9. If You Ever Tell by Carlene Thompson

If You Ever Tell is a book that had been sitting on my shelves for far too long so I decided to pick it up and give it a try. I was a bit disappointed, however, and can only give it a B-.

Back cover:
It took everything in Teresa Farr's power to return to her hometown of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Eight years earlier, she had walked in on the savage murders of her father and stepmother- both of whom she hated. She barely managed to save herself and her eight-year-old stepsister, Celeste. But even after notorious serial killer Roscoe Lee Byrnes confessed, people still wondered if Teri was the guilty one. And with Celeste unable to remember that night, or speak at all, those suspicions never went away...
Now Celeste is beginning to remember. Now Byrnes has recanted his confession. And someone is using a series of bizarre, taunting events to exact terrifying "justice". As Teri desperately races to uncover the truth, she's finding that everyone she loves has secrets they would kill to keep buried. And in the bright mountain sunlight, an evil conealed all too well is reaching out to silence her and Celeste forever...

This book was just blah. The suspense part was the miniority in the book, in my opinion, and focused much more on Teri and her family and friends. There was a lot of repeating of events as Teri thinks back to the scene that was just played out in the previous chapter, and in some cases, the previous paragraph. Teresa isn't the most likeable character, either. She's selfish and a lot of her thoughts were about her and how everyone's actions affected her. There was also quite a bit of romance in the story and it wasn't billed that way, so I was a bit disappointed. I don't know if I've lost my reading mojo or what, but I just couldn't get into this book that much. I've read previous books by Ms. Thompson and enjoyed them, so this was a bit of a letdown. I hope the next book I read grabs me more than this one did.

That's it for me tonight. Work has been crazy and as a matter of fact, I am tutoring online right now. I think some students are about to enter, so I must get off. Have a great night everyone and Happy Reading!