Flash-- Michael Cadnum

Everything about Flash is set up to be a page-turner.

Bruce and Milton have a hard life. The brothers hail from a working-class family, and their dad died in a factory explosion. To find some relief, both from poverty and the tedium of it, they decide to rob a bank.

Nina has a lot on her plate too. Her father's import business is going under. Her brother Carraway is AWOL from Iraq, and her boyfriend Terrence is almost completely blind. On top of it all, she needs money to finance her art gallery showing... an event that could be her ticket to a new life all together.

Now add to the equation: desperation, guns, and everyone's favorite: a twist.

So like I said, a page-turner right? Well for me it wasn't. Honestly I felt the writing was lacking and the characters were dull. For some teens, I bet the plot will be enough to keep them going. I would feel comfortable giving this to a reluctant reader or someone who likes crime fiction, but do not offer it to teens who want a better quality of writing.

Revolver-- Marcus Sedgwick

A really good writer leaves something for the imagination. S/he describes a scene in detail but leaves the truly horrific part for you to create in your mind. I can read gory horror books and feel fine, but the creepy-left-to-our-imagination scenes... that's what keeps me up at night!

Marcus Sedgwick accomplishes the balance between detail and not over-writing perfectly. Revolver takes place in the arctic circle during the gold rush. When Sig discovers his father frozen to death on the ice, he knows his whole life will change. But when Wolff shows up and torments Sig, his emotions go from sadness to utter terror. Wolff believes that Sig's father is hiding gold and will do anything to retrieve it. Sig and his sister Anna do everything they can to appease Wolff, but he still brutalizes them believing they are lying. Sedgwick weaves threads of this tale together, allowing the reader to figure out some things on their own and leaving enough mystery to keep the pages turning.

For whatever reason, Wolff's character scared the crap outta me. It was like he had no moral compass and couldn't see beyond his own personal desires. Wolff was adept at both physical and emotional torment. He was animalistic but just human enough to make me get up and make sure my doors were locked at night.

I would recommend this book to youth who like thrillers, pager turners, short chapters, and stories about harsh landscapes. This book would be especially good for boys. While there isn't anything graphically described in detail, it's still not for the faint of heart.

Hush, Hush-- Becca Fitzpatrick

Well, there's one good thing I can say about this book... I've finally found a read-alike for Twilight that has the same stalkerish boyfriend, inexplicable draw, and kindof sub-par writing.

Is that mean to say?

Nora is peeved to learn that she has a new Biology partner... weirdo (but hottie) Patch has been assigned to her and seems to know everything about her. Even though she is afraid of him, Nora finds herself strangely attracted to him. When horrible accidents keep occurring, Nora finally has to admit that she is in over her head... but is Patch to blame for all the attacks, or is a darker force at work?

So this is a supernatural fiction love story. While Patch is no Edward Cullen (and he's a fallen angel, not a vampire), the same teens who liked Twilight will probably like Hush, Hush. Honestly though, I think Twilight was better. Personally, I struggled with this book. I really hope that Twilight has not spawned a whole group of stalker boyfriend romances... Twilight was pretty innocent, but Nora often fears for her safety with Patch, which takes on a much more sinister twist. Some people are saying this book is a read-alike for the (far superior) Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare... but I think the only resemblance is the whole angel on earth thing. Still, the cover's pretty cool, huh?

Wherever Nina Lies-- Lynn Weingarten

Beautiful, artistic, blue-haired, wild-hearted and beloved... that's Nina. She was slightly off-kilter, lived in a world of intensity and art, and was prone to creeping out her bedroom window to experience night-time fun. But one day she didn't come home, and that day Ellie's world changed forever.

Ellie always idolized her older sister Nina. Sure, they bickered, but most sisters who love eachother that fiercely fight a little too. When Nina disappeared, Ellie knew she didn't just run away... she knew in her heart that Nina was still out there, and that she needed Ellie's help. Her friends wanted her to forget Nina, but when bits and scraps of clues leading to Nina's location kept popping up, Ellie just couldn't let go of the thought that Nina was out there, somewhere. When Ellie meets Sean, a guy whose brother died not too long ago, she feels akin to him. Together they search for Nina, and Ellie uncovers a shocking truth that changes everything forever.

This book is a bit of a thriller, a mystery, a love story, and a tale of sisterly love. It's not bound to be a classic, and it's not much different than other books of similar genres, but teens will like it. The plot was interesting enough to keep me engaged, and although I guessed the big secret right away, I'll bet some teens will be shocked by it. I would recommend this book to girls who like mysteries and thrillers that aren't violent.

Shimmer-- Dallas Reed

A box made out of human flesh. Open it and shimmering wasp-like dust will fly out and settle on you. Run away, run away NOW because if that dust touches you, you will be unable to control your urges...

Shimmer is a piece of light-horror fiction set in the remote Colorado town Winter. There is a big divide between the rich kids and the working-class kids, and as we've learned from Gossip Girl, rich kids throw wicked parties. At Justin's party, the queen bee Tess finds a box in Justin's dad's office. Although it feels disgusting and appears to be constructed of flesh, she opens it and releases hell on all the party-goers. Nerds, Betina and Emma who also happen to be at the party, are the only ones to keep their heads amongst the madness. Emma closes the box and takes it away. She doesn't know what's going on, but the cold chill of evil has spread and all she knows is that she needs to get the box away from the now insane rich kids. Persuit, betrayal, fear, sin, and love continue the story's plot.

This novel is a thinly veiled Pandora's Box retelling and I can honestly think of quite a few teens who might like this... still, it wasn't particularly well-written or captivating to me, the adult reader. I love it when I can find teen fiction that is well-written AND has high teen appeal. For whatever reason those seem pretty few and far between for me this year. Anyway, I would recommend this book to teens (especially girls, but not exclusively) who like light horror (kinda scary but not gory or nightmare inducing), mythology, retellings of folk tales, and suspense.

The Road of the Dead-- Kevin Brooks

I love thrillers and mysteries. I might be a wuss when it comes to horror movies, but scary books I can handle! Bring on the corpses!

The Road of the Dead, however, I didn't love. At all. Maybe I just don't like Kevin Brooks's writing style? I have also read Candy and Being by this author and both of those books just left me saying "meh." The interesting thing to me is that I keep picking up books by Brooks... maybe I WANT to like his books and writing style but I just can't?

The Road of the Dead takes place in England, mostly in the swampy countryside. The setting of the book contributes heavily to the mood of the story. In this tale of grief and revenge, Ruben and Cole's sister is murdered while visiting her friend in a small town in rural England. The police will not return her body to the family for burial until the murder is solved, so Cole and Ruben decide to travel to her murder site and solve the mystery themselves. Ruben's character is fairly interesting (he is clairvoyant... what the heck is with all these mind-reading books I have been reading lately?!), and we spend a lot of time in his head. However, the other characters in the book are one dimensional and almost like caricatures rather than engaging people.

Although I wasn't a fan of this book, I would still pass it on to teens. I think they will like the thriller-ness of this tale, and they might also be enticed by the mystery. Fans of Plum-Ucci's Body of Christopher Creed, Lois Duncan's books, or all those teen slasher flicks might enjoy this book.