Book Review - SIREN

By: Tricia Rayburn
Published by EgmontUSA
Release Date: July 13, 2010
Source: ARC Tour via FireIcePhotos
4 Stars- I really liked this book. Go pick it up.

Synopsis (from EgmontUSA): 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.

You know that feeling when you find a book that hooks you from its very first chapter? That is exactly what happened to me when I started reading SIREN. Tricia's description of Winter Harbor, Maine and her well written cast of characters pulled me in like some bewitched tide. Before I knew it, pages kept turning, hours had passed and I was closing the last page of the book with a satisfied smile much like the victims found on the shores of Winter Harbor.

At the heart of the plot is a mystery -- a string of unrelated deaths where the victims are found with frozen smiles on their faces. The only victim who was not smiling was Vanessa's sister, Justine. And now, Justine's boyfriend, Caleb, is missing and more bodies keep washing up.

Vanessa, who is scared of everything -- the dark, the ocean and even her feelings for Caleb's geeky brother, Simon, finds the courage to help Simon search for Caleb. I loved her journey as she faces her fears and finds the determination to find the answers to mysteries that are as deep as the water which surrounds Winter Harbor.

I know we've been talking about good Summer Reads lately. Just think of it, Mundie Moms, here's a seaside mystery which begs to be solved. Surrounding the intrigue is a delicious mythology which moves in and out of the plot until, in the end, it all begins to make sense. Now, I also need to mention that most Good Summer Reads have a romantic subplot and the romance in SIREN will tug at your heart and make you think of your own first love -- awkward, emotional and yet so very, very right .

So don't wait, pick up SIREN and put it in your beach bag. You will find yourself happy that you made the journey to Winter Harbor and dropped in just in time to get swept away by its secrets.