And Then There Were Four

May 1, 2017
Five teenagers at New York City’s prestigious Rockland Academy uncover a murder plot, and signs point to their parents as the killers. Drawing heavily on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and glossy dramas like Pretty Little Liars, Werlin (Extraordinary) bands her teens around tragedy rather than common interest. There’s Saralinda de la Flor, an outcast with diabetes and a club foot; Antoine Dubois, star soccer player and class president; Caleb Colchester, son of an eminent psychiatrist, who claims to have a Mr. Hyde–like dark side; Evangeline Song, the acerbic, beautiful brain; and Martha “Kenyon” McKenyon, the proudly queer transfer student with a tragic backstory. Gathering for a student leaders meeting in a rundown corner of the school, the gang narrowly escapes death when the roof caves in, and that’s just the beginning of a series of not-accidents aimed at knocking them off. The teens’ leap to determining that their parents may be responsible is a stretch, particularly given the ensemble cast, but Werlin creates palpable suspense as she alternates between Saralinda and Caleb’s points of view. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown.

Jorjeana Marie and Michael Crouch narrate the alternating points of view of two fearful teens. Marie conveys the trepidation of Saralinda, who copes with a club foot, diabetes, and an overprotective mother. Crouch portrays the deep-seated concerns of Caleb, whose father, a noted psychiatrist, has convinced him that he has "an internal evil twin" whose acts he doesn't remember. Soon these teens and two of their friends have much more to fear--someone wants to kill them! Near the end of the audiobook, narrator James Lurie portrays Caleb's cold father, and May Wuthrich reads the part of an interviewer who is horrified at the events that have befallen the teens. Nick Martorelli delivers the audiobook's epilogue by the teens' caring headmaster. The plot is both unbelievable and horrifying, but the narrators keep the book moving. S.W. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine