Crusher

Gr 9 Up—After high-school dropout Finn Maguire comes home to find his starving-writer father (really his stepfather) bludgeoned to death at the dining room table, he makes it his mission to find the killer. Meanwhile, his lack of cooperation with authorities has some members of the police force pegging Finn as the suspect. Leonard introduces numerous characters as possible suspects, causing the story to take many twists and turns that leave readers guessing the identity of the murderer until the very end. Finn frequently finds himself engaged in battle with villains as he pursues leads into his father's death with a vengeance, carrying a feeling of suspense throughout the novel. Some of the British slang may throw American readers off, but overall the language discrepancies do not take away from the fast-paced story line.—Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT