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The sudden death of a childhood friend brings back together the remaining elements of the Excellent Eight. It’s been 20 years since they last saw each other but this unexpected reunion seems to be going pretty well and the gang quickly goes back into what they used to be.
However, things take a turn for the worse when Peter wakes up the next morning in a mysterious cabin in the middle of the woods and finds his friends missing. He doesn’t know that he’s about to take park in a twisted version of hide and seek, following the clues given by a mad man called Celo in order to save his friends from horrible deaths.
One thing that I really liked about this book was its concept. It seemed quite intriguing and suspenseful and it promised a lot of action. It just seemed like one of those books that keep you glued to its pages and would make you fly through them.
However, it failed to meet my expectations and these are the reasons why.
First of all, I thought the novel was too descriptive and repetitive at times. Don’t get me wrong, in order to know more about the clues that were given and to know more about the characters there had to be some story telling about the past. However I felt that even when things were supposed to be a bit more action packed, the narrative dragged a little and lacked some excitement.
Even though I liked the way the clues were connected to the characters’ past and how the author chose those particular events and places, I thought the way the clues were being revealed was a bit repetitive. They were always given in the same way and some of the planned deaths seemed too similar. I understand that it’s important to establish a modus operandi but that doesn’t necessarily mean saying the same things over and over again and choosing the same way of killing the victims, especially when Celo seemed to be creative enough to be a bit more versatile in what he did.
Also, the characters weren’t relatable and it was hard to establish a connection with them. I didn’t really care for them because I knew so little about them – except for some particular events that took place when they were kids. I felt the same way about Peter, even though he was the main character. There was a lot more information about him but it still didn’t pick up my interest.
Overall I give this book 2 out of 4 stars. Like I’ve said before, I really liked its concept but the way the story progressed failed to meet my expectations. There was an interesting twist in the end but it wasn’t enough to change my opinion about this book.
I think that when I’m reading a book like this, with this kind of concept, that it should really grab my attention and make me just want to read it and nothing else. It has to have a certain edge and make my heart race when something is about to happen and that wasn’t the case with this book. However, I believe that even though I wasn’t a particular fan of this novel, that doesn’t mean others won’t like it and enjoy its reading. For fans of the mystery genre, this book would be an interesting choice.
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