Review: Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas

My Thoughts

A chilling mystery that kept me enthralled from beginning to end.

• Related Posts: Romantic Suspense
• Dangerous Boys: Amazon

Synopsis

Three teens venture into the abandoned Monroe estate one night; hours later, only two emerge from the burning wreckage. Chloe drags one Reznick brother to safety, unconscious and bleeding; the other is left to burn, dead in the fire. But which brother survives? And is his death a tragic accident? Desperate self-defense? Or murder?

Chloe is the only one with the answers. As the fire rages, and police and parents demand the truth, she struggles to piece together the story of how they got there-a story of jealousy, twisted passion, and the darkness that lurks behind even the most beautiful of faces…

My Review

“Our lives are made up of choices, you see. Big ones, small ones, strung together by the thin air of good intentions; a line of dominoes, ready to fall.”

Whoa. What a ride. This is one twisted tale, woven deceptively simple, with unexpected twists that take the story in directions I didn’t anticipate. Don’t pick up the book expecting a romance. This is a thrilling mystery with semblances of love laced around its knotted center. It’s a tale of three individuals whose paths cross and entwine inextricably in a way that would change their lives forever. It’s about deception and truths… even the truths that we are unaware of… the ones that lay dormant waiting for someone — or something — to rouse those demons to life.

“We all walk around trapped in our own subjective consciousness, experiencing the same events through a totally different lens.”

Chloe can’t wait to leave home. Can’t wait to leave the small town that’s held her back for so long. She longs for the freedom beyond the confines of her current life. But with weeks left to go, the truth relentlessly hounds her, despite her lack of acceptance.

She’s not going anywhere.

Her mother’s health and sanity continues to sink in a downward spiral and Chloe must stay at home to care for her.  And with that truth, her future seems eternally out of reach.

“The promises I’ve made to myself seemed distant and wispy, but they were all I had.”

But when Ethan Reznick walks into her life, all charm and sexy confidence, everything changes. It’s easy to be with him. Every day he’s there. Caring for her. Loving her. And as time flies and her days mirror each other without end, the monotony is suddenly disrupted when Ethan’s older brother Oliver saunters into town.

“In the long stretch of sameness, he was the live wire. Unpredictable.”

Oliver is nothing like Ethan. Where Ethan exuded a carefree, easy confidence fueled by trust and charm, Oliver was danger personified, the calm before a deadly storm, poised to strike unexpectedly, obliterating all with his destructive wake. Oliver seemed to see something in Chloe, sparking the rage of emotions she hid so well.

“Two bodies, two sets of clear blue eyes. One survivor. One way out of this. History is told by those who win.”

The story begins at ‘the end’ as we conclude something horrible has occurred. Three people — Ethan, Chloe and Oliver stood together, their lives precariously in the balance. Only Chloe and one Reznick brother make it out alive… barely alive that is. What happened? Who was dead? Who was fighting for his life and would he make it? The story unfurls through an intriguing structure, with alternating chapters entitled The End, Then and Now, each giving us morsels of information as we try to piece the story together and answer all the plaguing questions. The story built and intensified over time as we inched towards the climax, one which I knew would completely surprise me. And as expected,  once we finally got to experience the actual event that led to bloodshed and fire and lives irrevocably changed, it was chilling.

“A heartbeat, a split-second’s whim, that’s all it takes to change your life forever.”

If you’re a fan of mystery and intrigue, definitely recommend you give this book a try. It’s well written and plotted, designed to captivate you through the entire experience.

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