Secret, Silent Screams

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Marti's best friend Barry is dead and nearly all the evidence indicates suicide. Marti has good reason to believe that Barry was murderedbut the only person who will listen to her is Karen, a sympathetic policewoman. Because Barry's death has become the focal point of a national awareness campaign about teenage suicide, almost everyone to whom Marti turns has a great deal at stake in believing that Barry took his own life. Even well-meaning adults discount Marti's accurate detective work. Undeterred, she and Karen conduct their own investigation, unmasking the murderer just as he is about to strike again. The gradual revelation of the details behind Barry's staged suicide creates an atmosphere of enthralling suspense, even for those who have already deduced the killer's identity. And the moral that accompanies Marti's difficult but courageous stand is just as satisfying as the intricate plot. Ages 12-up. (September)

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10 High-school senior Marti Lewis' world comes to a shattering halt when her childhood friend Barry Logan supposedly puts a revolver to his head, apparently another in a series of suicides at her suburban high school in Texas. Only Marti believes that Barry was murdered. Enlisting the help of young police officer Karen Prescott, Marti tracks down Barry's killer, all the while not realizing that she is setting herself up as his next target. The book goes in two directionsone dealing with the problem of teen suicide and the other with Marti's murder investigation. It goes astray on both counts. There is some factual and theoretical thought on the symptoms and causes of teen suicide smattered throughout the story, but not enough to be helpful or informative to readers curious about the subject. Nixon also masterfully denigrates any person who might be considered as a source of help or accurate information. The guidance counselor is condescending and incompetent; the suicide psychologist pompous and self-serving; the police, except Karen, bungling and insensitive; the clergyman preoccupied with his campaign against rock music lyrics; and the parents well-meaning but ineffective. And since she doesn't provide any alternatives, Nixon makes the message clear that for young people in need of answers about suicide, there is no suitable confidant. As for the mystery aspect, readers who even dabble in the genre will find many flaws. The identity of the murderer leaps out within the early chapters of the book, and the heinousness of the crimes he commits far outweigh his motive. The inefficiency of police forces has long been fair game in mystery stories, but this group's disregard for the most elementary forensic data will grate on readers. Readers will find both the mystery and the discussion of teen suicide very run of the mill. Joanne Aswell, Long Valley Middle School, N.Y.