February is the month of love, but please let’s all take a moment before texting
love
emojis, writing un-ironic poetry to a secret crush, and dreaming of that perfect
Valentine’s kiss that lies somewhere between Ron and Hermione’s sweetly awkward
first
kiss and the wonderfully breathless kiss between Augustus and Hazel.
Romance is great. Romance is wonderful, but romance, hearts and roses every day for
an entire month is a little too much of a good thing. If you’re like me,
something a
little darker, a little scarier is needed to combat all the pink, white, and red.
That’s why this week’s list is about mystery, murder, and chaos, and all three were
released February 3!
Jess Tennant has now been living in a tiny town on
the English seaside for three months, and is just beginning to relax and think
of it
as home after the traumatic events of last summer. But in the small hours of
Halloween night, a teenage boy is left for dead by the side of the road. Seb Dawson
has a serious head injury and may not survive. Jess might not have liked Seb much,
but surely he didn’t deserve this. The police don’t seem to be taking the attack
very
seriously, but Jess can’t just let it go, and she takes matters into her own hands.
As she investigates, Jess discovers that Seb was involved in some very dangerous
games. A secret predator around girls, he would do whatever it took to abuse them,
from lying and blackmail to spiking drinks. Could a group of vengeful victims be
behind his attack? Or is there someone else with a grudge against Seb, who will
stop
at nothing to silence him? Jane Casey returns with another edge-of-your-seat
mystery
in Bet Your Life.
Seventeen-year-old Kami is into science, way
smarter
than she should be, a little obtuse, and born to investigate. The kind of girl who
excels in Martial Arts and runs a chaos theory experiment in her locker. Kami
finds a
way to focus her talents when she meets Daniel, whose younger sister Julia died
from
an overdose of prescription drugs—drugs that the cops think came from Daniel’s
stash.
First Daniel turns up at Kami’s MA class, and later she saves him from a couple of
drug dealers at the local skate park. Neither episode endears him to her, but Kami
views life as a series of data points, and in Daniel’s case, the data do not add
up.
Her theory turns out to be correct: Daniel is taking the fall to protect his
sister’s
reputation—and to work with the cops to find out who really supplied his sister
with
drugs.
Kami assembles a team of sleuths to help Daniel meet those goals. Top of the
list is
her best friend Sandy, who can con anybody out of anything, every time. Sandy’s
boyfriend Sam, editor of the school newspaper, is researcher in chief. Then
there is
gorgeous Gavin, a computer genius whose abilities to help are hindered by the fact
that he’s already in trouble with the cops for hacking. Daniel’s novice police
handler provides a link to law enforcement. The trail leads to the local stables,
where Julia kept a stash of drugs. The team next uncovers a link to the
manufacturer
of the drugs. Working with the police, Kami goes undercover as an intern at the
pharmaceutical company that makes the drugs that killed Julia. But she’s not the
only
undercover agent on the trail.
In CHAOS THEORY, first time author M Evonne Dobson not only tells a fast-paced
mystery, but also explores her protagonist’s deep need to understand the chaotic
lives of those around her, lives that refuse to be neat, clean, and simple.
Especially when death happens to those you love. Set in Iowa, CHAOS THEORY is a
young
adult contemporary crime novel, the first in a proposed series.
Georgie's new heart saved her life...but now she's
losing her mind. "An eerie mystery wrapped in a heart-wrenching romance—will leave
you breathless!" — Gretchen McNeil, author of TEN and the Don't Get Mad series
When Georgie Kendrick wakes up after a heart transplant she feels...different. The
organ beating in her chest isn't in tune with the rest of her body. Like it still
belongs to someone else. Someone with terrible memories...memories that are slowly
replacing her own. A dark room, a man in the shadows, the sharp taste of
adrenaline —
these are her donor's final memories. Pieces of a deadly puzzle. And if Georgie
doesn't want them to be the last thing she remembers, she has to find out the truth
behind her donor's death...before she loses herself completely.
Fans of Lisa McMann and April Henry will devour this edgy, gripping thriller with a
twist readers won't see coming!
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iOS Development (Nikon Nik 8:24am February 6, 2015)
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you've found the article helpful. What YA genres do you like reading? (Jennifer Barnhart 3:20pm February 6, 2015)