Criminal by Terra McVoy - NO

McVoy, Terra Elan Criminal, 288 pgs. Simon & Schuster, 2013. $16.99. Content: Language: R (58 swears; 16 Fs); Mature Content: R (smoking; drinking; marijuana use; descriptive casual sex; use of fake I.D.s; casual references to gun play); Violence: R  (shooting of policeman; threats of domestic violence toward several women in the novel);

This novel deals with the choices a young woman must make to save herself and to reclaim her freedom after becoming mixed up (to the point of thinking she's fallen in love) with a nearly-of-age career criminal, whereby she is arrested and charged as an accessory to  murder. The book starts with the protagonist and her boyfriend hiding out at the home of a best friend whose car was used in the crime, which has brought the local police force to the scene.

I believe it was written with the author's hope that its redeeming value would be seen, first in the regret expressed by the protagonist over the loss of her best friend, and second, through her loss of freedom and rough exposure to other incarcerated women in the local jail. However, the casual sex, constant swearing, drinking and understated threats of violence toward nearly every female character in the novel force me to state that I do not support bringing this novel into any school library.                                                 

HS - NO. Reviewer: Katherine S., Utah Educator.