Teen Murder Mystery Twisty, Tense

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Five boys head into the woods for a hunting trip.  Only four make it out alive.  Grant Perkins lies dead from a gunshot wound that any of the boys could have inflicted on him.  Who killed him?  Accident or murder, someone was responsible for his death, but no one is talking.  What really happened that day in the woods?  Everyone wants to know.

Despite the fact that any of the remaining boys could be guilty, the DA wants to sweep the whole case under the rug.  He owes his career to their wealthy, powerful families.  Kate Marino, the boys' classmate, isn't about to let the so-called River Point Boys get off with a slap on the wrist.  She has her own reasons for wanting the truth and she's determined to get it.  Her internship at the DA's office gives her a unique opportunity to investigate Grant's death.  The closer she gets to the truth, however, the more danger Kate is in.  Someone out there is willing to kill in order to protect the River Point Boys.  Can she identify the killer before she becomes their next victim?

This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston is an engrossing whodunit that kept me reading far into the night.  Although it's populated with a host of unlikable characters, none of whom I really cared about, I still wanted to know what was going to happen.  Overall, it's a depressing, unrealistic tale (where are all the parents?) that I didn't end up loving—even if I couldn't stop reading it.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little of One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder expletives), violence, references to illegal drug use, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find