Breaker

What worked: This is one suspenseful tale of the son of a serial killer who goes to another town to start over. He changes his name and goes to a private academy. Then his world is shaken when he finds out that the daughter of one of his father's victims attends the very same school. Add to this the creepy history of the academy once being a psych hospital and mega creepy taxidermy owls that spy on the students.

The story is slow at the beginning but builds once seventeen-year-old old Kyle Henry gets out of the car and looks at the academy. There's lots of suspense, intrigue, and even romantic chemistry between two very unlikely characters. Seriously, who would ever think the son of a serial killer would get involved with the daughter of one of his father's victims. But somehow this works.

Kyle's struggles to not follow in his father's footsteps are shown in vivid and believable details. He fights against his attraction to Naomi even when he knows the smart thing to do would be to leave. Kyle doesn't come across as a victim but someone who doesn't want to be labeled due to his father's crimes. And what his father did--crush his victims to the point of being unrecognizable-is very graphic and chilling.

Naomi also carries her own demons. Her mother's brutal death still haunts her. Some kids continue to taunt her over this. Her good friends Kit and Fletch look out for her. Both aren't the typical student but multi-layered just like most teens.

There's twists and turns along with a few deaths on campus. Fingers point to the most likely suspect but don't be fooled! There's a couple red herrings thrown at readers and the final reveal is haunting.

Suspenseful thriller with twist and turns where not is all it seems to be. An very unlikely romantic connection that has everything set against it.