November 1, 2006
Gr 9 Up-When Gena, Casey, and Maryann ditch their school trip to D.C. to stay at a lakeside cabin for a week, their biggest concern is getting caught by their parents. They plan to have a carefree time of eating junk food, meeting up with boys, and partying. Soon after their arrival, though, things begin to go horribly wrong. A number of terribly mutilated animals are found nearby, and two teenage boys go missing within one day. The girls and remaining boys decide to investigate and consequently draw the attention of the killer. Soon Gena is also missing, and Casey and Maryann are trying to fend off a vicious murderer. Though the story follows the formulaic plotting devices satirized in the Scream films, Windsor will keep teens hooked through the gruesomeness alone. The descriptions of what the killer does to his victims are enough to give readers a cold shiver of fear. Each chapter is narrated by a different character, including the killer and the sheriffs teenage son, which allows for rounding out of the perspective in the book, but no deep character development. Larger public libraries will want to purchase the book for horror fans, but schools can probably pass."Stephanie L. Petruso, Anne Arundel County Public Library, Odenton, MD"
Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2007
Three teen girls ditch a field trip to stay in a forest cabin, but their plans to meet boys are interrupted by a monstrous serial killer. Despite Windsor's clean prose and swift plot, the story provides gross-out shocks more than real fear for the characters. The ominous epilogue makes for essentially two endings--one too sentimental, the other too ambiguous.
(Copyright 2007 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)