Reviews
Thrillers that sent chills up our spines

Alex Flinn  Nothing to Lose
    HarperCollins
Last year teenage Michael lived in Miami with his mother and abusive stepfather, Walker. This year he's a runaway — traveling with a carnival while his mother stands accused of murdering Walker. When the carnival returns to Miami, Michael is torn between remaining anonymous and telling the authorities what he knows about Walker's murder. The plot contains enough twists and turns to keep readers riveted.

David Klass  Dark Angel
    Foster/Farrar
When his convicted-murderer brother Troy is pardoned and released, Jeff's carefully constructed life, including the trust of his girlfriend and best friend, is shredded. Then the soccer team captain disappears. Is Jeff the only one who sees that Troy's "rehabilitation" is a sham? Klass's suspenseful psychological thriller has credible teen concerns and perspectives and a chilling and thought-provoking ending.

Iain Lawrence  The Convicts
    Delacorte
In this vivid novel set in nineteenth-century England, narrator Tom Tin, fourteen, is charged with murder and taken in chains to a grounded prison ship for boys. Lawrence matches the inventiveness of his villains and martyrs with plot twists that include death and brutality aboard the ship and Tom's fateful trip on a ruined slaver bound for Australia.

Michael Simmons  Finding Lubchenko
    Razorbill/Penguin
This adventure-charged tale uncovers frame-ups, embezzlement, espionage, computer hacking, and a bit of corporate pilfering. Add to the mix three high school juniors, a clandestine week in Paris, and evidence tampering, and readers have a story that rivals any episode of 24. This is diversionary reading at its best, strong on plot and voice and humor, and completely satisfying in the moment.

Eleanor Updale  Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman?
    Orchard/Scholastic
The criminal Montmorency, on display as an exhibit of Dr. Farcett's experimental surgical skill, hears a lecture on nineteenth-century London's new sewer system. After his release, Montmorency takes to the sewers, planning to use ill-gotten gains to fund the life of a gentleman. The suspenseful book's tension lies in Montmorency's meticulous preparations for his crime spree and his attempts to avoid giving himself away in polite society.

Eleanor Updale  Montmorency on the Rocks: Doctor, Aristocrat, Murderer?
    Orchard/Scholastic
In his second book, Montmorency spirals into a drug addiction that promises to destroy him. This volume delivers plenty of mystery and intrigue through a compellingly flawed adult character searching as desperately for a sense of self as any adolescent protagonist. That search creates a literary journey filled with unpredictable events, a fast-moving plot, and a fascinating visit to the Victorian era.

Kevin Waltman  Learning the Game
    Scholastic
Nate's high school life is focused on his single-minded efforts to make the varsity basketball team. His dream begins to unravel after the team bully convinces Nate and teammates to break into a college frat house and loot it. Complicating things is the crime's only witness: Nate's brother, Marvin, who is homeless. Strong character development and realistic dialogue are mixed with fast-paced sport action.

Nancy Werlin  Double Helix
    Dial
Eli Samuels is not yet ready to undergo genetic testing to determine if he's inherited Huntington's disease from his mother. Aware that his family has a mysterious connection with the scientist who operates Wyatt Transgenics, Eli lands a job in the company's research laboratory and discovers a secret sub-basement in this tense medical thriller.

Scott Westerfeld  So Yesterday
    Razorbill/Penguin
"Coolhunters" Hunter and Jen find themselves in trouble when they find a pair of running shoes that seem impossibly cool. In this market-research thriller, the shoes propel what is essentially a book-length chase scene assiduously annotated with much clever dialogue and thinking about why we want the things we do.

Matt Whyman  Boy Kills Man
    HarperTempest
This taut, disturbing story portrays twelve-year-old Sonny and his best friend, Alberto, living in the impoverished, violent city of Medellin, Colombia. Sonny and Alberto, lured by the promise of money and power, become child assassins for drug lords. Although disjointed at times, this bleak, heartbreaking story is powerful and haunting.

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