Review--Ten by Gretchen McNeil

SHHHH!
Don't spread the word!
Three-day weekend. Party at White Rock House on Henry Island.
You do NOT want to miss it.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school’s most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

Gretchen McNeil's thriller Ten was far better than I had expected it to be! Generally, I do read only paranormal themed books, but I do like the occasional mystery/thriller and this one definitely fits the bill!

At first, I was a little hesitant that I wouldn't totally get into this one. Firstly, this island on the cover? So not what it should be. Henry Island apparently has more of a small community of beach houses, so it's not like a deserted island, like I sort of thought initially. Then there's the whole no parents around or knowing about anything, that gets explained as this party in the house on the island, is secret. No parents allowed kind of thing! And then the final point that I thought would drive me crazy was why it was left to Meg to solve the murder mystery, well, it wasn't really left to her. She along with the others in a sense, all were trying to solve it. Meg questioned things more than the others. And also, it was in her third person point of view, so yeah, she would be the one wanting to know more about what's going on!

Now let's get onto the good stuff! This totally blew me away, much like Gretchen's 3:59! Just when you think you know what's going on, Gretchen totally throws you off course with the shocking revelations! 

Meg and her best friend Minnie thought they would spend the long weekend at a house party of one of the most popular girls in school. They arrive before the hostess by ferry, since there is an upcoming storm and the hostess had cheerleading practice. But there are a few other friends there early as well, and they were told to just hangout at the house and wait. And as you might have guessed, there are ten teens waiting around! They are totally fine with it. There is another house party going on across the way, so everything is cool...you know, until it isn't.

It all starts with a DVD, when they go to watch a movie, they discover all the DVD cases empty, except for one, and it has quite the chilling note to it. Is it a joke? They aren't sure. But the next morning one of them turns up dead. And so the mystery begins.

Ten was seriously a shocking read! I pegged my murder suspect early on, but ended up discounting it due to later events. But this was seriously pretty creepy! The teens are totally cut off from society. The power is out. There's no cell towers. No internet, nothing! And there's a killer offing them all one by one! 

I will say that Gretchen did spin a nice story background though. A seed gets planted and it grows. And a connection is soon revealed among everyone. It was seriously quite the shocker and I loved every minute of it!

If you're looking for a real thriller in the YA area, you should definitely check out Ten! Gretchen knows how to keep you on your toes, guessing until the very last minute. It was one of the most suspenseful reads of the year (so far!) for me! Definitely plan on checking out Gretchen's first book, Possess, soon and then even more likely her next release which appears to be a duology!

I think it's safe to say that Gretchen McNeil now has a new fan!! 


Overall Rating 5/5 stars