Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of most of Faye Kellerman's work, so I'm surprised at this unfortunate review, but you seem to want an honest opinion, so. I sent this opinion to the publisher in hopes that significant changes occur before actual publication.

This book is a slog -- I read it in digital format, so it's hard to tell how long it is, but boy could it use some editing. Slow paced, which I initially thought was for the purpose of Kellerman's usually fantastic character development, but the characters in this book are just flat.

Is it because they are teens? Is it because so much of the development is through dialogue? Not sure. However, the dialogue is also... lacking -- there are some clever moments, but then there are the painful attempts to add some teen lingo in -- and yes, I am using that word in the most awkward way possible so that you can get an idea of how dreadful the add-ins are. Killer dope! Ugh. I read YA lit and work with teens all the time. This dialogue is painful. The sex is even more so -- between the implied anal from our "smoking hot" cheerleader main character to the boy's fistfight that just got real because "she was cherry" and one boy had her first, this book has tipped into offensive and revolting, and I'm not talking about the serial killer. It's entirely possible that this is a realistic depiction of boys objectifying girls in our current culture. My problem with it is that these are the good guys, and that is appalling.

Most of this book is set in the senior year of the main characters and if the point is to make the audience feel trapped in a pointless, drama filled exercise, then this book is a total success. If you are looking for the next fast-paced, hard to put down thriller, then I can't recommend it.

Finally, having read through to the end, what is up with the extended fantasy of future romance between our overprotective main character and his new life-obsession? She's a young teen with a crush on a guy and a terrible attack in her life. Don't further disenfranchise her personality by making a prediction that her future holds neither surprises nor triumphs.

What a bummer.

Advanced reader's copy provided by edelweiss.
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Truthfully, I am surprised at all of the negative reviews for this book. It is not as good as her long-standing series featuring Rina Lazarus & Peter Decker. Instead, this book is about teenagers and, in particular, Ben Vicksburg, whose 16-year old sister was raped, murdered, and buried when he was much younger. He has sworn an oath to make the killer pay for his deed. With this as his singular focus, he has abandoned his friends, and spends most of his time researching other cases. He's a total nerd, but makes several major breakthroughs, as the local police make no progress: yes, I know this is unrealistic, but that's why it's called fiction. Eventually, Ben draws the attention of the killer and the prettiest girl in the high school. The book reminded me of Barry Lyga's Jasper Dent trilogy. Rated R. ( )

I have read and enjoyed a number of books by this author, especially the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series. This book was different. The story itself was interesting but the focus on teenage emotional challenges and outbursts was over the top.I was surprised how parts of the story felt quite contrived, something I have not associated with the author in the past.It also seemed unnecessarily long, with little new material added and the story dragged on. On several occasions I thought about leaving it unfinished but in the end did complete it. I think will stick with her Decker/Lazarus books, if indeed there are ones that I have not yet read. ( )

After Ben's sister is murdered, he becomes obsessed with finding her killer. His research leads him to believe that a serial killer is the culprit. He and his girlfriend work on locating the killer. ( )

Good but needs tweaking. Some dialogue between Ben and Ro was awkward, as though forced. Too much teen drama for me. Shouldn't Vicksburg family continue to get counseling especially Ben? Why does he feel solely responsible? Because he feels his parents and Shanks aren't doing what he thinks they should? While he is obviously genius material isn't he almost too perfect?

I like the very American mixture of Ben's family history, some of New Mexico's history and native crafts, and terrain and hiking trails.

With fine tuning I could see Ben becoming a continuing character as he grows up perhaps as a high-level investigator for police department, FBI, specifically in missing persons cases, cold cases, or serial murders. ( )