What the Other Three Don’t Know by Spencer Hyde - OPTIONAL

What the Other Three Don’t Know by Spencer Hyde, 209 pages. Shadow Mountain, 2020. $18.

Language: G (8 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (animal abuse)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Indie has absolutely no desire to spend a week rafting through Hells Canyon – the same place her mother died on her job as a river guide. When she meets her companion – the jock, the queen bee, and her oddball neighbor from the trailer park – she is even less interested. It isn’t until the river turns dangerous and the kids open up that not only Indie, but all the others start revealing their secrets.  When the river becomes deadly, they will need to hold onto that fragile trust.

This reads like the author read Downriver by Will Hobbs and decided to try to one-up the master. Unfortunately there is no real emotional hook until halfway through – long enough that most readers will have already pulled out. Hyde's Waiting for Fitz was so good, I don't why this one went wrong.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS