Dangerous Boy

August 20, 2012
Hubbard's (Prada and Prejudice) thriller is genuinely creepy, but a teaser prologue and a telegraphed ending diffuse the story's tension. Though farm daughter Harper has a lot going for herâshe's gorgeous, smart, and effortlessly popularâshe misses her mother, who died while rock climbing, and is fearful of the outside world, even keeping a list of the things that scare her. Also, strange circumstances in her small town (including thousands of mysterious bird corpses and bloody cow bones left in mailboxes) have her especially on edge. Harper has recently fallen for hot new hunk Logan, who urges her to overcome her phobias, but a visit to his house reveals his homeschooled twin brother, Daemon, the nasty antithesis of Logan. Logan's decision to hide Daemon's existence from Harper throws a spanner into their relationship. Hubbard drives the action forward at an engrossing pace, but as the denouement hits, the "twist" is so obvious that Harper's obliviousness to it comes across as unbelievable. Readers who can look past the predictability will be drawn into the horror-tinged story. Ages 12âup.

June 15, 2012
Danger threatens when Harper falls for the perfect boyfriend, maybe. Harper can't believe that sensitive, handsome Logan really wants her to be his exclusive girlfriend. She's just a farm girl who doesn't even wear makeup. But Logan sweeps her off her feet and seems to feel the same about her. When disturbing things begin to happen around town--birds fall, dead, from the sky, bloody bones turn up in mailboxes, red handprints cover students' cars--no one can make any sense of it. Harper has her suspicions, however, once she meets someone she didn't even know existed: Daemon, Logan's identical twin brother. Daemon enjoys violence and deliberately frightens Harper. Harper grows more suspicious of Daemon when a sabotaged motorbike sends her to the hospital, and someone nearly kills her friend. She investigates and learns about some things in Logan's past that he has hidden. Still, she's so attracted to him, and he begs her so effectively to stay, that she continues the relationship, and that decision could lead to her death. Hubbard begins with an exciting, frightening chase scene then flashes back to tell the story in sequence. Astute readers will pick up on the solution to the mystery from miles away, but that only heightens the suspense, especially as they have already tasted that chase scene. The difficulty here is the cop-out, too-easy resolution: The author briefly presents an interesting, realistic scenario to explain the mystery but bows to current trends and pushes a nonsensical paranormal solution instead. What a shame. The fun here is in getting to the silly resolution, not achieving it. (Paranormal suspense. 12 & up)

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August 1, 2012

Gr 7-11-Harper can't believe that Logan Townsend has fallen for her of all people. He's everything that a dream boyfriend should be: handsome, sensitive, attentive, and crazy about her. The only drawback is his disturbed twin brother. When bad things start happening in her small town of Enumclaw, Washington, she immediately suspects that Daemon is involved. Cow bones appear in mailboxes, flocks of birds are found dead, and Harper finds roses in her locker with the portentous words "I'm watching you" attached. Logan insists that his brother isn't behind all of the bedlam, but Harper isn't so sure. As she begins to unravel the mystery of the Townsend twins, she finds that the answer may be perilous. Hubbard hits the ground running with a heart-racing prologue. The story then builds with a slow burn and an ominous air. The resolution, though, is Hubbard's Achilles' heel. The book has so much potential as a modern take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but falls flat with an unbelievable conclusion instead. Still, fans of mystery thrillers who are looking for a light read will find it enjoyable.-Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Hudson Library & Historical Society, OH

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