Panic.

- Panic. Lauren Oliver. The impoverished town of Carp, New York, has an annual tradition: the Panic game. During the summer, all willing high school graduates will compete in a high-risk series of dares for a jackpot that might give them a chance to flee their stifling town and start a new life. Heather, out for meaning and Dodge, out for revenge, are seemingly the strongest contestants this time. But life is full of harsh, unexpected twists and turns…

Oliver, of “Before I fall”, gives us another YA thriller with a finely developed teenage cast. The plot is intriguing, though a couple plot twists are fairly easy to guess and the resolution is somewhat unsatisfying. But the real virtue is the characters, their believable motivations, contradictions and increasing desperation as the game draws to a close. 

While not quite on par with “Before”, this is nevertheless a perfectly serviceable suspense yarn, worth at least one look.