Shelter: a Mickey Bolitar Novel

Shelter : a Mickey Bolitar Novel by Harlen Coban

Life hasn't played fair with Mickey – his mother has fallen apart after the death of Mickey's father. She became a drug addict and is in a rehab facility. His father and his uncle got into a huge fight years ago, but he's the only relative that can give Mickey a home. And as a result, as a sophomore, he's starting a new school. The only thing that makes life tolerable is a girl he's met, named Ashley.

The janitor's son has keys to all the doors in the school. He helps Mickey find out where Ashley lives and when he goes to her house, the people there have never heard of her. Then they decide to scan the security tapes by her locker. The tapes reveal a tattooed man breaking into Ashley's locker. They trace the man through his tattoos and all hell breaks loose.

Aside of the mystery which is excellent, I loved reading about his relationships with Ema, a fat goth girl and Spoon, the janitor's son, who always has some odd factoid to begin every conversation. They balance out his being gorgeous and a great basketball player.

The Silence of Murder 
by Dandi Daley Mackall

Hope Long and her brother Jeremy are being raised by an abusive alcoholic mother. Jeremy stopped talking years ago after being slapped hard by his mother. His one joy is working at the stables where he can hang out with Coach Johnson. The coach has even gotten him a Panther's uniform and his own special wooden baseball bat.

When the Coach is found dead at the stables, suspicions become indictments and Jeremy is arrested and put on trial for the murder. He was seen leaving the stables covered in blood, holding his bloody baseball bat. No one knows Jeremy as well as Hope. She knows his sweet nature and that he loved the coach. There must be some other explanation, but can she find it before he's sent to jail or to a mental hospital?

Kill You Last 

      by Todd Strasser

Have to read more of his books, if this one is a sample of his writing. Shelby has a spoiled rich girl's life  thanks to her  father's fashion photography business.  However, he's never home which has affected her parent's marriage. Her luxury life style isn't enough to sustain her when there are three missing girls in the area and they all had their model portfolio pictures taken at her Dad's. Soon their life is shattered as reporters stalk the family and the police search his studio. Shelby believes him and looks at the people who work at the studio - Janet and Gabriel. The first missing girl's body is found. She's been murdered. And Shelby gets weird texts from vengeance13773288gmail.com. Wre I 2 die today, my dying wish would B 2 C Ur dad get what he deserves. She doesn't know what to believe especially when she discovers her Dad has been scamming girls her age.

The Name of the Star: Shades of London
            by Maureen Johnson


I almost gave up reading this book when I saw Book One on the title page.  I won't read a book that leaves me hanging. I flipped, skipped through the book and then slowed down and read, when I discovered it's a complete story, in and of itself.

Rory Deveaux accompanies her parents to England, where they are going to work and she is going to a boarding school in London. At the same time, someone mimicking Jack the Ripper's killings is on the loose in the city quite near her school. 
She settles into the routine of school and into a relationship with Jerome, a senior student. He takes her and her roommate Jazza to the scene of the second murder. There Rory bumps into a strange gentleman who is astonished when she apologizes to him. Later, looking out her window, she catches a glimpse of something or someone, but when she looked again, it was gone. 
She doesn't realize it, but everything changes for her after she has a near death experience. She and Jazzy sneak out one night and return to the dorm at 2:00 a.m. The same man appears as she's sneaking back in. He says, "Should you be doing that?"to which she replies "It's okay, I go here." He says "good night, girls" and walks off. Rory has a problem - Jazzy did not see the creepy man even though he was right there. From here, the book takes off a supersonic speed and you won't be able to put it down.