The She by Carol Plum-Ucci

I first picked up this book because it looked creepy. Even the title foretold shudders. And who doesn't want to read a good suspense novel when they're sick? But, once again, Carol Plum-Ucci surprised me with her mind bending approach and multi-layered plot.

Evan is just getting over the death of his parents and beginning to push the mysterious occurrences surrounding the event to the back of his mind. And his big brother (now guardian) is helping. Eight years of repressing memories and avoiding belief in a sea man's superstition known only as "The She". But one school project has the power to change all that. When Evan must help a mean girl of the first degree he discovers that they might have more in common than he'd thought and that there might be more to the disappearance of his parents than anyone had ever dared admit.

This book was written with suspense and a great deal of emotion. By the core of the story I felt that I was relating very well to nearly all of the characters and could focus on the twisting plot. And the ultimate mystery at the end was simply the perfect conclusion (but shhh... I can't tell you anymore). My one complaint with the novel came near the end with a plot event that didn't really feel necessary or all that pertinent to the bigger action going on at the time.

6 out of 7 lightnings. BANG ZAP KACHING! And a resounding cheer for the first MySpace review from the Whirlwinds. (*Note* This review was first published a few days ago on the new Maelstrom myspace page)

Studying up on sea superstitions (there certainly are alot of them),

*Aella*