Posts Tagged 'murder'

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Enter Three Witches by Caroline B. Cooney

Published September 23, 2008 Historical Fiction , RAC Leave a Comment
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Genre: Shakespeare retelling

Age Level: 14 and up

# of Pages: 281 p.

RAC Book: Yes

Lady Mary is living with Lord and Lady Macbeth until the war ends and she can officially marry her betrothed. Life is pretty good for Mary as she has money and land attached to her name, but things change dramatically when the king finds her father was actually fighting against him and is therefore executed as a traitor. Suddenly she has lost everything she ever had. Things only get worse when someone murders the current king and suddenly Mary is at the mercy of the very people who used to be her guardians: the Macbeths.

Enter Three Witches is a retelling of Shakespeare’s MacBeth in which a plot between a husband and wife to get everything they want starts to unravel once they have what they desired. In this story there are characters from all stations in life from the scullery maid to the nobles. There are many characters who find they have been deceived by someone they have trusted. Many also lose or gain status in mere moments as traitors are sought out and persecuted. This complicated tale of suspense, romance, revenge, and deceit remind all of us how complex and interesting Shakespeare’s stories were. This retelling also makes Shakespeare a bit more appealing to younger readers.

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie by Jaclyn Moriarty

Published June 24, 2008 RAC , Realistic Fiction 2 Comments
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Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Age Level:  14 and up

# of Pages:  494 p.

RAC Book:  Yes

Bindy Mackenzie is a very studious and conscientious high school student.  She is the type who always gets the highest grade in the class and is not afraid to tell anyone what she thinks.  Due to her frank and curious nature she has sometimes alienated students around her.  This year all juniors are required to take a Friendship and Development (FAD) class that she finds useless and a waste of time.  The class asks her to look back at her own life so far and reflect on what she sees.  She finds that she is not happy with her relationships and becomes obsessed with making friends in her (FAD) class.  As she focuses on this more and more she loses sight of everything that was previously important to her.  She also starts to get really sick.  Can she pull herself together to become the person she realizes she wants to be or is it too late?

This story is told through Bindy’s journal and includes diary entries, memos, emails, essays, and even transcripts of conversations she has heard.  Bindy records every thought and interaction she has every day.  As she struggles with her home life, school life, and health her journal ramblings can seem a little superfluous but in the end everything makes sense as the surprising ending unfolds.  Students who make it through some of the mundane chapters will be pleased with how the story ends and will appreciate why the mundane portions of the book were important in order to piece together what happens to Bindy.  The story also discusses many issues that teenagers face everyday and shows students that there are many ways to deal with those issues, some more effective than others.

 

Little Face by Sophie Hannah

Published May 6, 2008 Mystery , RAC , Realistic Fiction , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Genre: Suspense, Realistic Fiction

Age Level: 14 and up

# of pages: 310 p.

RAC Book: Yes

The story begins when Alice who has just left her two week old baby for the first time ventures out for two hours and comes home to find she does not know the baby in the crib. She believes that someone has come into her mother-in-law’s house, where her and her husband live, and snatched her baby only to replace it with another newborn. Her husband becomes angry with her as she refuses to accept that this is her baby and insists on calling the police. The police have a difficult time deciding how to proceed since no babies have been reported missing and there is a baby present at the house.

The story alternates between Alice and one of the police detectives. He is generally accepted to be a really good detective and feels that this case is not as innocent as it first appears. He does not know if he believes Alice about someone switching the babies, but believes something is amiss. His colleagues all believe Alice is crazy and suffering from depression and psychosis from her difficult delivery.

The mystery was intriguing all the way up until everything is explained.  The resolution is not as good as one would hope after such an intriguing mystery has been set up.  There are moments where Alice’s husband shows tortuous feelings toward her for casting doubt on their family. It is never fully explained why she allows him to do this to her. The ending is satisfying, but unbelievable. The details provided weave together to form a good pace and some surprises as details are revealed, but again the motivations of the characters in their actions is not always fully explained. Readers who enjoy mystery and suspense will enjoy this, but anyone who has difficulty with people undergoing very degrading and difficult situations will find it troubling.

