Wish You Were Dead by Todd Strasser

Wish You Were Dead

Author:  Todd Strasser

Publisher:  EgmontUSA

Genre:  YA Thriller/Suspense

Date Published:  October 13th 2009

From Goodreads: 

The day after anonymous blogger Str-S-d wishes the popular girl would die, Lucy vanishes. The students of Soundview High are scared and worried. Especially frightened and wracked with guilt is Madison Archer, Lucy’s friend and the last person to see her the night she disappeared.

As days pass with no sign of the missing girl, even the attention of Tyler, an attractive new student, is not enough to distract Madison from her growing sense of foreboding. When two more popular students disappear after their names are mentioned on Str-S-d’s blog, the residents of Soundview panic.

Meanwhile, Madison receives anonymous notes warning that she could be next. Desperate to solve the mystery before anyone else disappears, Madison turns to Tyler, but can she trust him when it becomes clear that he knows more than he’s sharing?

The clock is ticking. Madison must uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearances . . . before her name appears in Str-S-d’s blog.

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When I first finished Wish You Were Dead I thought it was a relatively good creepy book, but looking back to write this review my opinion has changed a bit. As a whole it has a creepy vibe because of the missing kids, but the characters fell flat to me. The who done it also seems left field, and I have problems with the way everything unfolded.

There was a level of suspense in Wish You Were Dead, honestly I had no clue who the kidnapper/crazy person was which was nice. As I mentioned it was creepy because of the kidnapped kids, which is realistic, and that always adds to said creepiness. The story is told through the eyes of Madison, one of the elite kids at school. It seems the kidnapper is targeting the elite kids. A anonymous blogger blogs about the torment they endure from some of the popular kids, and they then suddenly one by one they go missing. I thought it was a unique book, there was just some problems I had with it.

The main thing lacking in Wish You Were Dead is character development. All they characters fell flat to me, and it’s very hard to get into a book if you don’t give a sh*t about them. Also, when the crazy person is revealed you are completely caught by surprise not because of the great plots and turns but because it’s so freaking left field.

This is my first Todd Strasser book I’ve read, and I wasn’t really impressed, but it wasn’t all together a failure. I think I will give him another try.