Plot Summary: Cameryn is a high school senior in tiny Silverton, CO. Her mom left long ago and now it's just Cammie, her father and town Coroner, Patrick and her grandmother, a no nonsense Irish woman. Cammie has always wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and study forensics. She loves everything about it! Once she convinces her father to take her on as his assistant, Cammie thinks she's got it made. But the realities of the job are more gruesome than her avid reading on the subject had led her to believe, and things get even more scary when there's a murder in town - the first one in years. Things get even worse when the victim turns out to be someone Cammie knows, and it's looking more and more like the murderer is the notorious Christopher Killer. As Cammie gets closer and closer to the truth, she risks attracting the attention of the killer himself. Real life is not how it looks in books, and unfortunately for Cammie, you can't stop real life with a bookmark. Can Cammie, her father and the town sheriff catch the killer before he strikes again?
Critical Evaluation: While on the surface the plot of this novel is just a re-hashing of a tried and true story line - killer strikes, teen hero investigates thus rousing suspicion and deadly attention, things eventually resolved one way or another - the details of this novel make it worth a read. Ferguson includes detailed information about the forensic field that capture the imagination and interest for further learning of the reader. Combining that with the inclusion of well-written colorful characters, detailed settings and a controversial pyschic creates an engrossing story that teens will be drawn to. This is Ferguson's first title in the darker vein of suspense and mystery and it's a well done effort that will earn her fans among the teen demographic.
Reader's Annotation: Cameryn has always wanted to work with her father on forensic cases - but things get real when the victim is a friend.
About the Author: Born in 1957 in Cumberland, MD, daughter of author Gloria Skurzynski, who inspired her to become an author herself. Ferguson attended the University of Utah and Westminster College before becoming a writer later in her adult life.
She is currently at work on her 32nd book for children and young adults and crosses freely between the two age groups. She's married, has three adult children and lives in Colorado, where she sets many of her novels.
Information retreived from alaneferguson.com
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Are pyschics real? Appropriateness of Cameron as assistant to her father.
Reading Level: 12+
Interest Age: 14+
Challenge Issues: Graphic Imagery
Challenge Response: I would reference the violence of the news, this is no more graphic than that without the pictorial representation.
Why is This Included: A different kind of mystery with an emphasis on forensics makes for a nice variation on YA mysteries.
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