Summer camp at Dread’s Cove is full of fun, outdoor activities, crushes, bonding, and murder. When Greer returns to her family-owned camp five years after a fellow counselor burned to death in a suspicious fire, she faces a new threat and unearths the secrets that lay buried deep in the camp’s history in SUMMER’S NEVER OVER by Darby Bozeman.

When her mother dies, Greer is summoned back to her family’s camp in Lavender, Georgia, to help with the reopening festivities. This is the last place Greer wants to be. Five years ago, a Phantom plagued the summer camp, causing chaos – stalking the woods, putting holes in canoes, destroying lifejackets, etc. The camp closed early that year, and a fellow counselor died in a fire. That was the year Greer made a new friend, Steph Bennett, a vivacious girl who made Greer look at life differently. There was also Steph’s friend, Margo, another new counselor who was jealous of the evolving friendship between Steph and Greer. The summer was full of possibilities and new beginnings, until it all came crashing down. Why were Steph and Margo really at the camp?  And who wanted Steph dead? Now, five years later, the same players are back, and Margo is looking for answers about Steph’s death when new threats start surfacing.

SUMMER’S NEVER OVER is a highly entertaining, tension-filled trip to summer camp, where the atmosphere is idyllic, but the characters are flawed and dealing with heavy emotions. There are secrets buried from the past, and new revelations that bring a summer of chaos, vandalism, broken friendships, and hurt feelings. The story is told in a dual-timeline of then and now, and the clues are laid out nicely as the plot progresses, and the parallels become known. The setting is picture-perfect and nostalgic, a sharp contrast to the crimes that occur in this special place, while the mischievous phantom adds suspense and ups the tension as it stalks the woods, terrorizes campers, vandalizes the equipment, and leaves cryptic messages. Greer is an interesting character, balancing her emotions between what feels comfortable and the intoxication of new experiences.  She questions where she belongs, and she wavers between an old boyfriend and a new crush. The writing is dynamic, the plot is well-structured, and the pace is perfect as readers experience Greer’s journey to uncovering the truth. The final reveal is well done and surprising, and will leave readers wanting to stay with the characters longer in this impressive debut novel.