Review: Blood on my Hands by Todd Strasser (Thrillogy, #2)

Callie finds her Katherine's body and discovers that her friend has been murdered. Moments later her classmates flood around her and find her holding the weapon in her hand and snap photos of her to post and spread online. Callie decides to run because the photos all point to her being the murderer. She sets out to discover the real murderer whilst trying to avoid being recognised by the public and avoid capture by the authorities.

The book was great at being suspenseful, hopping between the time Callie is on the run and the past to develop a picture of who Katherine was and introduce the possible suspects. It did get a bit tedious hopping from one time to another as the story was quite slow to unfold. However, it was clever how the timelines converged and led to the eventual truth.

What I didn't enjoy was that Callie made stupid decisions but for some reason avoided being caught by the police for quite a while. It was particularly annoying as she built a case around who the possible murderer was without obtaining solid evidence and hoping to report her findings later to the authorities. I kept thinking that job would best be left for the experts! The longer she ran the more suspicious she became.

The twist at the end was really good. Blood on my Hands had a good mysterious atmosphere but parts of the story were unconvincing therefore it brought my rating down.

Review: Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser (Thrillogy #1)

Goodreads summary:
The day after anonymous blogger Str-S-d wishes the popular girl would die, Lucy vanishes. The students of Soundview High are scared and worried. Especially frightened and wracked with guilt is Madison Archer, Lucy’s friend and the last person to see her the night she disappeared.
As days pass with no sign of the missing girl, even the attention of Tyler, an attractive new student, is not enough to distract Madison from her growing sense of foreboding. When two more popular students disappear after their names are mentioned on Str-S-d’s blog, the residents of Soundview panic.
Meanwhile, Madison receives anonymous notes warning that she could be next. Desperate to solve the mystery before anyone else disappears, Madison turns to Tyler, but can she trust him when it becomes clear that he knows more than he’s sharing?
The clock is ticking. Madison must uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearances . . . before her name appears in Str-S-d’s blog.

The blurb of Wish You Were Dead lured me in right away. I liked how it didn't give everything away though and there was more to the story.

Madison, a popular girl, is the book's narrator. I was glad she was likable; she wasn't a bully (the label which could be applied to some of the popular kids) but was nice to everyone. One night Madison drops her friend Lucy off after a party and the next day Lucy is gone and nowhere to be found. Madison's other friends Adam and Courtney also go missing one by one. What makes it even scarier is that each of them were mentioned in a post written by an anonymous blogger, who wished they were dead.

The chilling atmosphere and the shroud of mystery surrounding the disappearances was well crafted. I was made to suspect each character as the culprit behind the disappearances. It was not very predictable or obvious at all!

I found the book to be well paced but the ending was a bit rushed and and I wished there was more on the aftermath. One loose end was tied sloppily but that was okay since the overall story was quite solid.

Wish You Were Dead is a great read if you're after a suspenseful thriller.