Dark Eden

Dark Eden (Dark Eden #1)

by Patrick Carman

3 stars

336 pages

Published Nov. 1, 2011, by Katherine Tegen Books

Sick of love triangles? Tired of angels? Got a hankerin' for some YA that's dark, creepy and slightly twisted?

Step into Patrick Carman's Hitchcock-ian world of teens with incurable fears and phobias.

Nice, even pacing (which is moderate, just like a psychological thriller should be) and a cool premise help this on it's way to a solid three stars. The suspense was carried throughout the whole book - something was "off," but you can't quite figure out what. That was well done.

But super flat characters was the reason it didn't get any more. A psychological thriller needs more internal dialogue to explain why the person thinks the way he/she does. It also helps to catch a glimpse into what is going on in the other "crazy" characters' minds.

The unexpected twist at the end was appreciated. I definitely didn't predict quite that ending. I also enjoyed the "explain all" chapters after the main story concluded. You can be satisfied with just this one book - there is no cliffhanger.

But I'll probably pick up the next in the series to see where it goes.