Overview

Guilt, murder, ghosts – will David and Lily ever escape the past? Recently acquitted of accidently killing his girlfriend but still crucified with guilt, 17-year-old David has moved to Massachusetts to complete his senior year of high school. His aunt and uncle have offered him shelter. His attic apartment in their house is full of ghostly shadows at night, his aunt is cold, and his 11-year-old cousin Lily is hostile. As Lily's behaviour becomes more threatening towards him, David wonders what secrets lurk within Lily. The more he thinks about Lily, the more he is forced to deal with his own past. Is Lily a killer too?

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9780007126675

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Reviews

Highly unsettling mystery in which the reader is never sure who is the killer and who is the cousin. Lily is a fabulously well-realised, manipulative 11-year-old and Werlin is excellent at conveying that uncomfortable formality between family hosts and their teenage guest. Henceforth may everything that the American Nancy Werlin writes be published here in the UK too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. achuka Gripping from beginning to end Sunday Express 21/7/02 The novel's gothic flavour, compelling minor characters! and subtle exploration of guilt and complicity add texture to this tense psychological drama Publishers' Weekly, starred review Readers will be hard pressed to put this one down VOYA, starred review Utterly terrifying psychodrama! Werlin winds the tension to an excruciating point, then releases it with a fiery climax! Teens will find this tautly plotted thriller, rich in complex, finely drawn characters, an absolute page turner Booklist A gripping and sometimes disturbing psychological thriller! This is not an easy read, as the subject of children who kill will never be an easy one, but it is a book that will make you think Bookseller

Highly unsettling mystery in which the reader is never sure who is the killer and who is the cousin. Lily is a fabulously well-realised, manipulative 11-year-old and Werlin is excellent at conveying that uncomfortable formality between family hosts and their teenage guest. Henceforth may everything that the American Nancy Werlin writes be published here in the UK too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. achuka Gripping from beginning to end Sunday Express 21/7/02 The novel's gothic flavour, compelling minor characters... and subtle exploration of guilt and complicity add texture to this tense psychological drama Publishers' Weekly, starred review Readers will be hard pressed to put this one down VOYA, starred review Utterly terrifying psychodrama... Werlin winds the tension to an excruciating point, then releases it with a fiery climax... Teens will find this tautly plotted thriller, rich in complex, finely drawn characters, an absolute page turner Booklist A gripping and sometimes disturbing psychological thriller... This is not an easy read, as the subject of children who kill will never be an easy one, but it is a book that will make you think Bookseller

With her first novel, Are You Alone On Purpose?, Nancy Werlin was named as a Publisher's Weekly Flying Start Author, while this one won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Young Adult Novel of 1999. This will come as no surprise to those who read this gripping story. It is written in clear, straightforward English which is a pleasure to read and is entirely without undue sensationalism; and though, as we're warned, it becomes in its later stages 'an utterly terrifying psychodrama', the author works up gradually to the frightening climax, beginning, cleverly, with hints about what has happened and what is to come, without ever revealing details - so that the reader feels compelled to race through the early chapters in search of more clues. Did David kill his girlfriend Emily? If so, how and - even more relevantly - why? And what is his 11-year-old cousin Lily's secret, which has turned her into a psychological mess? Tried and acquitted of Emily's murder, David has been sent by his parents for the last year of his pre-college education to stay in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his Aunt Julia and Uncle Vic - who obviously don't want him - and their daughter Lily, who is jealous, angry and awkward and who shows an unhealthy interest in David's recent experiences. At school, because of sensational press publicity, his name is well known - so both at 'home' and at school he's regarded with suspicion. Two unlikely friends make things just bearable: Frank, an intellectual and rebellious skinhead, and Raina, a young artist who rents part of his uncle's house. The exploration of character - even the most minor figures - is a major factor in the story's strength; another is its unobtrusively careful construction, its slow build-up of tension, and its explosive release. A teenage novel it may be, but teenagers' parents might equally enjoy it. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Nancy Werlin was born and grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in South Boston. Since receiving her bachelor's degree from Yale College, she has worked as a technical writer in the field of computer software. She was named a Publisher's Weekly Flying Start author for her first book, ""Are You Alone on Purpose?"", which was selcted as an ALA Quick Pick.

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