Freaky Friday :|: 34

Title: Crash Course
Author: Nicole Davidson
Published: July 1990
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pages: 224
Summary:

When eight teenagers sign up for an intensive SAT prep course to be held over Thanksgiving weekend in a remote lakeside cabin, they little suspect that oneof them will be murdered! Their teacher goes off for help and never returns, leaving the teens to wonder if there is a lunatic killer loose in the woods . . . (from bn.com)

Editorial Review:

Kelly Peterson and seven other high school students have enrolled in an intensive SAT course, to be held at a secluded cabin during Thanksgiving vacation. Tragedy strikes on the first night of their trip when Brian Lopez, Kelly's closest friend, drowns in a nearby lake. Brian's longtime (and possessive) girlfriend, Paula, had been with him, and claims he died from a struggle with an unknown assailant. When their teacher goes in search of help but doesn't return, the group is convinced that a madman must be stalking the area, waiting to pounce on his next victim. The book's main flaw is that not much happens until its midpoint, and readers expecting an action-packed thriller won't have the patience to sit through this drawn out story. (They'll also see through the author's manipulative ploy of casting suspicion on most of the characters.) In addition, the setting is contrived: it's highly unlikely that any school would sanction a retreat 10 miles from a telephone or any transportation. Davidson's effort pales in comparison to others in this genre. (from Publisher's Weekly, bn.com)

I'm sensing a theme with this author. The summary alone screams forced. The thing is, maybe this wasn't as contrived as it sounds now when it was published back in 1990. You never know. Then again, the plot as it stands is rather unfeasible with or without the force. Eh. What are you going to do? At least we have a cover for this one.