Thriller, featuring courtroom and prison drama

filled star filled star filled star filled star star unfilled
glattml Avatar

By

After reading the First Look, I was interested enough to purchase and read the first book in the series, The Hiding Girl, and then moved on to The Girl in Cell 49B. Although I don't think it is critical to read book one first, it was a highly enjoyable training-for-revenge thriller that definitely gives background/insight into Emily Calby/Alice Black and her connection to Lucas.

For work (and often by choice), I read lots of middle grade and young adult fiction, so it was interesting to see how a teen girl protagonist was handled in a book meant for adults. While the book did not spare Emily's internal struggle with being in juvenile detention and preparing for her first-degree murder trial, her confident and methodical approach made her seem a bit more adult, but to be fair, she had to grow up a lot while on the run.

At first I thought a few of the plot details were a bit far-fetched, such as the guards not noticing a drone near the fence and the HUGE amount of time Emily spent using her phone in her cell without getting caught. However, I reminded myself that these details would seem perfectly fine to move the plot along in an action movie, so I decided just to enjoy the ride.

In all, The Girl in Cell B is a solid thriller. Although marketed to adults, I could also see high school students getting into the action and appreciating the teen characters. And I will definitely read the next book should the author choose to continue the series.