Tag: YA Thriller

‘Circle of Liars’ by Kate Francis

Rebecca RouillardLeave a comment

Seven teenagers are trapped in an isolated motel, with no WiFi and no transport, by an anonymous vigilante. A year ago three students at their school died in a tragic fire and their captor knows that each of them is carrying a guilty secret from that day. Every hour, one of them will die until all the secrets are revealed. 

There are strong ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ vibes, but the true story of the fire is a little more layered than the traditional hit and run-type scenario. The setup is well contrived and very sinister – an abandoned motel in the desert, surrounded by snipers, and rigged with surveillance equipment and explosives. The author jumps straight into the action and it’s a page-turning read – I finished it in one sitting. 

The story is told from several of the POVs, the main ones being Ana, the introverted twin sister of one of the victims, and Ellis, the captain of the school sports team and self-appointed leader of the group. Some of the characters are more likeable than others and the usual high-school stereotypes prevail, but there was some nuance to the relationships and someone to root for. This is a tropey story, but the fast-paced action and the tension between the characters keeps it moving. I’m torn about the ending, I did guess the twist but the denouement wasn’t fully satisfying. 

‘Circle of Liars’ is a combination of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ and the claustrophobic setting and tense, real-time pacing of Holly Jackson’s ‘Five Survive’. A well-written and engaging thriller – I’m sure this one will be popular in the school library!

Thanks to Usborne for the ARC.

‘The Notorious Virtues’ by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebecca RouillardLeave a comment

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one but the book cover design was particularly enticing and I loved the ‘Rebel of the Sands’ trilogy. Once again, Alwyn Hamilton has created a unique fantasy genre mash-up. This time the world building is based on European fairytale mythology, the story of a woodcutter and a magic axe, but the vibes are very Gotham City noir, with an ‘Inheritance Games’ plot – an intriguing combination.

The Holtzfall family – descendants of the original woodcutter – are the de facto royal family of Walstad and control all the money and magic. Nora is daughter of the Heiress, which means she is next in line after her mother inherits from her grandmother, but when her mother is murdered the succession is thrown into uncertainty and Nora must compete against her cousins in a magic competition called the Veritaz to prove her worth and earn the right to be the new Heiress. Throw in a newly revealed illegitimate cousin as a surprise contestant, a journalist investigating the truth behind Nora’s mother’s murder, and a V for Vendetta-style resistance movement, to create a dazzlingly original fantasy thriller. I adored this and I can’t wait for the next one!

Thanks to Faber and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

And I couldn’t resist the Waterstones special edition paperback – look at those gorgeous sprayed edges!

‘Thieves Gambit’ by Kayvion Lewis

Rebecca RouillardLeave a comment

Seventeen-year-old Rosalyn Quest is the youngest member of the notorious Quest Crime family and she has been trained in the criminal arts since she was a small child by her ruthless mother.

When she receives a mysterious email inviting her to compete in the Thieves Gambit, she ignores it at first. But when she finds herself in an impossible situation, she signs up and is whisked away on a private plan to an undisclosed location to join up with several other criminal teens to compete in a winner-takes-all heist competition. The winner gets a wish – something that Rosalyn desperately needs. But when she arrives she finds an unwelcome addition – her arch-nemesis, Noelia Boschert, daughter of a rival crime family based in Europe.

Ross has been conditioned her whole life never to trust anyone, but when the other contestants team up on the first challenge and she is almost eliminated, she realises that she will have to work with her fellow competitors, even if she doesn’t fully trust them. And then there is the magnetic Devroe, who seems determined to win her over. But nothing is as it seems and the stakes are even higher than Ross realises.

Ross has a brilliantly devious mind and I particularly enjoyed the clever ways she outwits the other competitors as well as the organisers. This is an excellent heist novel, full of twists, turns and surprises. A cover quote describes it as ‘high octane’ a phrase Ross also used to describe her own family, and this is definitely accurate – the action is relentless and thrilling.

‘Thieves Gambit’ is a welcome addition to the usually male-dominated action-thriller category and is perfect for fans of ‘Alex Rider’, ‘Six of Crows’ and the ‘Oceans 11’ movie franchise.

‘Love You To Death’ by Gina Blaxill

Rebecca RouillardLeave a comment

Mia has a stalker. There’s another girl at school who is imitating Mia’s style, stealing her clothes and following her in the streets. But when Mia’s copycat turns up dead, she realises that there is something more sinister going on and that her own life might be in danger. When the police fail to take Mia’s concerns seriously she teams up with an unlikely ally to investigate the murder.

I bought a copy of ‘Love You To Death’ at Gina’s book launch, but as soon as I got home it was swiped by my 16-year-old so I had to wait for her to finish reading it first. When I finally got hold of it, I couldn’t put it down and read it one day. 

‘Love You To Death’ is a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns that will have you suspecting literally everyone in the book and it kept me guessing right up until the end. Gina Blaxill is excellent at creating creepy situations – Mia is always foolishly dashing off into deserted areas by herself in the middle of the night. (Why are you getting off the bus Mia? Stay on the bus!)

In addition to the suspenseful thriller elements, the book also includes a powerful message about the way women’s voices are ignored when it comes to stalking, about society’s tendency to blame the victims of stalking, and how male violence escalates. 

‘Love You To Death’  is a dark, thrilling read about obsession and murder, perfect for fans of Karen McManus.

‘Let’s Play Murder’ by Kesia Lupo

Rebecca RouillardLeave a comment

Veronica picks up an ancient VR headset to please her little brother who is critically ill in hospital, but as soon as they start playing she finds herself inside a different world. It is ‘The Game’ – an urban legend in VR gaming circles that turns out to be true. The Game is an incredibly realistic and immersive murder mystery. None of the players can leave until they’ve solved the case and the winner will receive a huge cash prize. 

But soon after they start to play, the game takes a deadly turn. All of the players are concealing something from their real lives and all of them have a motive for murder. And the game itself is also out to get them – will any of them make it out alive? 

VR is a tricky proposition to write (I know, I’ve tried!) because it’s difficult to raise the stakes in an environment that is all in your head – the contemporary version of it was all a dream. Except in this case it isn’t, and the virtual world starts to bleed into the real world. 

‘Let’s Play Murder’ is a mash-up of locked-room murder mystery, horror, ghost story and thriller, and the whiplashing twists and turns of the plot kept me guessing. A fast-paced, gripping and terrifying read.