Ten by Gretchen McNeil

I was a big fan of Gretchen McNeil before I even read her work. I follow the YA Rebels over on YouTube and always get a big kick out of Gretchen's antics. Of course when talk of Ten started floating around the interwebs, I added it to my must have/wishlist and even preordered a copy in honor of the Army of Ten campaign. Sadly with so much going on, it wasn't until this week that I was able to start reading -- the book hit shelves on September 18! Yikes that's a reading delay! But I decided it would be perfect for the Murder, Monsters, & Mayhem challenge hosted by Jenn over at Jenn's Bookshelves (check out her own post on Ten as well).

Anywho, I would have read this one in one sitting had I had the chance! It's that much fun!

When Meg and Minnie decided to attend the party at White Rock House, they thought it would be the event of a lifetime. A parent free weekend of partying, drinking, and hanging out with friends on a remote island is what they expected. But this weekend is anything but. A storm leaves them stranded and most of the partiers -- including the host -- never arrive. There are ten of them at first. Ten who watch the strange video. And then there are nine. At first they think it's a suicide but then there's another death. Sure, the second death could be an accident. Until there's a third. As the kids fall, one by one, the rest are left to figure out who's responsible. Someone on the island is a killer and time is running out for the teens.

McNeil's latest is an intense teen horror/mystery inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Reading it brought me back to my middle school Christopher Pike days!

As Jenn pointed out, Meg is the stand out as a lead you can side with, sympathize with, and connect with throughout the story. She's a writer, too! She pays attention to everything going on around her but even she can't guess what's really going on here. And McNeil does a great job keeping the reader guessing as well. In truth, I'd figured it out -- the clues are all there -- but I second guessed a few times thanks to McNeil's occasional and very effective sleight of hand tactics.

Ten is super fun for adults and I'm betting teens in the mood for something dark and thrilling will love it as well!