Published date2002-2007 at least that is when we had it in Australia
Story– MC is a teen boy who doesn’t have any friends and is in high school, he is “good” however he is timid and very unsure of himself – he has a crush on a beautiful popular girl from school but she doesn’t know he exists- he makes friends with a boy who is nice to him and a little weird who has a group of friends outside of school so he introduces MC to them- the friends are all boys and they have extreme views and want to act out violently, however MC doesn’t care about this as he doesn’t think the boys will act on it and it’s better than being alone- one day the leader of the group devises a plan to kidnap someone from school to hold them hostage (for reasons I cannot remember sorry), the leader has a car and weapons and makes MC get involved as he is a weak character- it turns out the leader of the group wanted to kidnap the girl from MCs school who he has a crush on and he feels very conflicted about this but doesn’t know how to voice this and get out of the group or tell the police- they kidnap the girl and hold her hostage in a friend’s house but the kidnapping makes the news and it becomes a full blown investigation which escalates the situation quickly- MC had thought that they would just release the girl after the leaders demands are met however due to the kidnapping becoming breaking news he realises there is no way out- he tries to come up with plans to help her escape and make her feel less distressed without getting caught by the leader but it doesn’t work- the leader of the group decides that because his demands are not taken seriously by the police he will take the girl into the woods at night and kill her by hanging her- they tie her up and take her into the woods and put a noose around her however something happens and i think she slips and she suddenly becomes hung – at this point the police have found them and they all run away except MC who desperately tries to cut her free- he manages to save her however there’s a siege and the police find him and start shooting at him and so he runs- the story ends quickly after this chase as he is shot dead.
As you can see this is an incredibly dark story and I was super surprised that it was YA and in my school library! The book absolutely wrecked me for weeks when I was 15. I think it must be out of print as I can’t find it anywhere on google/goodreads.
Tag Archives: Thriller
367W: The Undead Fetus
A male news reporter finds his pregnant wife dead. He is attacked and ends up in hospital. The police tell him the fetus is missing/stolen. He comes back home to find the fetus there. He buries it, but it crawls back out. His wife turns out to be an ancient god. There’s a cyclops. The town has a Halloween parade.
362M: Female Psychic Goes After Serial Killer
The book was an adult book that was suspenseful/thriller/mystery. The main character is a female psychic that is working with a police detective to solve a series of murders. It’s a serial killer that leaves behind little plastic swords. Definitely an 80’s book.
360K: Last blue canister plagues cop
358H: Cold War spy thriller set in Africa
As a child (sometimes in the 80’s or early 90’s) I read a book about a brilliant and charismatic Cold War era African leader who uses military cunning to successfully invade two of his neighboring countries (I believe Togo and Benin) .
The plot revolves around the leader setting the two countries against one another by having a mercenary frame one country for planting a bomb in the other. The leader than promises each country his support in a future war, but ends up invading and taking over both countries.
The book features an American or British white citizen visiting the country, befriending the African leader and falling in love with with a black tall singer. He joins the final battle in the book.
I also recall a minor scene where a pedophile communist spy was able to discover the plot by getting a government official drank, but he is killed prior to being able to share the info.
Another character is a British white secretary which works for the African leader and becomes his mistress.
I did extensive online research but could not find the book.
350X: Sensory-Enhanced Man’s Girlfriend Not What She Seems (Solved!)
348W: Who Kidnapped Toddler? (Solved!)
British psychological thriller, probably 2019. Small child disappears from yard while young mother carelessly supervises her playtime. Meanwhile, a married woman is in a relationship which begins to reveal itself as rather strange and secretive. Her evasive husband becomes a suspect when coworker points finger in his direction, but his alibi is that his delivery route is far from the kidnapping site. Clues and suspicions build until his wife can no longer avoid suspecting his cagey behavior and question his guilt.
344G: Backstabbing (Literally?) Females At Dream Beach House (Solved!)
340L: The Woman Who Can See Killers In Photographs (Solved!)
This is the plot of the book. In the story a woman has to go to her brother’s town because he is murdered. She finds out that she has a special gift in that when she looks at photographs she can see a killer. She can also see how the killer will kill someone. Her brother had this gift and was killed because of it. She meets a woman (can’t remember if this woman was a police officer or some kind of specialist) who believes in her gift. Later this woman who helps her is killed along with the rest of her family. Later a man who I think is some kind of specialist who knows about this gift meets her and helps her. He is trying to find other people who have this gift. He asks her to look at a photograph and she sees a killer and is able to tell him that this killer will I think plant a bomb somewhere. At the end it seems like this man is killed but he survives and is rushed back to his home which I think is in another country. The woman is not told that this man has survived.
I cannot remember the title or author of this book. I want to read any sequels that are written.
I hope you are able to help me.
328F: Terrorist plot foiled by mismatched federal agents
I listened to an audiobook from a library a couple years ago and have been searching for several years for it, but have been unable to find it. The library has torn itself apart trying to find it and I have physically gone through every audiobook but still can’t find it.