Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 7-10-Sixteen-year-old Sam Hopkins is a PK-preacher's kid-and has always had a goody-goody reputation. Then he starts hanging out with a trio of teen car thieves who show him everything they know. When Sam intervenes as the gang bullies Jennifer, the "weird" girl at school, he gets beaten up and earns Jennifer's adulation. She tells Sam about her visions, complete with demons, the devil, murders, and lots of blood. Sam believes that she's foretelling the future, and sets off to stop the violence. Edgar winner Andrew Klavan's book (Thomas Nelson, 2012) has a Christian slant. It could have used tighter editing; we learn Sam's thoughts and actions in minute, sometimes excruciating detail. Believability is strained as Sam, a driver with limited experience and a learner's permit, steals a Mustang and weaves in and out of traffic at high speeds without a scratch. Nick Podehl does a wonderful job narrating, expressively voicing Sam's emotions and confusion and clearly delineating all the other characters; Jennifer's voice is suitably creepy. A supplemental purchase for those who like their thrillers a little far-fetched and tinged with horror.-Julie Paladino, East Chapel Hill High School, NC (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
In this fast-paced but predictable thriller, a good kid who has fallen in with a bad crowd comes to the aid of a bullied schizophrenic girl. Weary of the pressures of being a preacher's kid, Sam falls in with a group of thuggish delinquents. When Sam witnesses Jennifer, a loner known for acting and speaking strangely, being bullied by some of his new circle, he intervenes and consequently invites their wrath. Jennifer has terrifying hallucinations involving demons, the devil and death, causing her to question why God is allowing her to be tormented with these terrible visions. Sam suspects that these visions may be the key to solving a mystery and prophecies of more terrible things to come, but it eventually becomes clear that Jennifer's visions are of the organic variety. These visions periodically punctuate Sam's first-person narration, giving readers direct access to her brain. In the end, this is a garden-variety, formulaic mystery thriller with supernatural window dressing. (Thriller. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
