I don’t normally choose to read horror, but this book sounded so interesting that I decided to take a chance on it. I’m so glad I did!

This is an engrossing variation on the deal-with-the-devil tale which follows bullied 17-year-old Michael as he accepts an amazing life-changing Gift from a mysterious stranger. But the Gift comes with a price: some favor he must do for the stranger many years in the future. But what’s Michael to do when the favor he owes is called in much sooner than he expected?

Elements I liked:
The author’s descriptions of Michael’s and Ann’s desperation and fears made them real for me. I could feel their pain and anguish and I really wanted to see things get better for them. The suspense-filled scenes interspersed with “normal life” contained such attention to the vivid details that they had me squirming and looking over my shoulder. Those creepy parts built a fantastic, eerie atmosphere of foreboding that lurked even in the background when things were good and normal in the story. The characters’ doubts about their sometimes surreal experiences kept me wondering whether this was going to turn out to be real or instead some sort of chicanery. I had to see what was going to happen, where the story was taking the characters; I read eagerly to find out.

Elements I struggled with:
A few grammatical errors and typos interrupted my reading and temporarily pulled me from the story. They were annoying, but didn’t keep me from the story for long. I found the rather abrupt cliffhanger at the very last part of the ending almost as troublesome, especially since it seems there’s no sequel.

Overall:
I enjoyed this book. It’s an intense, chilling story that kept me wanting to know how it turned out. It’s well worth reading and seems well suited to its YA audience.

(Read June 2021) ( )

This is, I guess, a horror story...maybe a psychological thriller? Not really either but maybe I'm too used to HORROR horror to consider this as such. It's basically a "be careful what you wish for" story. If not for the blurb (and telling, about 6 chapters in) I'd never have known the main character was 17. He sounded like a pre-teen... like 11? Also the setting... I couldn't have told you that til over halfway thru the book and by reading reviews. Then there was the lottery in the bar where the guy says they draw a winner til the winner's present, but later the mom said it hadn't been won for awhile and rolled over to 20000 €. Unless no one showed or no one played, there'd have been no way it could roll over. But what irritated me the most was the ending! Was the free version missing pages? Made no sense! It was good if details are easy for you to overlook, but for me it fell too flat to rise higher than the generous 3 stars I gave it. ( )