drugs. This I could handle but I was not really prepared for the darkness that came with Mark's presence in the story. If Kate and Olivia's lives weren't messed up enough, why not bring in a predatory, handsome man who likes to collect secrets and girls? All in all, this was a shocking, un-put-downable read that kept me guessing until the very last page.
Published 12th January 2017 by Hot Key. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Three casinos. Three bodies. Three days.
After a string of brutal murders in Las Vegas, Cassie Hobbes and the Naturals are called in to investigate. But even with the team's unique profiling talents, these murders seem baffling: unlike many serial killers, this one uses different methods every time. All of the victims were killed in public, yet the killer does not show up on any security feed. And each victim has a string of numbers tattooed on their wrist. Hidden in the numbers is a code-and the closer the Naturals come to unraveling the mystery, the more perilous the case becomes.
Meanwhile, Cassie is dealing with an equally dangerous and much more painful mystery. For the first time in years, there's been a break in her mother's case. As personal issues and tensions between the team mount, Cassie and the Naturals will be faced with impossible odds-and impossible choices.
This is the third in The Naturals series, which I adore - like a teenage Criminal Minds. Honestly, it's been a ridiculous amount of time since I read the first two books so details were basically non-existent but it's surprising how easily I slipped back into Cassie's world. Cassie has found her place in the Naturals, her family of like-minded weirdos who understands how difficult life is, how hard it is to stop your brain from over-thinking and analysing.
It was quite an impressive case this time, a serial killer working his or her way through the Las Vegas casinos, with apparently no pattern as to who they are targeting. As always, the threats and the profiling went hand in hand as the team worked on who was doing it and why. It got quite complicated but once a certain detail was discovered, Sloane was in her element. Also, Lia... just, Lia should not be let anywhere near a casino.
The story was a bit more personal as Cassie's mother's body has been found, and her work in Vegas suffers a little because of her, rather obvious, distractions. And as more details were uncovered, it turns out that her mother's case and the Vegas case could be related. It all led up to an incredible and horrible cliffhanger, which makes me desperate for the final book! All in all, another fantastic crime/thriller story from our lovely band of strange geniuses.
Published 1st November 2016 by Disney-Hyperion.
At sixteen Nash thought that the fight to become Head Girl of prestigious boarding school Bathory would be the biggest battle she’d face. Until her brother’s disappearance leads to Nash being trapped at the school over Christmas with Bathory’s assorted misfits. As a blizzard rages outside, strange things are afoot in the school’s hallways, and legends of the mysterious Beast of Bathory – a big cat rumoured to room the moors outside the school – run wild. Yet when the girls’ Matron goes missing it’s clear that something altogether darker is to blame – and that they’ll have to stick together if they hope to survive.
First off, this is a typical thriller; reading it, you never know what's around the corner. Which, coupled with Skuse's trademark clever prose, means that I read this breathlessly, gripping the edge of the pages in fear! It also had the perfect setting for it, a Hogwarts-type boarding school over the Christmas holidays, cut off from the rest of civilization by snow and downed power lines.
It follows Nash, stuck at school over the holidays with a few misfits, as she tries to keep her head clear after news of her brother's disappearance. Nash was pretty cool; determined and smart, she's a long term boarder and has always wanted to be Head Girl. But Dianna has been nipping at her heels, wanting to be the best, and now she's at school until the New Year too; there's also notorious trouble maker Maggie, creepy Regan, heavily made-up Clarice and little first year Tabby. Under the watchful eye of Matron, they all try to make the best of being abandoned at Christmas until things start to go horrible wrong.
Of course there was an actual monster hiding in the woods! A big cat or some sort of creepy killer-hybrid, something is hunting hikers and tourists and now the girls. The whole novel was fast paced and exciting, there was always something going on, from the mysterious Beast and finding a killer on the loose, to a possible date and news of Sebastian's disappearance. Overall, it felt very different to Skuse's other novels, bit more adult and scary, but in a good way. It was terrifying and incredibly gripping in a 'heart in your throat, don't read it before bed' way.
