Overview
Everyone thinks I killed Lisa...I didn't.
I loved her. At least, I thought I did.
But she never loved me--she made that clear the last time we were together. I should have known that a university president's daughter would never fall for a farmer's kid. Now the cops are all over me and everyone else that was at the party and all the weird stuff is coming out.
I guess Lisa and I weren't the only ones keeping secrets...
Editorials
VOYA -
Billy O'Reilly is doomed. He is being led on by the most popular girl in school, Lisa Wells. Mr. Wells hates Billy because he sees him as a threat to the future that he has planned for her. Billy is shackled to his family's farm, but Mr. Wells wants his daughter to go to the local college where he is president. It is apparent from page one that things are not going to go well for Billy-and they do not. When Lisa is found murdered after a break-in at her family's home, he is targeted as the most likely suspect. He knows that it is up to him to clear his name and find her killer. Lisa's father was enraged by the knowledge that she was seeing him. Could he have killed her? And then there is Rodney, her redneck stepbrother who also knows of their affair and has mysteriously disappeared. Was it him? Windy, Billy's friend who has a crush on him, tries to help him find out the truth. Although the characters and plot in this mystery/suspense novel are somewhat clichTd-rich beautiful, sheltered girl seduces average farm boy who later is framed for her murder-Ripslinger knows how to keep a reader hooked. Teens looking for a quick, entertaining mystery will enjoy this book. The writing is slightly better than average. A lot of teens will relate to the characters and the predicament of being trapped in a small town, where everyone knows their neighbors. Language and sexual content make this title more suitable for a public library.School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up- When the rich girl whom Billy O'Reilly is secretly sleeping with is murdered, the Iowan farm boy turns sleuth to clear his name. A predictable mystery with a cinematic ending and stock characters, this is standard Ripslinger fare. The story moves ahead at a good plod, with some decent suspense elements provided primarily by the rural setting: a skeet-shooting bet, a dog sniffing up a buried corpse, lake swims under cover of darkness, and a hidden room. Billy is an unsympathetic clod whose self-recriminations get old fast. His parents are straight from "Smallville" (wholesome John and Martha Kent to a tee), and the subplot of their secret past and the mean sheriff antagonizing Billy similarly reeks of made-for-TV. Also overemphasized into melodrama-and thus difficult to chew-is the class distinction drawn between the farm kids (who never actually do any farmwork) and the wealthy townies.-Rhona Campbell, Washington, DC Public Library
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