Reviews: Dark Room (1)
“Excellent murder/mystery with plenty of twists and turns”
(Paperback)
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I often feel that older readers miss out on a lot of excellent books because they are marketed as for Teens and YA – this is such a book. It is a murder/mystery but with a touch of the supernatural as the heroine, Darla, has visions of murder scenes which are about to take place. Can she stop them, and can she find out who is perpetrating these horrendous crimes? And why is she having these visions – and no-one else? Darla’s life had not been easy – even before the visions. Now she is in yet another new town, hoping her father won’t mess things up again: “there had been plenty of fresh starts over the last couple of years; enough new leaves turned over to fill a forest.”
The prologue starts off with a shy, diffident meeting between two teenagers to swap over biology assignments, leading to the boy showing the girl the beautiful photos of landscapes he has taken ... that suddenly morphs into a very menacing scenario. The abrupt change of pace really takes you by surprise – and from then on, you know that this is not a normal teenage drama.
The town of Saffron Hills is all about keeping up appearances: avoiding any hint of scandal; choosing the perfect selfie to present to the instagram/facebook public; and the highlight of the year – choosing the picture perfect Miss Saffron at the annual beauty pageant. The rich kids are all beautiful – and know it. Darla sees herself as plain and without a hope of being accepted in such a milieu. But then beautiful people start dying.
Nothing in this book is as straightforward as it initially seems. Plot twists hit you left, right and centre – and not until the end can you – or Darla –really make sense of what is going on.
This is a very well–written Teens and YA book that will appeal to murder/mystery fans of all ages.
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Dark Room
Childrens, Teen & Young Adult, Teen & Young Adult Fiction
Tom Becker (author)
Paperback Published on: 10/09/2015
Price: £7.99
