Circle of Liars by Kate Francis

 

Kate Francis gives us gives us multiple points of view in this novel, but more often than not we are with Ana, whose twin brother, Danny, was killed in a fire at their school.

Seven school friends are invited to go on a luxury holiday on the anniversary of the fire. However, they end up ay at a motel that has seen better days. The rooms are in need of refurbishment, the swimming pool is empty and there is no food available.  Not long after they arrive the bus explodes and the bus driver crosses the line that surrounds them and is shot.

They are invited to participate in a Balloon Game. At the end of each hour they have to vote for who should cross the line and get killed.

As we slip into each point of view we realise that all seven are partly to blame for what happened. Ana teases us and hangs on to her secret the longest.

The young people do fight back and Ana is able to crack the code to the bunker form which the antagonist works.  It is the father of Karl Hunt.  Karl is believed to have started the fire. Mr Hunt is collecting evidence to show that Karl alone is not guilty. Ana manages to destroy his evidence.

Even here all is not what it seems. And there are more surprises for the guilty seven.

They do manage to come to terms with what they’ve done. Should they be forgiven and can they forgive themselves?   

 

The paperback edition is 351 pages in a standard font and with standard formatting. Chapters are short and the pace sis fast. Tension is high.  It is not difficult to keep reading.     

 

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Der Libellenflüsterer by Monika Feth

  

2015 

This is the seventh book in this crime series.

Monika Feth gives us multiple points  of view in this novel: friends Jette and Merle, both victims of the perpetrator, the perpetrator himself, a young and highly competent forester (and also the dragon fly whisperer of the title), the foresters’ wife, his mute five-year-old daughter, her doll(!) and of one of the police officers involved in the case.

Feth uses a narrative technique that keeps the reader involved throughout. This is achieved through a balance of description, action, dialogue and inner thoughts. Jette, possibly the main character, uses a first person narrative.

It is a long book but the reader’s attention is held by a lot of pace and tension and relatively short scenes though some of the chapters are quite long.   

This is a standard book that resembles an adult novel. The paperback has 528 pages including acknowledgments. It is for the upper end of YA and could also be described as a New Adult book.      

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Dark Sky by Cyan Brodie

2015 

A girl is found dead.

She is Caddy, Matt’s brother. When the police car arrives at his home he thinks it is to do with some drugs he may have sold. A polish girl is taken to hospital after a bad reaction to the drugs.

Matt has other problems: his friends owe money to Slippy their supplier. He has to hide from him as well.

His relationship with his father and step-mother becomes even more strained than it was before. He is thrown out of university.

The police seem to solve the crime and close the case.

Matt now has a tentative relationship with Amy, Caddy’s best friend, and the person who discovered her body at the back of the school bus.

Between them they work out that the police have it wrong and in their attempt to uncover the real culprits, their lives are put in danger. Their rescue comes from an unlikely source: Jimmy, who lives a strange life and who is related to the real murderer.

Matt has to go to court because of drug offences. We leave the story in that open-ended state that thrives in YA: we’re not sure what his sentence will be, how his life will carry on or how his relationship with Amy will work out. We are left feeling optimistic, however.

The book in paperback is 322 pages. Pace is aided by very short chapters. We are mainly in Matt’s point of view but occasionally we slip into others’. Note, this text contains a lot of strong language. 

 

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Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay, at no extra cost to you,  may go to Bridge House Publishing