Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz

High atop Hathorne Hill, near Boston, sits Danvers State Hospital. Built in 1878 and closed in 1992, this abandoned mental institution is rumored to be the birthplace of the lobotomy. Locals have long believed the place to be haunted. They tell stories about the unmarked graves in the back, of the cold spots felt throughout the underground tunnels, and of the treasures found inside: patients' personal items like journals, hair combs, and bars of soap, or even their old medical records, left behind by the state for trespassers to view.
On the eve of the hospital's demolition, six teens break in to spend the night and film a movie about their adventures. For Derik, it's an opportunity to win a filmmaking contest and save himself from a future of flipping burgers at his parents' diner. For the others, it's a chance to be on TV, or a night with no parents. But what starts as a playful dare quickly escalates into a frenzy of nightmarish action. Behind the crumbling walls, down every dark passageway, and in each deserted room, they will unravel the mysteries of those who once lived there and the spirits who still might.

What could possibly go wrong? Apparently, a lot can go wrong. I almost decided to leave this book behind at the bookstore, but then saw the publisher –- Disney Hyperion. I had never read a bad book published by Disney Hyperion, until now, that is. This book was a major disappointment. I was really looking forward to a good haunting. Even though there were some scary moments, there was tons of cussing and suggestive moments. It could have been a lot better, and the ending was not fulfilling at all. I wouldn’t recommend this book. It was just felt kind of awkward and incomplete. I would not recommend this book.

The White House (I,Q #2) by Roland Smith

"In this follow-up to "Book One: Independence Hall," Q and Angela continue their quest to uncover the truth behind the supposed death of Angela's real mother, a former Secret Service agent, while trying to differentiate the "good guys" from the "bad guys."

 IQ: The White House hooks you with action and then blasts away like a rocket ship. It had more aliases more deception, and more secrets. It was bigger, better and more explosive, literally, stuff really explodes. Absolutely everything was dumped upside down and rearranged. Some pretty cool new characters came in to play. As always, one of the most fascinating things is how Roland Smith seamlessly engages political warfare and dynamics in the series. It appears so real, you feel like you might pick up the phone and ask the white house just what they plan to do with the huge ghost cell right under their noses. I waited over a year for this sequel and I am happy to say I was not disappointed

Independence Hall (I,Q #1) by Roland Smith

Fame has arrived for rockers Blaze and Roger! Just married, leaving Los Angeles, and touring the United States with teenagers Q (Quest) and Angela in tow, the excitement heightens in Philadelphia when Angela realizes she's being followed. Q soon learns the secret about Angela's real mother - a former Secret Service agent.
Readers are thrust into current issues affecting the world in this edge-of- your-seat, modern-day mystery adventure. I, Q readers will be immersed in the work of U.S. Secret Service, the Mossad, and the MI5. But who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? What happens to this newly formed family if Angela's mom is not dead?

IQ is very unique, it has many entertaining aspects. IQ: Independence Hall has high tech gadgets, aliases, danger, death and espionage. This book followed Quest and his new step sister Angela Tucker as their lives turned from fun to frightening. Just as they had adjusted to life on the road with their parent’s band tour; Angela noticed that she was being followed. Their whole way of life unraveled when they discovered that their traveling RV mechanic (Boone) was a retired CIA operative and Angela’s mom, Malak, was alive. The problem with that was, Malak (a secret service agent) was declared dead years ago. Q and Angela were not the only ones who knew though, a huge terrorist cell knew; they weren’t going to rest until she was dead. They barely had enough time to grasp all this new information when an attempt on their lives was taken. Can they save her mom from the terrorists before it is too late? Or will they pay for her freedom with their lives?

Roland Smith has done a fantastic job at this realistic fiction book. Bravo is one word that comes to mind. It did a wonderful job of revealing terrorism in America without getting gory. However, the book is so realistic, that whenever Angela’s mom was mentioned (especially the way she died) I found myself reliving that awful morning, Tuesday September 11, 2001. Maybe it didn’t happen to you; maybe you didn’t see it on the news. For me however, the video was seemingly burned into my mind in slow motion. IQ is an excellent book (and I am looking forward to the sequel), but it is realistic fiction. If you were severely affected by terrorism or 9/11, maybe this isn’t the book for you. Or maybe it would be therapeutic to read about two teens fighting terrorism. This is for you to decide.

Solitary (Escape from Furnace #2) by Alexander Gordon Smith

"Furnace Prison ...Where death is the least of your worries.Escape is just the beginning ...
We thought we’d made it, we thought we were free. But we should have known there was no way out of Furnace.
All we did was slip deeper into the guts of the prison: into solitary confinement, where the real nightmares live - the warden, the Wheezers, and something much, much worse.
The clock’s ticking. Because if we don’t escape soon they will turn us into freaks - like them. For ever.
In the darkness of the hole your worst nightmares come to life."

I don’t want to tell you about the actual story, it would give far too much away. I can say this; It was amazing, just as good as the first, if not better! Smith continues to weave his plethora of horrors with Furnace.. Just the sheer amount of surprises are insane. Paragraph after paragraph the last sentence almost always delivers a punch. A lot of sequels let down readers, this is not one of them. I cannot wait to get my hands on the third book. Of course, the negative, is the language (medium amount.) I still highly recommend this series.

Lockdown (Escape From Furnace #1) by Alexander Gordon Smith

"Furnace Penitentiary: the world’s most secure prison for young offenders, buried a mile beneath the earth’s surface. Convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, sentenced to life without parole, “new fish” Alex Sawyer knows he has two choices: find a way out, or resign himself to a death behind bars, in the darkness at the bottom of the world. Except in Furnace, death is the least of his worries. Soon Alex discovers that the prison is a place of pure evil, where inhuman creatures in gas masks stalk the corridors at night, where giants in black suits drag screaming inmates into the shadows, where deformed beasts can be heard howling from the blood-drenched tunnels below. And behind everything is the mysterious, all-powerful warden, a man as cruel and dangerous as the devil himself, whose unthinkable acts have consequences that stretch far beyond the walls of the prison.Together with a bunch of inmates—some innocent kids who have been framed, others cold-blooded killers—Alex plans an escape. But as he starts to uncover the truth about Furnace’s deeper, darker purpose, Alex’s actions grow ever more dangerous, and he must risk everything to expose this nightmare that’s hidden from the eyes of the world."

This book was a thriller and is by far the best book I have ever read. The motto conveys what the book is about perfectly, “beneath heaven is hell and beneath hell is the Furnace.” It's about thrills and chills. The book was so jaw-dropping and amazing, that I kept going to my family and reading parts to them. By the time I got done I literally had no voice, I sounded like a bizarre mouse squeaking out words. It seemed like every other paragraph something comes that you didn't see. Every time, you just stare at the page and say
Woah.
I definitely recommend. It's hard to tell whether I had light amounts of language or a medium amount, the blood rushing, adrenaline raising content really left my ‘how much’ scale disoriented. Based on the length of the book I would have to say it was a medium amount, but again with the action it was hard to take notice. My only lasting question was...Why have I never heard of this author before?!

Au Revoir Crazy European Chick (Perry & Gobi #1) by Joe Schreiber

“It’s prom night—and Perry just wants to stick to his own plan and finally play a much-anticipated gig with his band in the Big Apple. But when his mother makes him take Gobija Zaksauskas—their quiet, geeky Lithuanian exchange student—to the prom, he never expects that his ordinary high school guy life will soon turn on its head. Perry finds that Gobi is on a mission, and Perry has no other choice but to go along for a reckless ride through Manhattan’s concrete grid with a trained assassin in Dad’s red Jag.
Infused with capers, car chases, heists, hits, henchmen, and even a bear fight, this story mixes romance, comedy, and tragedy in a true teen coming-of-age adventure—and it’s not over until it’s “au revoir.”

WOW. What a crazy whirlwind. I loved the format! It starts as a college application style question/answer form. But you can tell, Perry just get’s too caught up in this chain of events to answer the questions seriously. He just rolls with it! There was some explicit sexual implications coupled with pulse pounding action. I absolutely adored the style of the story, the way you discover Gobi, and the way Perry discovers himself. You want to grit your teeth, cheer, and scream…sometimes all at once.  I read this on the staircase at my place, and finished it within an hour. I thought I knew what was going to happen…then I didn't….then I did. But at the end, it didn't matter if I saw it coming or not. It had a Mary Poppins ending (it was practically perfect in every way!) This book could be read as a standalone or, like me, you’ll look forward to Perry’s next adventure. I was wholly satisfied with this read and would recommend it to any action junkie.