The first in
Todd Strasser’s cyber “thrill-ogy”, Wish You Were Dead is a chilling mystery
paired with a side of adventure, intrigue, and ever-bountiful plot twists.
Recommended to me by my local library, Wish
You Were Dead sows questions in your mind about social class, popularity,
and the effect your words have on people.
Taking place
in a ritzy neighborhood, Soundview, a community that isn’t often faced with
crime, Wish You Were Dead follows
Madison, a rich, but well-intentioned, high schooler. Madison, who volunteers
with her community’s Safe Drives, an organization that offers ride to inebriated
teens departing from parties, finds herself in a big mess after one fatal
accident. Madison and her Safe Drives partner, Tyler, make the mistake of
dropping a girl, Lucy, off without waiting for to enter her house. All Safe
Drives volunteers are required to wait until the partygoer enters their house
before leaving, but it was late, Madison was tired, and Lucy was being
uncooperative. Leaving Lucy, Tyler and Madison returned to their homes to
sleep. But when Madison waked up in the morning, she learned that Lucy had went
missing, leaving no signs as to where she escaped to. Madison, shocked and
guilty, was unsure what to think. Lucy, also another rich girl, used to be
Madison’s best friend. Madison called
off the friendship because of Lucy’s extreme competitiveness and the mood
swings that came from her bipolar condition.
 |
| the sequel to Wish You Were Dead |
At first, Lucy
is declared by the cops as a “runaway.” But as Lucy’s boyfriend, Adam, also
another ex-friend of Madison’s, also goes missing, the cops, the parents, and the
students of Soundview begin to worry. Madison, afraid that she will be the next
“popular” to go, begins a search to find the kidnapper, who, as people begin to
speculate, may be a murderer. Through a series of Facebook stalker messages,
slashed tires, and handwritten notes, Madison begins to make some connections
to the disappearances. However, for each connection made, a double amount of
questions are created. A culmination of
plot twists and exposures causes Madison to view her former friends, her
teachers, her best friend, Whitney, Tyler, and herself in a different light.
After the
discovery of an anonymous blog, which, in detail, lists the cruel actions made
and words spewed by the popular kids at Soundview High, Madison tries to improve
her attitude, generosity, and friendliness in an attempt to avoid being the
next one taken by the Soundview Kidnapper.
Using 21st technology
to make an edge-of-your-seat, read-it-in-one-sitting-and-never-forgot-it thriller,
Wish You Were Dead expertly weaves
crime, loneliness, popularity, and rejection to create one engaging and
horrifyingly creative story.
A companion
to Wish You Were Dead, Blood on My Hands, another thriller that incorporates the cyber aspect, is now available.
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