From the author of the critically acclaimed Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell thrillers, here is a heart-stopping ride that Cheryl Strayed (author of #1 New York Times bestseller Wild) called “deeply intelligent and grippingly suspenseful…a wickedly brilliant masterpiece.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Kick Lannigan has taught herself to be dangerous. She can pick any lock, fire any weapon, throw any knife, and aim a punch at her opponent’s trachea. She has also taught herself to be safe. So when enigmatic John Bishop shows up asking her to help him rescue missing kids, Kick has every reason to be wary. He appears to have access to limitless money, high-level contacts, and details of Kick’s background long kept sealed by the court. Yet everything he tells her about himself seems to be a lie.                                                                                                                           Headstrong by nature, suspicious by circumstance, and a smart-ass by self-determination, Kick can’t help but see the writing on the wall: together, she and Bishop could make an unstoppable team, willing to do whatever it takes—legal or not—to see justice served…if they don’t kill each other first. For Kick, whose interest in child abduction is deeply personal, it’s a gamble worth taking.                                                                                                                                                 Critically acclaimed as “excruciating…compelling” (Booklist, starred review) and “a propulsive new thriller” (People), One Kick is an engrossing, entertaining new novel you won’t want to miss.

It's tough to resist a summary that intriguing, don't you think?  I certainly couldn't.  Even though the novel concerns child endangerment/abuse through abduction, isolation, and exploitation—subjects which always turn my stomach—I kept reading.  Why?  Believe me, I asked myself that more than once.  The answer is simple: Kick Lannigan is a fascinating character.  After her own traumatic childhood, the now 21-year-old promised herself she would never be vulnerable again.  And she isn't.  She's tough, she's shrewd, she's cool under pressure.  Yet, she makes mistakes.  She's not one of those slick kick butt heroines whose methods and decisions are always spot-on.  No, Kick is very real.  Because of her painful childhood as well as her devotion to those who need protection (her brother, James; her blind/deaf dog; the kids she tracks down with Bishop), she's a sympathetic character.  You can't help rooting for her, even if her tactics are not always admirable.

Besides Kick, the novel's compelling because it's suspenseful, action-packed, and just all-around engrossing.  I couldn't put it down, even though it's seriously disturbing.  Now I'm kinda regretting that I read it, seeing as how the sequel, Kick Back, is coming out in January 2016.  I have no self-control because darn it, I'm going to read it, I'm excited to read it.  I'm just not sure my stomach will be able to handle another wild ride with Kick Lannigan ...

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

Stella Layne has always been known as the girl with The Voice.  Ever since kindergarten, the 15-year-old has stunned people with her singing.  For shy Stella, it's become a pathway to fitting in, finding her place.  Something she desperately needs now as she deals with both her parents' divorce and a move that lands her in a new high school.  But, just as she's using her talent to make herself known, a freak accident steals one of her most precious possessions—her hearing.  Without it, Stella can't hear herself speak, let alone sing.  The accident has not just robbed her of the starring role in the upcoming school musical, but also of her lifelong goal of singing on Broadway.


Destroyed by the demolition of all her dreams, the last thing Stella wants to hear is that everything is going to be okay.  And yet, that's exactly what Hayden Rivers is trying to tell her.  With his movie star looks, the 17-year-old would probably be the most popular guy in school if it weren't for his persistent stutter.  Stella doesn't care about that—she's been drawn to him ever since she first saw him.  So, when he challenges her to give him 17 days to show her all the things she can do without her hearing, she takes him up on it.

As Stella steps outside her own grief, she realizes that there's more to Hayden than she ever could have imagined.  And that there's no one with whom she'd rather spend her time.  With an operation that could restore Stella's hearing fast approaching, both teens worry that it will change them, change the relationship they've built ever since Stella's accident.  Will Hayden's attention wane if she no longer needs his pity?  Will Stella turn her back on the boy who stutters if her life goes returns to normal and she doesn't need him anymore?  Can the two damaged teens find their happily ever after?

Silence, a new contemporary YA novel from actress/singer/songwriter/lawyer Deborah Lytton, is a clean, compelling novel about one girl's journey to find herself when she thinks everything that defines her is lost forever.  A quick read, Silence was engrossing enough to keep me turning pages, if not racing through them.  That being said, there are some big things in this book that drove me batty.  Stella, for one.  Her obvious pain garnered my sympathy—for a time.  After awhile, though, her absorption with her own suffering bugged.  I liked Hayden, who spent all his time trying to help other people despite his own trials, much better.  Stella also seemed a little aimless since her only concrete goal—making it to Broadway—was so far-off.  Prose-wise, Silence got very tell-y (as opposed to, you know, show-y), which made it feel overwritten and melodramatic.  So, while I appreciated that it told a clean, inspirational story (which isn't easy to find in teen lit), Silence's irritating heroine and lackadaisical writing turned me off this one.  In the end, then, I found it to be just an average, okay read.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me a little of Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler and When the Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright)

Grade: