Watch You Burn by Amanda Searcy (review)

Jenny has long been obsessed with fire, and when she torches an abandoned house, her stepfather covers for her but insists that she go live with her father, who is renovating a motel in New Mexico. The new location and her fear of discovery don't slow down her tendencies there, and she increasingly feels like she is being followed. It turns out that she is not the only one who is haunted by her past, and as consequences come home to roost, Jenny worries that she too will be exposed. The book's main impact relies on a sinister twist at the end and a developing creep factor throughout the novel, but to be effective those need Jenny to possess a cunning and a darkening psychological profile that her character lacks; in short, she reads like a missed opportunity to create a really interesting villain in an otherwise contrived story. Readers fascinated by addiction narratives may still want a look at this portrait of triggers and denials, but for successful suspenseful twists, look elsewhere. KC