March | 2024 | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Lie or Die by A.J. Clack

Firefly Press, 2024

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1915444417

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition (pre-order)

Kass broke the friend code by kissing her BFF Thea’s ex. To prove she’s trustworthy, Thea insists they audition together for a new, livestreaming reality show based on their favorite game, Mafia, called Lie or Die.

Lie or Die’s version of Mafia lasts for four nights and consists of ten players. Among them are two Agents, who work together to kill of the other players, a Detective, who has the opportunity to learn the status of a player of their choosing, and a Judge, who moderates play. There’s a Kill Window each night, when the Agents can kill a player, and an Accusation Window, in which the players can accuse up to two players of being agents. Only one player can be eliminated per round. The accused must defend themselves in the Courtroom and hope they can get enough votes to stay alive, or face “execution” by electric chair Survival in Mafia is based on players’ ability to identify deception and lie effectively, and Kass is very good at both of those. If she teamed up with Thea, they would have a good chance of winning. Kass lacks the necessary charisma in her audition, but goes with their friend Lewis to take Thea to the studio. Shortly before the show starts, one of the players has a serious allergy attack, though, and the director asks Kass to step in and Lewis to join the studio crew. Kass is intimidated by the other contestants, also young adults, who all seem flawless and confident to her, but agrees.

The set for Lie or Die is a closed set. Once the contestants are in, they aren’t coming out until they are eliminated. Their cell phones are confiscated and the judge, Cohin, is an AI, so while the contestants are constantly being recorded, they don’t have any direct contact with the outside world while the game is going on. The game also has a secret agenda to accomplish, and it’s there that things start to go very wrong. Is Kass being gaslighted, or has the game become murderously real? Clack had me turning in circles trying to figure out what the motivations were for the story’s events. I am going to be honest, I did not see the ending coming..

While the motive behind the show was not believable, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about Thea and Kass, who were terrible to each other, this is a whirlwind of a book, and I was impressed at how well Clack did at differentiating the characters, given the short time span so many of them had on the show.

As a side note, I have to give Taylor Swift props: she is everywhere now. Kass and Lewis have a game where they share messages using Taylor Swift lyrics, and when all else fails, they’re able to use it as a code to plan their escape.

Lie or Die is a dark, fast, and twisty read with a dash of humor and a little romance, that will keep readers on their toes. Start it on the weekend, as you won’t want to put it down until you’re done. Recommended.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Book Review: Grimmworld: The Witch in the Woods by Michaelbrent Collings

Grimmworld: The Witch in the Woods, by Michaelbrent Collings

Shadow Mountain Publishing, March 2024 (not yet released)

ISBN: 9781639932320

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

Michaelbrent Collings writes good thrillers, and writes them fast: his pace has always been Dean Koontz-like. Grimmworld is his first attempt at a middle grade fantasy novel, and not surprisingly, it’s very good. Collings has no trouble shifting his high-octane writing to fantasy, Kids and adults both will love this.

The book is a nifty new way to use Grimm’s Fairy Tales for backdrop. The first 90 pages are a bit slow, but it’s just the setup for the real story. Twins Jake and Willow Grimm are living in a new town, where their parents are involved in top secret research. Through a collision of multiverses, the twins wind up in Grimmworld, where all the old fairy tales actually happen, for real. However, the endings are very different in Grimmworld, and not happy ones, either– the original Brothers Grimm changed the endings when they wrote them. Once the story shifts to Grimmworld, it takes off, and kicks into high gear. Jake and Willow do get some scientific explanation for the different worlds from a friend and wizard, Old Eli. Collings does a nice job balancing a plausible scientific theory and making it understandable to young readers.. The ‘bubble’ analogy the author used really helps tie this section together. The lovable, enigmatic mole-rat, Chet, also helps the twins, although his Cheshire-cat style of talking does drive them somewhat nuts.

The last half of the book is fantastic, with Jake and Willow attempting to save Hansel and Gretel from the witch’s oven. There are a lot of outstanding riddles and puzzles in this section: riddling hasn’t been this much fun since Bilbo went toe to toe with Gollum all those years ago. The ‘slow camel’ race and magic tree demonstrate real planning on the author’s part, and they are simple enough for readers to follow. It’s the perfect wrap-up to a very good story. Thankfully, this isn’t the end: Collings has already promised another if he gets a good response from readers. Based on this, he won’t have any trouble getting it.

Bottom line is, this does what a good middle grade fantasy should do: thrill younger and older readers alike. Schools should have this, to help kids see that reading has a LOT more to offer than staring at cell phones. As for the author, who knows what else he has in his bag of tricks? Recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson