Reality Check~ Peter Abrahams Review

Summary found on the inside cover.

QB of the varsity football team. Passing grades in all his classes. Dating the hottest- and smartest- girl at school. Summer job paying more than minimum wage. Things in Cody's world seem to be going pretty well. Until, that is, his girlfriend, Clea is sent off to boarding school across the country, and a torn ACL ends his high school football career. But bad things come in threes- or in Cody's case, sixes and twelves- and the worst is yet to come. While limping through town one day, Cody sees a newspaper heading: "Local Girl Found Missing." Clea, now his ex, has disappeared from her boarding school in Vermont, and the only clue is a letter she sent to Cody the morning of her disappearance. With that as his guide, Cody sets out to find out what happened. Once in Vermont, he unearths the town's secrets- and finds out that football isn't the only thing he's good at.

Enjoyment: ★☆
Technically so many things happen during this book. However, no matter how much went on in Cody's life it always had the air of stillness. My pulse did not raise from its resting rate during any of it. I don't know how he did it but I was completly bored through out the entire novel. I could barely motivate myself to read the book. The only thing that forced me to complete the novel was my stubborness of not wanting to have to take this book down. I am not a quitter but this book was unenjoyable to me.

Plot: ★★☆
The fact that the plot of the story only seemed to crop up so suddenly almost half way through the book is a big reason that I could not force myself to be interested on what was going on. The first half of the book is practically only about what Cody does in order to get better from a knee injury. And that was beyond dull and drawn out. The only way I could even tell that there was a plot was by reading the summary and even then I wonder about how the book end at the 'climax' of the novel.

Characters: ★★★
The characters in contradiction to everything else were amazing. I saw Cody and Clea as people as soon as they were introduced. If only I could say the same to the rest of the characters who seemed more like cardboard cut outs than anything else.

Flow: ★★★
The story flowed well and ther did not seem to be any really big jumps between scenes. The word choices seemed correct for a male teen but as I am not really a guy or someone who would ever consider dropping out I can't really say. The voice seemed very realistic and if nothing else that was nice to read.

Grade: ★★☆ I did not really like this book but is was an almost okay read. I would probably recommend this book to people who likes mysteries and with a high respect for football than me.