Review: One House Left by Vincent Ralph

Author: Vincent Ralph
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 2024

“Ready or not. Whatever you do. The Hiding Boy is coming for you.”

Sixteen-year-old Nate Campbell grew up in the shadow of Murder Road – a street cursed by the vengeful spirit of the Hiding Boy.

Every few years, for nearly six decades, a different house on that street has been the scene of a tragedy.

Nate and his family move to a new town as they try to outrun the curse once and for all. But, when he is pulled into his new friends’ urban legend club, new ghost stories merge with old until there is nowhere left to run. 

I have not been having luck with YA mystery lately.  One House Left was definitely a book that I should have loved.  Sadly, I didn't. I probably should have DNF'd it.  But I wanted to know what was going on.  In a nutshell the writing and pacing was very uneven.  The first half was so slow.  Then there is a big twist about halfway through and I will admit, I was very confused as to what was happening.  I mean I was caught off guard, so there is that I guess.  The issue was that I had no idea what the twist meant until toward the very end.  Once it all was explained, I thought it was a clever twist.  However, the ending ended up being predictable and cliche.  So, it ended up being so-so for me. Maybe you'll like it more.

Review: Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph

Author: Vincent Ralph
Publisher: Wednesday Books (St. Martins Press
Publication Date:  August 2023

Every year Sam Hall and his friends hold funerals for their secrets in an abandoned hut in the woods that they call the Dark Place. But this year, their secrets are coming back from the dead...to terrorize them.

Sam is a former child star whose career went up in flames – literally. And no one, not even his best friend knows why. His friends each hold a secret pertaining to the night. A secret they would all like buried.

Now someone from the past is blackmailing them with their dangerous secrets. Sam isn’t sure who he can trust, who’s watching him – or how far he’s willing to go to bury the past once and for all.

When you’re alone in the dark, some things won’t stay hidden.

Secrets Never Die finds Sam and his friend visiting an abandoned shack in the woods every Halloween. One by one, they sit in the shed in the dark and offer up their secrets.  This year, someone  is listening and plans to use their secrets against them.   

I though this was a solid and creepy YA msytery.  I liked Sam and found his story as a child actor interesting and tragic at the same time.  It was understandable that he had a need to protect his little sister from the same fate.  There were a lot of twists that kept me guessing.  I will admit that some of the "secrets"  were a little bit of a let down. Despite that, I had a good time reading it and liked the ending,  It was a surprise and came a little out of left field, but it was a good ending.  I do recommend this one.

Review: 14 Ways to Die by Vincent Ralph

Author: Vincent Ralph
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: June 2021

Ten years ago, Jess's mother was murdered by the Magpie Man.

She was the first of his victims but not the last.

Now Jess is the star of a YouTube reality series and she's using it to catch the killer once and for all.

The whole world is watching her every move.

And so is the Magpie Man.

I have been on a YA mystery kick lately.  14 Ways to Die is one of the better ones that I have read.  It involves Jess, whose mother was murdered by a serial killer.  She agrees to go on a reality YouTube show.  Cameras will follow her as she hunts for her mother's killer.  

I ended up enjoying this one. I listened to the audiobook in one day.  I liked Jess and her drive to figure out what happened to her mother.  She did take some risks that I would have advised her not to, but it paid off in the end.  Using herself as bait was not the brightest idea.  I'm also not sure that I would want to be followed 24 hours a day, but I guess some people don't mind.  The story has a few twists and I didn't call the ending.  One thing that did bug me about the audio version of the book was the narrator.  The story takes place in England, yet the narrator had an American accent.  I definitely threw me off.  I would have preferred a British accent for the voices.   Despite that, I do recommend this one.