A solid, fast-paced thriller for folks who like their storytelling dark
More like a 4.25 star review, but that's not an option here (and yeah, that's overly precise, but no one would question an 8.5 out of ten, right?).
I finished this in one night, which should probably speak volumes by itself. It's a classic page-turner, nicely toeing the line between thriller and horror (and not answering which genre it's truly in until late in the game). Paul, our protagonist, has returned to his hometown decades after two of his high school classmates ritualistically murdered a third one. One of those murderers has never been seen since, and a series of copycat murders is now taking place across the country. Amanda Beck, a detective from North's previous case, gets drawn in because of these crimes (and as someone who hasn't read the previous novel, it's not a big deal -- there are a few oblique references, but this book stands alone).
Paul's story is told between the present day -- with his mom dying in the hospital, mysterious events at his house, and a serious of conversations with his old girlfriend, Jenny -- and the past. The flashbacks are what really drive the tale, alternating between the meet-cute of Paul and Jenny in a writing class and the story of Paul's awkward friend James getting drawn into the web of his manipulative classmate Charlie.
There's one third-act twist that isn't quite earned by the book's previous writing (and it's too central to ignore, or to spoil here), but most of the other twists and turns are pretty solid and earned, and the eventual revelations and backstory are well-delivered. Overall, it's well worth the read for anyone looking for a thriller to stay up way too late reading.
I finished this in one night, which should probably speak volumes by itself. It's a classic page-turner, nicely toeing the line between thriller and horror (and not answering which genre it's truly in until late in the game). Paul, our protagonist, has returned to his hometown decades after two of his high school classmates ritualistically murdered a third one. One of those murderers has never been seen since, and a series of copycat murders is now taking place across the country. Amanda Beck, a detective from North's previous case, gets drawn in because of these crimes (and as someone who hasn't read the previous novel, it's not a big deal -- there are a few oblique references, but this book stands alone).
Paul's story is told between the present day -- with his mom dying in the hospital, mysterious events at his house, and a serious of conversations with his old girlfriend, Jenny -- and the past. The flashbacks are what really drive the tale, alternating between the meet-cute of Paul and Jenny in a writing class and the story of Paul's awkward friend James getting drawn into the web of his manipulative classmate Charlie.
There's one third-act twist that isn't quite earned by the book's previous writing (and it's too central to ignore, or to spoil here), but most of the other twists and turns are pretty solid and earned, and the eventual revelations and backstory are well-delivered. Overall, it's well worth the read for anyone looking for a thriller to stay up way too late reading.