Creed

October 6, 2014
Debut authors Leaver and Currie make an auspicious foray into YA horror. Seventeen-year-old Dee’s plan to surprise her boyfriend, Luke, on their second anniversary goes horribly wrong. Their upstate New York getaway takes a nightmarish turn when they run out of gas and must walk to the eerily deserted town of Purity Springs, where, naturally, there’s no cell-phone reception. Along with Luke’s younger brother, they explore the town and are eventually confronted by a boy named Joseph, the son of a local cult leader, who needs their help to free his younger sister so they can escape the isolated town together. After Elijah isolates Dee from the boys and reveals his intentions to make her his wife, Dee must decide how far she will go to save others from torture and death. The authors create a believably desperate and terrifying situation for their characters, and Dee’s history of physical and sexual abuse adds another layer of terror to this suspenseful and sporadically gory thriller. Ages 12–up. Agent: (for Leaver) Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency; (for Currie) Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

September 15, 2014
Three teens become trapped by a terrifying cult when they stumble into a strange town after breaking down in a remote area. Seventeen-year-old Dee, her boyfriend, Luke, and his brother, Mike, on their way to a concert, take a back road to save time and run out of gas. They hike to the nearest town but find it apparently deserted, with a siren sounding. The cemetery has only wooden crosses to mark graves, and all the houses and gardens look identical. They enter an empty house and shelter there from a sudden snowstorm. There, as in all the other houses, the only decorations are giant crosses on the walls. The next day, they meet Joseph, a boy their age who confirms that the town is controlled by his father, the cult's leader, and who promises to help them. But his madman father, Elijah, discovers them, natch. Dee, eventually separated from Luke and Mike, must try to find the others and escape, with Elijah constantly threatening murder unless Dee complies with his wishes. Leaver and Currie set the scene effectively if not particularly originally and keep tension high. The cult never really seems credible, though, and Elijah's villainy is thoroughly over-the-top. Nevertheless, readers who don't probe hard should find Dee a sympathetic companion for the duration. Undemanding suspense. (Thriller. 14-18)

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February 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-A dark, disturbing story that will appeal to teens on the cusp of reading Stephen King. Seventeen-year-old Dee, for many years an abused child, has lived in countless foster homes before finally settling in with a loving older couple. As a surprise for her boyfriend Luke, Dee arranges a fun night to attend a concert several towns over. She has enlisted Luke's younger brother Mike to aid in lying to their parents about their whereabouts. Things progress smoothly and the trio sets off on the trip, but tension builds quickly when the teens forget to get gas. They eventually end up stranded in a desolate, snow-covered landscape with no cell phone service. The characters come across a tiny, eerily silent, and deserted settlement. They fruitlessly search for gas and eventually break into an isolated cemetery shed where they discover mysterious papers. Mike also finds a sign denoting the name of the town as Purity Springs. Trapped, the protagonists make the fatal choice of looking for help in one of the homes along the street. The houses are identical and all contain a bizarre manual entitled "Fashioning Children in the Image of God." For Dee, the volume hits too close to home as it describes punishing children through beatings. Action progresses quickly as the town's dark secrets are revealed. This book pulls no punches: There is swearing, sexual references, violence, underage drinking, and drug use. The characters' relationships, such as Dee and Luke's romance and Luke and Mike's sibling affection, are fleshed out fairly well. VERDICT A fine choice for teens who crave horror.-Julie Shatterly, W. A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Where would horror be without unreliable cars? After their vehicle junks out in a snowstorm, 17-year-old Dee, her boyfriend Luke, and his brother Mike hike to Purity Springs, where every deserted house has a copy of an ominous punishment manual. So far, so creepy. Finally a teenager named Joseph emerges to tell them they need to get out of there right away. Of course, it's not that easy: Joseph is determined not to leave without his little sister, and that means encountering Elijah, the twisted cult leader so obsessed with purity he is literally bleeding the evil out of nonbelievers. Though the prose is workmanlike, you could say the same for a campfire tale, and that's what this is: a straight-ahead, cover-your-ears tale of terror that grows more nihilistic and grueling by the page. Though logic holes exist (why would Elijah so often leave Joseph alone with Dee?), Leaver and Currie do the best thing horror authors can do, presenting protagonists who make smart choices, over and over, but to no avail. Now that's scary.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)