When I was a kid, I distinctly remember my experiences reading books written by authors like Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine's Fear Street. Thrillers made to scare teenagers; like horror movies, they were all very formulaic. Some horrific images stick in my mind even todday (like a girl waking up in her bunk at summer camp finding herself covered in leeches, bleh!) but plot? Characters? I can't recall any of those.When I learned my favorite childhood author, Bruce Coville, wrote some thrillers of his own aimed at teenagers, I assumed they would be the same and I put off reading them. (I have to say, the cliche titles like "Chamber of Horrors" and "Amulet of Doom" didn't do anything to convince me otherwise.) I only found this book last week in a cheap auction and picked it up on a whim.I was so, so wrong. I owe Mr. Coville an apology. This book is so much more than a cheap thrill made to give a couple hours of chills to teenagers! This book was filled with horror, yes, and chilling images and ideas. It was also filled with great emotion, pathos, a twisting story with multiple layers and depths, and no easy answers. As the main character is faced with a life-or-death decision at the end, I honestly could not say what I would choose if I was in her place.Could you kill someone that has caused the deaths of so many other people? Could you trust in a being's inherit goodness with no real evidence that is has any?There are the formulaic pieces of teenage thrillers here. There's the cliche 'crazy aunt' character, the boy-next-door love interest (of course), the old cursed jewelery item, the cat with otherworldly abilities. And of course the chilling scenes! I don't think I could ever quite get over the image of sneaking into a funeral parlor at night and having the body of a loved one falling on you.... -shudder- But the point is, this book does not present them in the old, cliche formulas. This book is an adventure that makes you feel, makes you hope, and makes you think.I can't wait to read the rest in the series.
