Rating: 
Summary: DID NOT JIBE
Review: Raised by a struggling but supportive single mother, Nat finds himself the hero of his small town when he wins an essay contest that provides a meager scholarship. Nat says goodbye to his high school sweetheart, kisses his mom, and heads off to Inverness, a small college packed with the pampered offspring of the privileged. A chance encounter involving a fish aptly named Lorenzo the Magnificent throws Nat together with Izzie and Grace Zorn who are incredibly wealthy, incredibly beautiful twin sisters. Izzie and Grace are daring and captivating, and they do not suffer from the ordinary worries that plague Nat (like how to meet the next tuition payment without his mom losing her house). The three become close friends, and together they find some secret underground passages which become integral in their scheme to help Nat stay in school.
Then along comes Freedy--Friedrich--Knight. Freedy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he considers himself a dashing, irresistable, and super intelligent sort of guy. Unfortunately, one of his more serious blunders nearly gets him shot and forces him to flee back east to hide out with his mom. Of course, Freedy and the trio cross paths, which places all of them in jeopardy.
Perhaps it is a bit misleading for this book to be labeled a suspense novel. Sure, there is some suspense, but the beauty of this book lies in the coming-of-age story of Nat. Freedy is an intriguing character, and the twins are funny, saucy, and more complicated than they first appear. Nat's observations of his surroundings are both touching and humorous, and it is interesting to see how this small town poor boy carves his niche in the world of the rich. Combine this all with the annoying Professor Leo Uzig, and the story can stand on its characters alone. Peppered throughout the novel are references to Nietzsche who would most likely get quite a chuckle out of the quest for meaning that each of these characters goes through.
Don't pick this one up expecting to lose sleep to figure out "who dunnit." This isn't a hair raising thriller. I liked it for the character development. The "action" of the novel doesn't seem to be the focal point but rather the result of all these characters coming together. I also liked that Abrahams does not go for the Hollywood ending so typical of "suspense" novels these days. I thought the book was worth the price even though it turned out to be more of a dramatic character study rather than a nail-biting thriller. This is my first book by Abrahams, and it most certainly won't be my last.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Time
Review: This book really was not that exceptional, even from the beginning. But heck, I paid (price) for it, so I thought I would go ahead and finish it. That was a mistake. The ending was absolutely stupid. It was as if the author came up with 5 possible endings, wrote them on slips of paper, and stuck them in a hat. This ending was on the slip of paper he pulled out. Too bad that it was the worst ending out of the five. I could think of 10 more satisfying and intelligent endings than this.Apart from the ending, everything else about this book fails. The suspense (well, what little of it there is) really doesn't lead up to anything. It just kind of fizzles out when you think it's going somewhere. The characters aren't that interesting. Freedy made me chuckle a couple of times, but he wasn't any more memorable than a character anyone else could have created. All in all, it's a bad book. Don't waste your time.
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