Dead Below Deck by Jan Gangsei

 

“It was supposed to be the best-ever girls’ trip: five days, four friends, one luxury yacht, no parents. But on the final night, as the yacht cruised the deep and dark waters between Florida and Grand Cayman, eighteen-year-old heiress Giselle vanished. She’s nowhere to be found the next morning even after a frantic search, until security footage surfaces . . . showing Maggie pushing her overboard.

But Maggie has no memory of what happened. All she knows is that she woke up with a throbbing headache, thousands of dollars in cash in her safe, a passport that isn’t hers, and Giselle’s diary. And while Maggie had her own reasons to want Giselle dead, so did everyone else on board: jealous Viv, calculating Emi, even some members of the staff.

What really went down on the top deck that night? Maggie will have to work her way backward to uncover the secrets that everyone—even Giselle—kept below deck or she’s dead in the water." - taken from Goodreads.

An incredible mystery that I devoured in two days. Told in reverse chronological order from the moment everyone realizes that Giselle is missing to the beginning of the spring break cruise, readers learn what is going on between Giselle and Maggie. The plot is enhanced through flashbacks from Giselle's diary as well as current police reports. This book ends with a shocking reveal that rates won't see coming.

Visit Jan Gangsei’s website

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

“A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

The truth.” - taken from Goodreads.com

Cadence Sinclair Eastman is the oldest Sinclair grandchild and she has grown up in a life of extreme privilege. The Sinclair family spends every summer in a cluster of houses on the private island that the family owns. Here, Cadence spends time with her cousins Johnny and Mirren as well as a close friend, Gat. The four of them make up the Liars. During the Liars' fifteen summer on the island, Cadence wakes up from an accident that leaves her with amnesia and crippling migraines. Throughout the book, Cadence returns to Beechwood Island during their seventeenth summer to finally attempt to put back the missing pieces of her life with the help of the Liars. Without giving too much away, readers will be blown away by how the story ends.

Visit E. Lockhart’s website.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I decided to read this book after it was compared to Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy. Dashner places the reader in The Glade along with the main character Thomas as we are both kept in the dark so to speak. The reader finds out little bits of information at the same time as Thomas in an attempt to solve the puzzle. Dashner has said that his book is a cross between Lord of the Flies and Ender’s Game.

Thomas wakes up in a dark metal box. Then the movement begins and it is as if he is in an elevator. The top opens up and he sees that he is surrounded by 60 boys all looking at him. Thomas remembers nothing about his past but his name, but simple facts do occur to him. He cannot remember his family, where he came from or even his own age. What he does learn about life in The Glade his first day there is ask no questions. The Glade is situated in the middle of a maze that reconfigures each night. And there are unspeakable creatures that roam the maze at night. Thomas is ready for the second day to begin since he will go on a tour of the Glade and get to ask some questions. Soon the alarm rings to signal that someone new is coming up in the box. This is unusual first because only one boy comes each month and Thomas just arrived yesterday but then the new arrival turns out to be a girl. A note states that she will be the last arrival ever. The girl appears to be dead until she says ”Everything is going to change” and then lapses back into her coma.

This book was hard to put down and just like Collins’ books, each chapter ends in a cliffhanger. Few questions are answered at the end as the action for book two is set. The Scorch Runner is due out in October 2010.

Check out James Dashner's blog at http://jamesdashner.blogspot.com/