- Genre:fiction
- Sub-genre:Coming of Age
- Language:English
- Pages:113
- eBook ISBN:9781483594675
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Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
A. Neville’s young adult coming of age mystery novel, Suspicion, blends a compelling story about teenage alienation with a first-rate police procedural mystery as the police investigate the murder of a high school principal. I was enthralled by this book. Joe’s story is unique and unforgettable. His disadvantaged background and expulsion for smoking pot and other minor infractions, which seemed arbitrary and ultimately at cross-purposes with his future well-being, contrast with the person the reader gets to know through his story. A person who sees Emily as an unattainable goal, someone who would never stoop to be more than a friend. “He really liked her, not in a ‘Wow, she’s hot’ way, but somewhere in his bones, somewhere he couldn’t see but could feel that made him stronger, better, braver.” As I read that description, whole worlds of insights opened up for me into this boy who was turning into a man under harsh conditions, and his passage is made even more perilous when he’s accused of murdering Emily’s father. The police procedural aspects of this story are first-rate. You can feel the despair and fear Joe feels as he spends that first night in prison and fights both his fears and the officers’ persuasive techniques while asserting his right to counsel. Suspicion is a powerful and moving novel, and it’s most highly recommended.