How to Hook a Hottie (review)

Allison has tried for years to forget her old life in the small town of Meridian, and she has excellent reasons. A cult leader, Jacob, had taken over the town, torturing the disobedient (including Allison and all of her close friends) in grisly ways and making dire threats about the end of the world. After Allison and her five friends murdered him (and the rest of the adults all supposedly died in a fire), the children were sent away to foster care. The bizarre murder of one of the six surviving teens brings the remainder back together in Meridian, and they quickly realize that someone or something is carrying out Jacob's predictions that they will all die within five years. With protagonists being horribly executed right and left, the intriguing unfolding mystery is dampened by the real possibility that no one will be alive to solve it. Luckily for Allison, she and her hottie crush are the two who escape, scathed but optimistic that they've finally killed the last remaining member of the cult. Unfortunately, a solid horror plot with built in suspense is marred by largely unexplored references to supernatural forces that may or may not be playing a role: although the villain is revealed to be human, some of the killings appear to be physically impossible, and the last-minute question about whether the world will actually be ending as predicted seems in direct contradiction to the rest of the plot. However, fans of the Saw movies or readers who have long graduated from middle-school horror series but are still seeking gross-out thrills may find this novel an enjoyably hair-raising read.