Friday, September 11, 2015

Finding Forever by Ken Baker

Baker, Ken Finding Forever (Deadline Diaries #1), 248 pages.  Running Pres Teens, 2015.  $10.00 Language: PG (16 swears); Mature Content: PG-13 (mentions teen sex, very creepy older doctor, suicide); Violence: PG (implied, not described)

Brooklyn Brant has a cozy little celebrity blog.  Not a huge following, but enough that she feels appreciated.  One night she gets a mysterious call saying that Taylor Prince, one of the biggest pop stars around has been kidnapped from her own birthday party.  Brooklyn is reluctant to believe, especially when another blog says that Taylor has gone into rehab.  But step by reluctant step Brooklyn is dragged into Taylor's story and a deeper mystery.  Taylor, meanwhile, has been kidnapped and is trying her best to avoid brainwashing and find a way to escape.

At first I was a little surprised by how reluctant Brooklyn was to accept Taylor's disappearance as a kidnapping, but then I thought about the cynicism of SoCal youth, especially those involved with Hollywood craziness - they grow up a  little faster - and it make perfect sense.  I really liked that Taylor refused to accept her "fate" and was constantly looking for her own way out.  The cult dude is WAY creepy! Baker has a great ear for the fame scene and a spot on voice for teenagers of all stripes.  As a mystery writer, he is not afraid to give you information up front that you normally wouldn't know; as the kind of person who usually reads the end of a mystery first, I appreciate that.

MS, HS - ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS.

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