Book Type: Novel/Series Author: Tricia Rayburn Pages:
Book 1) 344 Summary of first book(goodreads.com): Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything--the dark, heights, the ocean--but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is until Justine goes cliff diving one night near the family's vacation house in Winter Harbor, Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day. Vanessa's parents want to work through the tragedy by returning to their everyday lives back in Boston, but Vanessa can't help feeling that her sister's death was more than an accident. After discovering that Justine never applied to colleges, and that she was secretly in a relationship with longtime family friend Caleb Carmichael, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor to seek some answers. But when Vanessa learns that Caleb has been missing since Justine's death, she and Caleb's older brother, Simon, join forces to try to find him, and in the process, their childhood friendship blossoms into something more. Soon it's not just Vanessa who is afraid. All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes home to a string of fatal, water-related accidents . . . in which all the victims are found grinning from ear to ear. As Vanessa and Simon probe further into the connections between Justine's death and the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance, and that will change her life forever. My Review: This book had a lot of potential, but sadly, it missed the mark for me. The first problem I had with this book is the way events are written. At the beginning of the book, I had to keep re-reading sections because I didnt understand what was happening. For example, Justine's death was written strangely, and she isn't pronounced dead right away. It's too wordy. There also isn't a clear description of Vanessa. Beside the fact that she has blonde hair and major anxiety issues, I'm not sure what else there is to say. Is she tall or short? What about her eyes? Is her smile pretty? Is she petite or curvy? Vanessa also has problems sorting out her feelings. While it's clear that she feels something for Simon, she also leads him on. I hope the next two books in the series are better and full of more siren details! I give this book (**) 2 stars.