How far would you go to protect someone you love?

This overarching question is the theme of this addictive book by attorney and best-selling author, Michele Campbell.

Sarah and Heath Donavan have been named the new dorm heads at the prestigious O’Dell Academy in New England. Tasked with cleaning up the marred reputation of Moreland Hall, the notorious dorm of mischievous legacies, they find themselves quickly embroiled in a scandal. A few of the senior girls have set their sights on Heath and queen bee Darcy challenges her posse to a contest to seduce him.

New to the school, Bel and her fraternal twin sister, Rose, have very different goals at O’Dell. Rose hopes to excel and use this experience to launch her college career, while Bel is only looking to survive her last two years of school. Both want desperately to fit in, but when Bel succumbs to the charms of Darcy, she’s thrust into a world of cutthroat, manipulative and abusive behavior that ultimately leads to murder.

Every unique character has such an integral role in this suspenseful mystery, making it a challenge to foresee who would ultimately survive let alone predict their involvement in the fateful chain of events.

You’ll experience a tug of emotions as you root for the twins and the Donovans, but balk as they make one fatal mistake after another relying on unconditional love for absolution.

This is a book that wouldn’t be hard to imagine is based on true events. With the high level of performance expectations, and socially monitored behaviors of youth today, any misstep preyed upon by their competitive classmates could quickly become disastrous. Campbell has created a riveting story around such a scenario that makes you reflect on your own past decisions and cause you to wonder if this could happen to you.

Note to followers: Within two minutes of finishing this book, I downloaded the complete works of Michele Campbell. Warning: You will too!

Image courtesy of St. Martin’s Press