2.5 Stars

I'm too old for this type of story. Probably because I'm old school with my views on being held accountable for your actions. The actual description of the wildfire's spread and destruction was intense and well written. Then the 'monsters' went for the big cover up and my need for justice had me hoping their plans would be foiled. The thing is, I don't think we were meant to like these characters, just to be along for the trail of lies and deceit. It does, however, mean you don't care about any of the characters. It was very formulaic and therefore totally predictable. Lastly Hannah is an awful human being and it totally rips my nightie that she got away with it all. Just saying.

CW: sexual content, drugs, drowning, animal death, animal attack, fire kills people ( )

A great well-written thriller...with an unsettling ending. ( )

This book starts out with a sizzling spark and each chapter ends with a hook. The tension between the friends, the father and daughter, and the community at large is the underlying river that ties everything together. I stayed up late three nights in a row to finish. The ending is absolutely haunting. I'm still thinking about it three days later. A must read for even those who don't normally read thrillers, YA, or suspense. Great characters, great story, and an incredibly memorable ending! Can't wait for the next one! ( )

For fans of books like "One of us is Lying". Hannah and her four friends have affectionately been known to each other since kindergarten as the monsters. Every year in summer, the 5 get together and muck around even though Violet is no longer a town resident but just jets in to stay with her rich family. Now Violet is missing and it all started with a bushfire, a bushfire the five of them started that killed people , destroyed homes and businesses, their school and thousands of acres and yet no-one knows they started it by accident. A couple of the boys were mucking around smoking pot at a local swimming hole and Hannah as daughter of the local sheriff got mad and at them and in the fight the pipe fell in the grass. Now the five have sworn themselves to secrecy. But secrets are hard to keep in a small town - and there are back stories too Hannah is in love with Drummer but he is seeing Violet, Luke is one step away from being thrown in jail and Mo lost her house in the fire - they all have reasons to keep quiet. Violet calls them all and says she is telling the police, the next day she is missing. Hannah can't remember what happened because she has amnesia from a bear attack...for older readers due to violence , drug use, sex, language. ( )

Book source ~ Tour

Hannah Warner and her four best friends, Luke, Drummer, Violet, and Mo, have just graduated from high school. This is their last summer together before the girls go off to college. The boys aren’t, so they’ll be staying in Gap Mountain to work full time jobs. They just want to relax and have fun before they start working hard. Instead, they accidentally start a wildfire that devours everything in its path, killing people and animals and destroying forests, buildings, and life as they know it. But that’s just the beginning of this monster tale…

Wow. Where do I even start with this book? It seems like it’s going to be a tale of summer fun and possibly hijinks between five friends before everyone buckles down in the Fall. But right out of the gate they accidentally start a fire. Not a little fire that’s easily put out. Not a medium fire that requires a little more effort to snuff. Oh, no. They had to be monumentally stupid on a Red Flag day and start a massive fire that zooms out of control so fast it’s unreal. And horrifying. So horrifying. But you know what’s even more horrifying? These teenagers. Holy fuck. I hate them. Ok, I loathe three of them. Two aren’t so bad.

But if the fire wasn’t bad enough, then their lies just pile on. They lie to everyone about the fire. And it only gets worse when one of the teens decides she can’t take the guilt anymore and says she’s going to tell. Then she disappears. WTF? As police and fire investigators close in on the teens, they now have to search for Violet. Where is she? Did she run away? Get kidnapped? Or worse?

Reading this book is like watching a train wreck. You know it’s going to be bad, but you have no idea how bad or when it will stop and yet you can’t stop watching. You can’t look away. This book is the same. You have to turn the pages and keep reading. Will it get worse? Is it going to burn out of control forever? You have to know! If you like your stories to have nail-biting suspense mixed with some horror then you’ll want to read this. ( )