#murdertrending
#murdertrending #1
by Gretchen McNeil
Horror
Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
* * * Stars (Pretty good)
When Dee Guerrera wakes up, she’s about to be murdered by a celebrity serial killer in his deadly maze on the prison island Alcatraz 2.0. But somehow she survives and the killer doesn’t. That’s when she meets some of the other inmates – all convicted for grisly crimes and sentenced to live out the rest of their days on the island, eventually meeting their own violent ends – and starts to learn more about her new “home.” Her continued survival depends on paying attention to details and following certain rules that *may* keep her safe(r). Pretty much everything that takes place on the island is recorded for posterity and executions are planned/orchestrated to get the most views. Dee is horrified by the whole system, but it’s even worse because she was framed for the murder of her sister. Soon it is apparent to Dee (and her new “friends”) that things are getting weirdly personal – details about Dee’s trial and former life are being hinted at in what’s taking place on the island, and Dee begins to suspect that her past is coming back to haunt her. There’s really so much going on in this book that there’s little time for characters (or readers) to breathe – murder, violence, a mystery to unravel. The characters aren’t super well-developed, there’s a lot of blood and gore, and there are times when the story isn’t all that believable, but it’s compulsively readable. Not really all that scary, but definitely horrific and gripping.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