Published 24th September 2015 by Mira Ink. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Mackenzie, Ava, Caitlin, Julie, and Parker have done some not-so-perfect things. Even though they all talked about killing rich bully Nolan Hotchkiss, they didn't actually go through with it. It's just a coincidence that Nolan died in exactly the way they planned . . . right? Except Nolan wasn't the only one they fantasized about killing. When someone else they named dies, the girls wonder if they're being framed. Or are they about to become the killer's next targets?
Second and, I think, final book in The Perfectionists series, it's been a while since I read book one so details were foggy. But Shepard did write a clever little prologue, which went back to the original discussion that started it all, that really helped and everything came flooding back.
Still following each girl as they try and piece together what has happened, not be the next target or suspect. There were a few more killings as well as interrogations but the suspect list was getting shorter and yet more confusing.
The ending was such an epic twist! I had run out of guesses in the first book, more than happy to just go along for the ride, but when its revealed: holy crap! It was concluded but with an open ending. I'm actually kinda happy with that, the killer was caught (sort of) but there's a possibility for more mayhem in another book.
Basically it's all paranoia and suspicion and the girls turning on each other. It was really fun to read and I am ever so glad the killer was revealed, plus with a clever twist that kind of knocked me over! A good and mostly rounded off conclusion to their story.
Published 2nd July 2015 by Hot Key Books. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Something wicked this way comes...
She thought she’d be safe in the country, but you can’t escape your own nightmares, and Lis London dreams repeatedly that someone is trying to kill her. Lis thinks she’s being paranoid - after all who would want to murder her? She doesn’t believe in the local legends of witchcraft. She doesn’t believe that anything bad will really happen to her. You never do, do you? Not until you’re alone in the woods, after dark - and a twig snaps... Hollow Pike - where witchcraft never sleeps.
After falling in love with Under The Skin, I knew I had to read my way through Dawson's back catalogue. Although fairly creepy and out of my comfort zone, Dawson's writing just has that something that makes me want to keep coming back.
Set in a sleepy little English village, haunted by its bloody history, it was the perfect setting for things to get a little out of control. As it was so remote, so small, and everyone knew everyone's business, Lis and her friend had very few places they could turn as thing go pear-shaped. Never knowing who to trust, as good guys become bad and vise versa.
As I said, the story and the mystery was fairly creepy but I'm a sucker for witches! The never knowing who to trust, what was happening and why, that was what made it scary; the witches themselves were practically harmless, as we discovered, it was just the threat of them that makes people nervous. Ironic and clever that all this is happening alongside the reading of The Crucible!
Dawson created a great teenage voice with Lis. Her bullies and her crush, everything felt very real and dramatic, as it should with teens. Add in the extra thrill of prophetic dreams and murder, and you have one very scared but determined protagonist! All in all, a fantastic story with everything you need for a good mystery, from the misunderstood bad guys to the righteous killer.
Published 2nd Feburary 2012 by Orion Children's.
At Cate's isolated boarding school, Killer Game is a tradition. Only a select few are invited to play. They must avoid being killed by a series of thrilling pranks, and identify the murderer. But this time, it's different: the game stops feeling fake and starts getting dangerous and Cate's the next target. Can they find the culprit ... before it's too late?
Killer is a game. You are chosen to play, put through a horrible initiation and pranked and fake killed. But you're part of a great and secret tradition, something special that not everyone knows about.
The pranks can ruin reputations, not to mention get you in trouble with the teachers, but the thrill of discovering the "killer", of being on your toes, is addictive. Even though the pranks were not allowed to be life threatening, the thrill of the unknown was terrifying. But then a girl's life is threatened when she has an allergic reaction and the game is changed.
The adrenaline rush of being part of this very secretive and kind of dangerous game is something everyone wants to be part of. And Cate has finally been chosen to play. But then childhood friend Vaughan is back in Cate's life, which makes for a weird clash of past and present as he infiltrates Killer. Between Vaughan wanting to blow the lid off the game and Cate just trying to survive, the added threats of someone watching her, then nearly and successfully killing people, it gets too much! My heart was nearly out of my chest half the time!
The boarding school setting in the middle of nowhere really added to the creepy and mysterious atmosphere. They were so isolated, literally on their own island, and when lives are in danger, that inability to get help was truly scary. I literally could not put it down; I read it in under 2 days, that's how much I just had to know what happened! It was thrilling and intense and damn scary, I completely fell in love with the characters and the story.
