Scream meets Happy Death Day in this terrifying stand-alone horror novel from YA scream queen Danielle Valentine.
Alice Lawrence is the sole witness in her sister’s murder trial.
And in the year since Claire’s death, Alice’s life has completely fallen apart. Her parents have gotten divorced, she’s moved into an apartment that smells like bologna, and she is being forced to face her sister’s killer and a courtroom full of people who doubt what she saw in the corn maze a year prior.
Claire was an all-American girl, beautiful and bubbly, and a theater star. Alice was a nerd who dreamed of becoming a forensic pathologist and would rather stay at home to watch her favorite horror movies than party. Despite their differences, they were bonded by sisterhood and were each other’s best friends.
Until Claire was taken away from her.
On the first day of the murder trial, as Alice prepares to give her testimony, she is knocked out by a Sidney Prescott look-alike in the courthouse bathroom. When she wakes up, it is Halloween morning a year earlier, the same day Claire was murdered. Alice has until midnight to save her sister and find the real killer before he claims another victim.
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School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Alice is obsessed with horror movies; she is starting a podcast that intersects true crime and horror movies with two of her best friends. But, on Halloween Alice's life turns into a real-life slasher movie when she witnesses her sister's murder. One year later, on the day of the murderer's trial, a Sidney Prescott look-alike sends Alice back in time to the night of the murder with instructions to learn the truth. Alice knows what she saw that night-Owen Trevor Maddox is the killer-but as the death toll grows and new evidence emerges, Alice comes face to face with suspects she never would have imagined. Once Alice is sent back in time, the plot unfolds much like that of a slasher film, making for a fast, hair-raising, and at times gruesome read. There are a few twists that, while not hard to discern, add to the atmosphere of uncertainty throughout the novel. Though readers may find themselves frustrated at Alice's stubbornness and unwillingness to see the truth, the author's choice to narrate through her perspective creates a high stakes and emotionally fraught thriller. All main characters read white, but many secondary characters are diverse. VERDICT A must read for slasher fans, and sure to delight any readers looking for a thrill.-Mariah Smitala?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.