Coverup
- Book Review,
by Jay Bennett
From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10-- Brad awakens with a fierce hangover after attending a drinking party with his best friend, Alden. His clouded memory tells him that something terrible has happened. Although Alden denies any wrongful occurrence, Brad begins to search for evidence that leads him toward a possible car accident and a missing man. He meets Ellen, who is searching for her missing father, and, voila, they discover that they are both on the same trail. It soon becomes clear that this trail leads to a coverup initiated by Alden's father, a less than scrupulous but very powerful judge. Despite the typically dark and oppressive mood, Ellen and Brad manage to find a little romance. Bennett, the master of short sentences, has suspensfully plotted another mystery that is sure to appeal to reluctant readers. This offering is all too easily resolved, however, and is not as satisfying as Skeleton Man (1986) and Dark Corridor (1988, both Watts) . All in all, it's an easy-to-read page turner.- Judie Porter, Media Services Center, Portsmouth School Department, RICopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
When Alden Whitlock, drunken son of a prominent local figure, kills a homeless man, the hit-and-run accident is quickly hushed up. Brad, who had been a semi-comatose passenger in the car, wakes up next morning with vague, disturbing memories--but Alden, Judge Whitlock, and all his friends earnestly assure him that nothing happened. Bennett's plot is painfully contrived--Brad returns to what he thinks is the scene of the crime and finds it swept clean except for a bloodstained pocket-watch with the engraved initials ``P.M.H.''; shortly thereafter, a young woman named Ellen Hanson arrives from out of town with solid evidence that her homeless father Paul had been in the area. Romance blooms as she forces Brad to come clean, but she leaves in disgust when no one else will talk. Amid much talk of responsibility and perspective, Brad confronts Alden and his father; but it's Alden's mother who finally blows the whistle out of concern for her son's conscience. Bennett's use of repetition, inch-long sentences and monosyllabic dialogue make his writing accessible for reluctant readers; still, compared to Strasser's The Accident (1988), both plot and themes here seem raw and undeveloped. (Fiction. YA) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Book Description
"Quick and fun with a satisfying resolution."
VOYA
All Brad remembers about that party was that his friend Alden Whitlock drove him home. He also has the nagging feeling that while he was sleeping in the passenger seat, Alden hit something--or someone. Alden and his father, a powerful judge, deny that anything took place. Brad isn't so sure--especially when beautiful Ellen Hanson comes searching in town for her lost father. Suddenly Brad is forced to examine his cushioned world of privilege and to choose between the truth and deceit. Either way, Brad could lose....
Card catalog description
Teenage Brad is tormented by confused memories of a drunken ride with his best friend Alden, during which they may have hit and killed a man.
From the Inside Flap
"Quick and fun with a satisfying resolution."
VOYA
All Brad remembers about that party was that his friend Alden Whitlock drove him home. He also has the nagging feeling that while he was sleeping in the passenger seat, Alden hit something--or someone. Alden and his father, a powerful judge, deny that anything took place. Brad isn't so sure--especially when beautiful Ellen Hanson comes searching in town for her lost father. Suddenly Brad is forced to examine his cushioned world of privilege and to choose between the truth and deceit. Either way, Brad could lose....
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