Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

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.