Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick
2014; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 68; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2014.1002
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Gothic Literature and Media Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Fitzpatrick, Becca Black Ice. Simon, 2014 392 p Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-7426-0 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4424-7428-4 $12.99 Ad Gr. 8–10 While the rest of their friends are heading to Hawaii for some spring break fun, high school senior Britt and her best friend, Korbie, plan on backpacking a forty-mile trek through Wyoming’s Teton Range. Britt’s thrown when she learns that Calvin—Korbie’s older brother and Britt’s ex—plans on meeting them, and she’s wary about the recent rumors of a spate of murders in the mountains; she’s determined, however, to put the intense hiking training she’s be doing for a year now to the test. And tested she is, when a freak blizzard blows in, forcing the girls to find shelter with two strange men along the route. Shaun and Mason are on the run and Britt suspects she knows what they’re running from when she discovers a dead body in the small cabin they occupy. The two men force Britt at gunpoint to lead them off the mountain, but Britt’s certain she can buy some time until Calvin finds them. Fitzpatrick utilizes the treacherous terrain and weather to chilling effect, with the snow-covered mountains seemingly as villainous as the murderer that stalks them. The actual mystery itself, however, is deeply flawed: the killer is both obvious and clichéd, while the red herrings thrown into the mix aren’t nearly as convincing as they should be. The developing romance between Mason and Britt is steamy, though, and Britt does at least ponder the implications of falling in love with her captor. Of course, by the end, any hint that Mason (real name Jude) is actually a bad guy is extinguished, the villain is rightly institutionalized, and Britt and Jude have their chance at a happy life together with no snow in sight. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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