Published 2nd July 2015 by Chicken House. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.
But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?
Book two of The Naturals and we come back still a little shaken by the events of last book, especially the betrayal of Agent Locke. There is a new handler and a new case focused on Dean's mass murdering father - understandably, emotions run a little high.
Cassie and the team have the lovely task of getting into the old cases and this new one, to try and decipher the killer's motivation and if/how much Dean's father is involved. It is always super creepy trying to get into the head of a killer, especially this one, but I've got that morbid curiosity necessary to love it. It was also really interesting psychology with this killer, the vying for attention. And of course I had several guesses throughout the book and only one was nearly correct!
The other thing is the interaction between the team, which is always hilariously awkward. They all can get into each other's heads, which makes secret crushes and white lies basically non-existent. Plus Cassie is a great heroine; she is protective of the people she cares about, maybe a little reckless, caught in a love triangle that doesn't annoy me. Dean and Michael take things up a notch with Cassie and for once, this love triangle actually worked, partly because the boys are so different, partly because Cassie truly feels for both of them.
There were a lot more hidden truths, more sudden twists than the first one; it was exciting and breath taking and damn creepy. A fantastic sequel that set up great things for book three.
Published 6th November 2014 by Quercus.
For sixth-form student Grace Becker, The 100 Society is more than just a game; it's an obsession. Having convinced her five friends at Clifton Academy to see it through to the end, Grace will stop at nothing to carry out the rules of the game: tagging 100 locations around the city. With each step closer to the 100-mark they get, the higher the stakes become. But when the group catches the attention of a menacing stalker - the Reaper - he seems intent on exposing their illegal game, tormenting Grace with anonymous threats and branding their dormitory doors with his ominous tag.
As the once tight-knit group slowly unravels, torn apart by doubt and the death of a student, they no longer know who to trust.
With time running out, Grace must unmask the Reaper before he destroys everything she cares about for ever...
I've been looking forward to this since I first heard of it back in January! And while I have a few criticisms, mainly because it was pretty creepy, but it was a great story and I flew through it needing to know what happened! So, Grace and her friends have nearly completed the challenge to tag 100 locations around the city when they are suddenly followed and attacked. This starts a string of weird occurrences, like their blog getting hacked and photos of a reaper replacing their tags being published instead. They don't know who to trust, especially as they could get expelled if found out. All this secrecy had a sort of conspiracy feel and made everything that much more dangerous.
It was set in a boarding school, which was really fun and with added secret society's and street art, it made for a great background for a story full of layered characters and traitors in our midst. I really liked main character Grace; I didn't always connect with her but could understand her frustration and will to prove herself, especially with her already impressive father and older brother.
The secondary characters came in and out of the story but were still reasonably well-rounded. I especially liked Cassie who proved that her appearance wasn't all that mattered to her. And finally possible love interest Trick, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks with everything to prove. He was very funny and caring and tried to show that nothing got to him but no one can be that heartless.
As for the bad guy, Spradbery had me guessing until the very end and it completely shocked me. But that's the thing about psychopaths, they hide in plain sight and you never suspect. The things he did were just terrible and honestly made me a little sick, the way his twisted mind thought things were going to play out. So all in all, an amazing story with twisted characters and a spectacular ending. I'm not sure I always liked Grace, the way she made everything about her, but hey, nobody's perfect and she saved the day in the end.
Published 4th September 2014 by Hodder. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Three teens venture into
the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from
the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety,
unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire.
But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident?
Desperate self-defense? Or murder?
Chloe is the only one with the
answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she
struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of
jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the
most beautiful of faces…
I absolutely loved Dangerous Girls when I read it last year. This one had the same sort of feel to it but slightly different as I thought I knew what had happened in the lake house. Boy was I wrong!
Haas has shown that she can write weird and wonderful characters and Chloe is no different. Stuck in a dead-end town, she is putting off escaping to college because her mother is so depressed, she can't get out of bed. Chloe can't help but blame her father for leaving them like this, but also her mother, for not sucking it up so she doesn't have to parent a parent. I was never entirely sure if I liked Chloe but she had her moments when I completely understood her frustration. However, she was quite pent up and that starts to come through more dangerously as she gets to know Oliver.
