Summer Reading Suspense

I love to mix things up a bit in my reading so after reading a MG fantasy I picked up a YA suspense. This particular book my wife had been begging me to read forever. I’m not even sure why I hadn’t read it to begin with since I know and adore the author, Cindy M Hogan. Cindy is the spunkiest, most energetic, positive person I know. In fact, if the super optimistic Olaf from Disney’s Frozen had a sister it would be Cindy. She just makes you feel a live and feel great. You would not think a sweet, outgoing, loving person would be able to write clench-your-teeth-suspense but SHE DOES!! And she does it very well.

Okay…embarrassing moment for me: I started reading this book on my kindle after my wife decided to turn in early. So I’m lying in bed and the tension in this books is high (hello, this man gets his head chopped in the first chapter and these kids might be next—no that’s not a spoiler, that’s the premise). It’s dark around me and all I have is the light from the kindle. I hear a creek and I’m like, what was that?! I continue reading; once again I am sucked into the tension. Then my wife scoots her leg over and it touches my foot!! I jumped too high I about threw the kindle across the bedroom. My wife thought this was the funniest thing ever and spent the next ten minutes laughing at me. So yes! This book will grab hold of you and not let you go. While it’s not that terrifying of a book (it is definitely NOT a horror story), it has this voice that just makes your heart race and you find yourself reading page after page.

Another thing that ready resonated well with this book is the voice of the main character, Christy. She sounds so real! I love that this is written in first person and we get to listen to all that internal dialogue. She feels, sounds, and thinks like a normal 15 year-old girl (at least what I believe would be so, since I have never been a 15 year-old girl). I particularly like that Christy has an internal struggle with choosing to do the right and wrong thing. I like that we see her will sometimes falter when placed against desiring temptations. I really think teens would benefit from reading this book!! They would see they’re not alone when it comes to peer pressure and the need to feel wanted and befriended. When I spoke to my wife about the book (after she had stopped teasing me of course) she told me the same thing: that she really connected with Christy and she felt like she was her in high school. So bravo, Cindy!

Watched, by Cindy M Hogan, is the first book in the Watched Trilogy. Lucky for me my wife is a huge fan of Cindy’s and we own all the books. I can’t wait to start reading book two, Protected. So if you are looking for a great-keep-you-up-at-night book. This is one for you.

Synopsis:

Change.
She longs for it.
A murder.
She will never be the same.

It takes more than a school trip to Washington, D.C. to change Christy's life. It takes murder.
A witness to the brutal slaying of a senator's aide, Christy finds herself watched not only by the killers and the FBI, but also by two hot guys. She discovers that if she can't help the FBI, who want to protect her, it will cost her and her new friends their lives.  

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Watched-Murder-was-Just-Beginning/dp/0615493386/