Getting away with murder

Nine teens are trapped in a deadly game that's overtaken by rogue AI. Saffron and twin sister Georgia both have internships coming up: Saffron at Play a Game, a new high-tech escape room, and Georgia at the local newspaper. Even though the sisters have had a falling out, they still play the online game Sole Survivor together with a group of seven others. Saffron overhears a conversation at Play a Game in which a software engineer warns the owner that Lightman, the AI running the game, has grown too powerful. Meanwhile, Lightman, posing as a work friend of Saffron's, uses a group chat to invite the other members of the sisters' gaming group to Play a Game. It's scheming for them to compete in a real-life version of Sole Survivor; the goal is "to be the last player standing when the 10-minute timer runs out." As they begin to compete, compelling details slowly emerge, revealing that several group members have past relationships that have led to simmering tensions among them. The breakneck series of events is engrossing, and the explicit on-page gore thrillingly escalates the stakes as the players begin to die. Disappointingly, the abrupt ending fails to live up to the story's earlier strengths. Most characters are white; unfortunately, one of the gamers--a boy who's "brown-skinned with chaotic black hair"--is described as an "unrepentant criminal" who's been arrested multiple times. A page-turning locked-room mystery that doesn't stick the landing.(Mystery. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.