It was less of a "whodunnit" then DG and more of a twisted look at the psyche - right from the start we get the impression that Oliver is more than a little deranged but just how much is shown later. Also I had no idea that Chloe was going to prove to be more like Oliver than kind, sweet Ethan. So while I could sort of understand Chloe hidden resentment towards her mother and Ethan for smothering her, she also terrified me in how ruthless she was with others emotions and that was, I think, the point: we all have a bit of demonic energy inside and it's what we do with it that matters.
I think that's all I can say without giving it away and I definitely don't want to do that! But if you've read DG, then you'll know the ending will twist and shock you; if not, then expect a disturbingly accurate portrayal and exaggeration of the bad thoughts we all have.
Published 14th August 2014 by Simon and Schuster. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.
There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).
Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...
This is my first Charlaine Harris book and I'm actually glad I started with this one. While it had quite a slow start, introducing characters and getting to know them all and how they interact with each other, but once it got going, it was smoothly written and the mystery/thriller element was incredibly gripping.
All the residents of Midnight were all a little bit weird, like a collective town of strange-ness, from Fiji's witchy powers to Bobo's disappearing girlfriend. So newcomer Manfred, with his online psychic business, will fit right in. The big one was Lemuel, Bobo's downstairs tenant, who turns out to be vampire. Which is perfectly fine and pretty awesome but what got me was how Manfred wasn't freaked out by this! It is one thing to have sort of psychic powers but it is quite another to find an energy vampire feeding off you without explaining. That was my one main bugbear, but apart from that, I really liked all the characters; they all had their own distinct voice and personality, some quiet and some obnoxious, and all were very interesting to learn about. Plus, everyone was perfectly content with keeping secrets; no one knew anything about Bobo's grandfather or why Shawn's kids aren't allowed online and while this did annoy me quite a bit, it was fun to try and guess, and the prolonged hints made the reveal exciting and often surprising.
I did like it but the supernatural was not the main focus, and as I was expecting that, I was left a little disappointed. But thinking back, I think I actually prefer it that way; allow Midnight's residents to have their secrets and have a story that explored extreme politics and influences. The whole mystery/thriller plotline, as I said, was very cool to read about and very well woven in with Midnight's secrets as well as the awful white-supremacist politics. All in all, a great introduction to the town and its residents and a great story that kept me gripped until the very end.
Published 8th May 2014 by Gollancz. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
They say I'm evil. The
police. The newspapers. The girls from school who shake their heads on
the six o’clock news and say they always knew there was something not
quite right about me. And everyone believes it. Including you. But you
don't know. You don't know who I used to be.
Who I could have been.
Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time.
Written as if in a notebook, Emily gets the chance to tell her side of the story to what landed her in prison. Her narrative is all over the place as she remembers what bought her to the psychotic institute as well as telling the everyday occurrences while there. It wasn't logical or linear but a natural progression and a balance between the past and present. Emily's story made for very interesting reading, with an unreliable narrator that you love to
hate but, at least in my case, couldn't help but feel sorry for.
Byrne doesn't want to give anything away too soon, just leaving little breadcrumbs that have to be picked up and stored away for future reference, and will hopefully make sense later. I loved this technique, it made Emily's story more realistic as she didn't want to talk about it, even to herself. The story of how she was in prison was difficult to narrow down at first but as we see how Emily was so focused on revenge for her father and how she intertwined herself in Juliet's life to bring her down, I couldn't help but be impressed. The normalcy of life outside, especially Sid's story, really bought focus to the brutality of Emily's life in prison as well as showing Emily as "only human" with her near inability to complete her mission. It showed her as vulnerable, and I applaud Byrne for making a character so fascinating.
There were moments when Emily, as her undercover persona Rose, left a crack in Juliet/Nancy's barrier and I cheered her on! I'm not sure if I was supposed to feel proud of Emily for successfully ruining Juliet's life but I did at times. Not sure what that says about me, but it says wonders about Byrne's writing that she got me to care about a psychopath. Even in her own voice, you could tell she was a little bit insane and while she was unnerving at times, she was also broken and insecure. An all-around incredible character, I could not help but love her and fall completely in love with Byrne's writing as she sucked me in to Emily's horrible story.
Published 10th May 2012 by Headline.