Doppelganger by David Stahler Jr.

Published February 28, 2008 Fantasy , RAC 36 Comments
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Genre:  Fantasy

Age Level:  14 and up

# of Pages:  258

RAC Book:  Yes

The main character in this book is a doppelganger.  Doppelgangers try to survive in this world through a human body.  In order to get a human body they must kill a human and take on his or her form.  They are not able to hold forms forever, though, and must eventually find a new body. 

When the main character, who has no name, is turned out by his mother as a teenager to fend for himself he finds he has difficulty killing humans.  He finds an old man and takes his body first.  Then, one day some teenage boys decide to pick on the old man and he ends up killing a teenage boy.  He decides to become the boy, Chris, in order to see what it’s like to be a normal teenage boy.  “Chris” soon learns that life is not as perfect as he had seen on television.  His family has numerous problems including domestic abuse, his girlfriend seems to hate him, and he is supposed to be a football star and he knows nothing about it.  “Chris” must learn what it means to be human and whether or not it is worth all the trouble.

This fantasy has many unusual elements related to the doppelgangers, but they are all explained clearly by the author.  There is also a lot of violence, but it is not too graphic or disturbing.  The scenes with Chris’s family are very serious, but interesting for students to read because they have many problems but there is still hope for them to be happy together.  Mystery and fantasy readers will enjoy this title.

 

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Published January 10, 2008 Horror , Mystery , RAC Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Mystery/Horror

Age Level:  14 and up

# of Pages:  288 p.

RAC Book:  Yes

Dexter Morgan was adopted when he was three and even though he doesn’t remember anything before that, his adopted father, who is also a cop, seems determined to help him rise above his past.  As Dexter grows up, however, he begins to feel tendencies toward murder.  As hard as he tries to fight it he finds himself murdering animals in the neighborhood.  Once his father discovers this he teaches him how to execute a murder so that he will never get caught, while also showing him how to profile serial killers.  He believes that if you have to kill you might as well kill people who deserve it.

 When Dexter grows up he becomes a blood spatter analyst in a police station while his sister strives to become a homicide detective.  He works very hard to find people he believes deserve to die for their sins and making that a reality.  Soon there is a new murderer in town who has caused quite a stir since the bodies never contain any blood.  As Dexter tries to solve this case it keeps getting further into his psyche and he wonders if it is possible he is committing these murders and not even knowing it.  Is it time for Dexter to pay for his crimes before he lost control completely?

This murderous villain forces the reader to ponder very important issues that are often glossed over in television and movies.  Is it okay to kill if you are killing other “bad guys”?  Is it okay to take vengeance into your own hands?  Are there people who truly have a disposition for murder or are they formed into that through environment or mental disease?  Dexter Morgan can be a very sympathetic character, but he can also be a monster which makes these stories very complex and interesting to discuss with students.  The story itself is very interesting and leaves you guessing until the end.  Mystery readers will be fans of this book.

The Murderers’ Club by P.D. Martin

Published January 4, 2008 Mystery , RAC Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Mystery

Age Level:  14 and up

# of Pages:  376

RAC Book:  Yes

In this chilling tale a group of four murderers get together and form a club.  In this club each killer bids for who he or she wants to kill and then the others watch tapes and listen to stories about the torture the others inflict on their victims.  Sophie Anderson of the FBI happens to be vacationing with a friend when the murders start.  Her friend, who is a cop, learns of the first one and it intrigues both of them.  Some details match a known killer and others are different.  As each murder occurs some details are the same, while others vary. 

The murderers in this book are very clever, which makes for an interesting story.  The president of the club especially has thought of everything to prevent them from getting caught.  The details the police use to piece together the murders are believable, but they also get some interesting twists to help them along.  The ending is a bit predictable, though, and avid mystery readers will see it coming quite awhile before it is revealed.

