The Bakersville Dozen
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Release Date: July 4th, 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller
Synopsis:
You have four days to locate five treasured trophies. Break the rules and you all die. Happy hunting!
Back in September, the town of Bakersville, Ohio made national news when a video went viral featuring thirteen of the high school’s elite in compromising positions. Now it’s May, and every month since the “ Bakersville Dozen” made their infamous appearance on the national stage, one girl has gone missing. Officials are no closer to identifying the criminal.
Bailey “ Like a Virgin” Holzman is getting really fed up with the scrutiny. She just wants to enjoy the rest of her senior year and have an epic summer before heading off to college. So when she discovers a note inher locker on the last dayof school inviting heron a scavenger hunt, she thinks it’s just a sweet surprise from her boyfriend trying to cheer her up.
But following the clue leads her, instead, to the first official casualty. And another sinister envelope. The killer is close, and it could be anyone. Even the people Bailey’s always trusted most—her best friend, her perfect boyfriend, or the boy-next-door she’s always pined for.
With the clock ticking, she faces a terrifying choice: play the game by the killer’s rules—follow the clues, tell no one, and no cops—for a chance to save the rest of the missing girls, or risk becoming the next grisly victim.
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If you're anything like me, you love horror, but you're also a scaredy cat who hardly picks up any scary books. I was so intrigued by The Bakersville Dozen's description that I HAD to read it, but then once it was sent to me for review I immediately regretted it. Honestly, what. was. I. THINKING? I am such a scaredy cat when it comes to reading anything remotely creepy or scary so I immediate questioned who the girl was who agreed to review this book.
The first night I started reading this, yes you read that correctly AT NIGHT, it wasn't too bad. I figured if it gets too scary I'll stop reading and pick it back up during the day. I got about 25% of the way through it that first night, and while it definitely alerted my creep factor radar, it wasn't too bad. I read till I got sleepy, and slept peacefully. The next night I thought I was safe. Sure there were creepy things the night before, but I was fine. I didn't search around the room for a murderer once. I could totally handle this. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. What a good joke. Basically where I stopped reading the night before is right before everything really started to go down. I was constantly looking around my dark room and constantly checking my peripherals for monsters waiting to lunge at me until I had to just sit fully up in the bed to keep reading. Again, I thought I was good until I saw a shadow move in my hallway, thinking it was just my cat until I realized my cat was sleeping next to me. I was on HIGH ALERT!! I turned on my phone flashlight (since my fiance was asleep next to me and had to get up for work the next morning) and kept it illuminating the room until I finished the book. My heart was racing so fast I almost woke him up to go double check the house for serial killers.
Now, what does all that say besides the fact that I am a giant wuss? That this book was really good and did it's job! The whole point is to be freaked out and feel your heart jumping out of your ribcage along with the main character. You're supposed to want to stop reading, because the main character wants to be out of this situation as well! Kristina McBride you really did a great job with this. I honestly felt like I was right there with the characters. The only time I was taken out of the book is when I was constantly scaring myself from nothing being in the room with me, but I'm telling you it FELT like something was there watching. I'm getting the creeps just thinking about it, and this really only happens when something really does scare me. This book really had my heart rate going.
As for the mystery aspect of the book, the who-dunnit bit, I felt like it was really personal preference. Some people think that if they are able to correctly guess who the "bad guy" is, it makes it predictable, but I'm not like that at all. I always look at mysteries as a riddle to solve. I watch a LOT of cop, lawyer, bad guy shows and I am always trying to accurately guess who do it. So, when I get to the end of the book and I find out I was right, I feel rewarded. I feel like I outsmarted the bad guy and was able to correctly follow the clues. Now, I feel like I have a pretty good sense of when something is predictable as well and I felt like this book was not predictable. It had major twists and turns, and I was constantly going back and forth between who I thought the bad guy was. It turns out I was 1/3 of the way correct, but I still felt like a champ. Again, to me it was not predictable and I was just following my gut, but to others being able to accurate guess makes it predictable. So, personal preference is what I say.
Overall:
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a quick read, but it had me at the edge of my seat and cowering in bed with a flashlight on. The creep factor was definitely on high alert, and even though I was somewhat accurate on who the bad guy was, I didn't feel like it was predictable. It had me constantly second guessing myself, just like the main character was. I really felt like I was right there in the main characters mind. I could feel her unease and was going through the same emotions she was. Sometimes I found myself one step ahead of her, but I feel like that is just my bad guy expertise coming out. This was super enjoyable and I recommend you check it out for yourself!
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 4/5
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About Kristina McBride:
Kristina McBride has published three novels for young adults - THE TENSION OF OPPO-SITES, ONE MOMENT, and A MILLION TIMES GOODNIGHT. Her fourth novel, THEBAKERSVILLE DOZEN, will be released July 2017. Kristina is a former high school English teacher and yearbook advisor, as well asan adjunct professor at Antioch University Midwest and Wright State University. Kristina has a thing for music, trees, purses, and chocolate. You might be surprised to learn that Kristina was al-most kidnapped when she was a child. She also bookstalks people on a regular basis. Kristina lives in Ohio with her husband and two young children. You can learn more at www.kristinamcbride.com
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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About Kristina McBride:
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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Prize:
2 winners of 1 copy of THE BAKERSVILLE DOZEN by Kristina McBride
US & Canada
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