Cassie Hobbes is not like most teenagers. Most teenagers don’t lose their mother in a bloody, unsolved kidnapping. Most teenagers can’t tell who you are, where you’re from and how you’re likely to behave within moments of meeting you. And most teenagers don’t get chosen to join The Naturals.
Identified by the FBI as uniquely gifted, Cassie is recruited to an elite school where a small number of teens are trained to hone their exceptional abilites.
For Cassie, trying to make friends with the girls, and to figure out the two very different, very hot boys, is challenging enough. But when a serial killer begins recreating the details of her mother’s horrific crime scene, she realises just how dangerous life in The Naturals could be...
Cassie has a pretty special ability to read people's behaviour and posture and everything about them. Think Sherlock Holmes-type of intuition. It was impressive and a bit weird but what was really scary was when she was recruited by a new branch of the FBI, to be part of a secret group of gifted teens to help the FBI solve crimes. Superpower teens solving crimes? Heck yes!
I was instantly intrigued; apparently I'm on a 'weird thriller' run! The whole blend of drama, mystery and romance was compelling and very well done, especially from Cassie's point of view where nothing really made sense in this madhouse. Speaking of the madhouse, god these kids are annoying! Another profiler like Cassie, a boy who can read emotions, a pathological liar/lie detector and a klepto with a gift for numbers. None of them have much in the way of social skills and most of them also have the annoying habit of spouting out whatever nonsense first comes to mind; mind you, most of the time, that was hilarious!
Weirdly, and probably scarily, I found the lessons on victimology fascinating. Yes, the crimes and the scenarios were morbid but, like Cassie, I like to understand the killer's or in fact anyone's motivation. Not only were the teens training to help the FBI with cold cases, but there was a killer closing in on them, specifically focusing on Cassie. And as the killer gets closer, Cassie is terrified but also determined to get who she believes is responsible for her mother's death. It was completely thrilling and enthralling, in a 'heart in my throat' sort of way, especially the last part when the truth comes out. I never saw the killer coming, I nearly dropped the book when I found out!
All in all, a fantastic book that shows what good thrillers need: a story to make turning the page a compulsion, characters to root for and hate at the same time, and a killer to shock you. The Naturals had all that and more, I'm so glad I started the year off with this corker of a book!
Published 7th November 2013 by Quercus.
For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.
If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked - surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.
There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed, and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.
Poor Kitty is stuck in a world where the number on the back of her neck means her entire future is planned, and she will be working away in the sewers because that, according to a test, is all that she is good for. But then she gets plucked from the gutter, well the brothel, and offered a chance to be part of the elite. Of course she says yes, but she couldn't read the fine print before being whisked away to become a whole new person. Part of the ruling family, where showing your love means trying to kill each other apparently, Kitty has to walk the walk and talk the talk to stay alive. The whole situation was out of control and insanely dangerous but I completely understand why Kitty did it, even if it meant erasing who she was.
As she learns what it takes to be the prime minister's niece, Kitty also learns more about the family, its secrets and its weaknesses. Because Lila was not the perfect girl that the media had led Kitty to believe, Lila was front-running a rebellion to bring down the current system of rankings and as Lila, it was Kitty's job to continue that work. Even though she was pressured and blackmailed into doing it, Kitty obviously felt for the cause; as a III, she knew exactly what it was like to be down-trodden by the upper classes and this came across in her speeches and attitude to the whole thing. Actually, considering she was risking her and her boyfriend's life, I think she was incredibly brave.
Speaking of her boyfriend, I really liked Benjy. He was smart and protective, sometimes a bit annoying but they were clearly in love and everything they did was to protect the other, it was sweet. But things were somewhat complicated because Lila had a fiancée, therefore so did Kitty. Things with Knox were never as they seemed and I never quite felt like he was being completely honest - with good reason - but I did like him, he had their best intentions at heart really. But I really liked that after Kitty felt she could trust him, they had a really good relationship; they were co-conspirators in the fight against tyranny.
Full of thrills, drama, secrets, I never had a clue what was going on, and I'm not sure if that was due to the writing or my own stupidity. I'm guessing the latter. But I loved it, I could barely put it down and it seemed every other page held a secret that I never saw coming and left me breathless. Highly recommended, especially if you love dystopian governments, Masked villans and secrets with the power to kill.
Published 3rd January 2014 by MiraInk. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Tessa is a Variant with extraordinary abilities. She could be a hero, but all she wants to do is fall in love ...
Tessa is a Variant, able to absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and mimic their appearance. Shunned by her family, she's spent the last two years with the Forces with Extraordinary Abilities, a secret branch of the FBI. There she trains with other Variants, such as long-term crush Alec, who each have their own extraordinary ability.
When a serial killer rocks a small town in Oregon, Tessa is given a mission: she must impersonate Madison, a local teen, to find the killer before he strikes again. Tessa hates everything about being an impostor - the stress, the danger, the deceit - but loves playing the role of a normal girl. As Madison, she finds friends, romance, and the kind of loving family she'd do anything to keep.
Amid action, suspense, and a ticking clock, this super-human comes to a very human conclusion: even a girl who can look like anyone struggles the most with being herself.
Tessa is part of a secret group of teens with supernatural abilities. She can change shape - think Mystique from X-Men - and her first mission is to go undercover as a serial killer's latest victim. She has to be trained up, quickly, before the victim dies so she can take her place. Yeah, it really is that strange!
There was a bit of a slow start, but maybe that's just because I wanted to get to the undercover part, but once in the swing of things, it was fast paced and action packed. Masquerading as a dead girl, Tessa is on her toes not to slip up in front of her family, her friends and most importantly, her killer. I could completely understand Tessa's hesitance to go undercover, not to mention her unwillingness to let that family go afterwards; she knows nothing of family, her mother abandoned her, and the FBI thinks she can handle pretending to be a dead girl? Her emotions are, for obvious reasons, all over the place and I loved how we saw her develop as she grew confident with her power and her determination to hunt a killer. But she is also incredibly vulnerable, especially as Madison, as she lost herself in the love of her family and the normalcy of life outside superpowers.
Now for the boys. Because what's a thriller meets romance without the boys? First up with Alec, another recruit at the FBI with super strength. Alec was nice enough, he obviously cared for Tessa but he had a girlfriend; I don't care how confused you are, if you like someone, don't date someone else! He was also over-protective to the point of annoying. Then there was Madison's boys, Ryan her ex who was typical passive-aggressive jock, and Devon, her twin brother, another over-protective lad with secrets and double standards. The whole 'my sister nearly died' thing was reason enough for him to be acting strange, but with the killer still on the loose, I was second guessing everything he said!
As for the killer, well you'll just have to read it to find out! It wasn't obvious, and I kept changing my mind who I thought it was, but even then it surprised me. That's what made this a great mystery: the second guessing, the secrets and the action kept the story very much alive throughout.
Published 2nd January 2014 by Hodder Children's Books. Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
Aside: this is my 200th post! And right before my two-year blogoversary as well!
It's Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations. As
Anna sets out to find her friend's killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love.
As she awaits the judge's decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine...
This book... oh my god this book! I don't even know how to start, all my blogging skills have disappeared in light of this incredible and unspeakably amazing book.
Dangerous Girls tells of Anna and her gang of friends on holiday, when one of them, Elise, is found murdered in her room. It dove right in with a transcript of the emergency call when they found her and this use of other prose continued with interview transcripts, courtroom arguments and texts. I love this style of writing because, especially in first person perspective, because it adds to the story. And while I'm on the subject, Haas also wrote in past, present and future, intertwining their school years, the holiday and the developing court case against Anna. I loved this because it added to the mystery and the reader had to work hard to piece together everything.
The horrible thing of this genre is that you can't trust anyone, not even the narrator. I accused pretty much everyone of Elise's murder at some point and the final reveal... holy moly! Let's just say I was not prepared for it and it gave me chills. Teach me to read a thriller before bed.
Throughout the novel, you begin to realise that Anna is pretty much screwed. I was so angry at Dekker, the horrible prosecutor determined to make Anna his scapegoat, I was actually yelling at the book! I could not see a way out for Anna and the whole roller coaster of emotions that is this book practically exploded at that ending. Just... That Ending.
It was addictive and thrilling and all sorts of other positive but creepy adjectives! Seriously, stop reading this and go get this book, I cannot stress this enough: read it now!
Published 16th July by Simon and Schuster.
