Ten

Book Title: Ten

Author:  Gretchen McNeil

Number of Pages: 296

Genres: Young Adult, Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Horror

Books like it: And Then There Were None

My favorite quote:

Is this book yours? No? THEN STOP READING IT. NOW.

The words were centered on the title page, written in red ink. It should have been ominous. It should have kept Meg from turning the next page.

Not so much.

Brief Synopsis from Goodreads:

SHHHH!

Don't spread the word!

Three-day weekend. Party at White Rock House on Henry Island.

You do NOT want to miss it.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Trailer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Summary:

If you know what I like to read, you know one of my favorites is definitely horror/thriller/mystery type of thing. My favorite board game growing up was Clue, I loved reading Nancy Drew, and to this day my favorite show is Monk. So, basically, when my librarian told me about this freakishly scary and intense book, I was like, where is it?!?! I don’t review horror books very often because I can never find some that are horrifically awesome.

If you haven’t watched the trailer, do it. Now.

This book was AMAZING. (It could have been a lot better for me if some of the language was taken out, though. ) I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, trying to guess the killer before the last page and gasping at some surprising parts. Do you want to know what it is about? Read on.

Vengeance is mine.

Meg, the main character of the story, sneaks out to a three day party on an abandoned island (ding ding ding! That’s a no brainer, don’t go on creepy islands when nobody knows you will be there!) with her best friend Minnie. It is supposed to be fun, and the two friends are excited for the time of their lives.

When the two girls show up at the party, Meg sees her crush, TJ, and her heart starts beating faster. Then they meet the seven other people they will be spending the weekend with. (Mother Nature is not on their side, it is hailing and pouring rain.)  As time goes by, their host never shows up, so they eat dinner and entertain themselves. When Meg goes downstairs in the middle of the night to get a drink, she discovers that one of the guests has hung themselves by a rope. The death seems sort of suspicious, but when they find the suicide note, they convince themselves that it was not a murder.

Ha, wrong!

The nine surviving kids decide it is probably best to call the police, and that’s when they find out that the phone lines are dead and the internet is not working. (Dun dun dun.) So  T.J and Meg go to the boathouse to see if they can find a radio to call for help. No such luck, the radio is not in the boat. When they return to the house, they find out there has been another “accident.” When two accidents turn into three, the guests at this creepy party begin to think there is a killer in the house.

A killer that could be one of them.

    When Meg finds the journal of a dead girl from her school, she realizes that these strange ways of killing have been done that way for a reason. But why? Is the killer one of them, or is it a ghost seeking revenge? As the death toll rises higher and higher, Meg must find out who the killer is before she becomes the next victim.

Or maybe she already is.

With twists and turns and a whole lot of suspense, this book will send a chill up your back and keep you constantly looking behind you.

Pros: This book was probably the most well-written horror book I have read in a long time. It was very creepy and the killer is not someone you would expect. I can’t deny that I’ve been a little more cautious than usual.

Cons: The only cons in this book for me was the language. The f-word is in there, once in the middle of the book and once again near the end. Watch out for those, especially younger readers. I would not recommend this book to anyone under the age of twelve. This book is pretty scary, and if you have younger readers, stay away from this book, or they might be up at night with nightmares. However, if you want a good adrenaline rush, this would definitely give you one.  

Cautions for Parents: (See in the Cons section) Brief strong language and scary elements.

Review: 4.5 (.5 off for language. I hate language.)