Getting Away With Murder

October 1, 2024
Nine teens are trapped in a deadly game that's overtaken by rogue AI. Saffron and twin sister Georgia both have internships coming up: Saffron at Play a Game, a new high-tech escape room, and Georgia at the local newspaper. Even though the sisters have had a falling out, they still play the online game Sole Survivor together with a group of seven others. Saffron overhears a conversation at Play a Game in which a software engineer warns the owner that Lightman, the AI running the game, has grown too powerful. Meanwhile, Lightman, posing as a work friend of Saffron's, uses a group chat to invite the other members of the sisters' gaming group to Play a Game. It's scheming for them to compete in a real-life version of Sole Survivor; the goal is "to be the last player standing when the 10-minute timer runs out." As they begin to compete, compelling details slowly emerge, revealing that several group members have past relationships that have led to simmering tensions among them. The breakneck series of events is engrossing, and the explicit on-page gore thrillingly escalates the stakes as the players begin to die. Disappointingly, the abrupt ending fails to live up to the story's earlier strengths. Most characters are white; unfortunately, one of the gamers--a boy who's "brown-skinned with chaotic black hair"--is described as an "unrepentant criminal" who's been arrested multiple times. A page-turning locked-room mystery that doesn't stick the landing.(Mystery. 14-18)

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January 31, 2025

Gr 9 Up-A rogue AI-powered computer system hijacks a new high-tech escape room complex, trapping a group of teens in its clutches and forcing them to play a deadly game. Twins Saffron and Georgia couldn't be more different, with Saffron finding joy in being the rebel, posting prank videos online-such as reading her sister's diary on a livestream-even if they hurt others. Georgia, meanwhile, is a go-getter good girl proud of her achievements. Saffron, while interning at the escape room, ponders to the AI Lightman that each member of her online Sole Survivor video game team fits a typical teenage stereotype-rebel, know-it-all, jock, princess, star, geek, artist, weirdo, and criminal. She wonders who would survive a real-life game and unknowingly prompts Lightman to create such a game. When her team, summoned by Lightman, arrives, they're forced to play games full of violence and gore, while also confronting interpersonal issues-Squid Game meets Breakfast Club. The book is told from the twins' perspectives, primarily Georgia's as Saffron spends much of the book trapped in the control room, and while the story flows during the action, the ending falls somewhat flat. The setting is not explicitly stated, but there are Briticisms ("I can't see a bloody thing") in the text. Most characters cue white, except for Aidan, who has brown skin and is, unfortunately, cast as "criminal." VERDICT For larger collections. Thriller fans in search of a creepy game read may also enjoy Foxfield's own Tag, You're Dead and Kelsea Yu's It's Only a Game.-Amanda Mastrull

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