If the story were not intriguing it would be difficult to finish this book due to the writing style.  The author chooses to talk down to the reader by explaining every term, thought, and intended meaning of everything.  The author obviously holds no faith in her readers that they will be able to understand sarcasm or innuendo or even that they know anything about this genre.  By explaining terms and processes in the criminal field in such a way makes the reader feel bored and unappreciated.  The story is interesting and unique, but it would’ve been better if the writer would just trust her readers to know what she is talking about.

Right Behind You by Gail Giles

Published December 12, 2007 RAC , Realistic Fiction 1 Comment
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Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Age Level:  14 and up

# of pages:  292 p.

RAC Book:  Yes

Kip murdered a child when he was nine years old and had to spend many years in psychiatric facilities in order to help him come to terms with that.  He was the youngest person in Alaska history to commit such a violent crime. Why did he do it?  Is he capable of doing something like that again? 

While Kip was trying to deal with his own feelings he was shielded from the outside world and was shocked to learn the torture his father had been put through.  Their house has been burned down and he had had to change jobs often.  As Kip prepares to enter the real world again he needs to decide if he can shed his old life and begin again as Wade.   Can anyone really leave their past behind or does it always catch up with you? 

Right Behind You tells the story of a boy trying to deal with the demons from his childhood, while also trying to live his life.  He needs to decide whether or not he deserves to live a normal life when the child he killed cannot.  He needs to decide what made him do it and whether or not he can refrain from such behaviors again.  Can he begin again or is he his own worst enemy?

 

Through Violet Eyes by Stephen Woodworth

Published November 19, 2007 Fantasy , Mystery , RAC Leave a Comment
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Genre: Fantasy and Mystery

Age Level:  14 and up

# of Pages:  333

RAC Book:  Yes

Dan Atwater is an FBI detective with a blemish on his record he can’t ever forget or forgive himself for.  His latest assignment is to protect a “violet.”  Violets are people born with violet eyes who can sometimes allow dead people’s spirits to inhabit their bodies.  Violets are often used in murder trials so that the jury can hear the victim speak.  Violets are very rare and as such are often forced into law enforcement even when they do not want to have serial killers and victims in their heads all day.

Several violets have gone missing and Natalie, the woman Dan is supposed to protect, assures him that several have come to visit her and are therefore dead.  No one can figure out why anyone would want to kill violets or why the murders change over time.  There is also evidence that someone is returning to the crime to steal personal items after the fact.  Why would the killer do this?  As the violets slowly go missing it becomes pretty clear that things are not as they seem and Natalie is definitely the next name on the killer’s list.  Can Dan save her?  Can they figure out who would want to cause harm to a group of people most people admire?

This mystery story adds some fastasy elements that make it very unique.  The story has suspense, drama, and action.  There comes a point when the reader should figure out the mystery of the identity of the killer, but there are many twists at the end of the story that will keep anyone guessing until the end.  Recommended for mystery lovers.

The Noah Confessions by Barbara Hall

Published October 29, 2007 Mystery , RAC Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Mystery

Age Level:  14 and up

# of pages:  215

RAC Book:  Yes

Lynnie Russo is disappointed when her father fails to give her a car for her 16th birthday like everyone else at her California private school gets.  She rebels by skipping school to go surfing and in response her father gives her a letter written by her mother when she was Lynnie’s age.  Her mother died when Lynnie was in elementary school in a car accident.  As Lynnie starts reading her mother’s story, she starts to realize why she has never met any of her parents’ family and why they ran away to California.  As Lynnie begins to piece together the terrible events from her mother’s childhood she begins to wonder how she can go on without changing her entire outlook on life.  Lynnie also begins dating a young man she meets at her mother’s cemetary.  He is not like the boys at her private school, but as time goes on she begins to think that maybe that is a good thing.

Lynnie’s story is a little slow at times, but many readers will want to know what big secret her mother is hiding.  Although parts of the story seem unclear or impossible, the author does a fair job of explaining it in the end.  This is not the most compelling mystery out there, but readers who like quick picks will enjoy it.

 

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