Reality Check

I ordered this book the day Amazon first announced it, way back in October, and at that time I just assumed it was going to be an adult thriller, like OBLIVION or DELUSION. It couldn't be for kids, I reasoned, because its title was nothing like the titles of the Ingrid Levin-Hill books like DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE. I never suspected that Peter Abrahams would yet again be pulling the rug out from under my feet yet again, but here it is, when I unwrapped REALITY CHECK it was a real game-changer! Instead of 13 year old Ingrid Levin-Hill, we have 16 year old Cody Laredo from Little Bend, Colorado, far from Ingrid's social class, the poor boy on the football team where he is a star quarterback and dating the most beautiful and wealthy girl in school. It was just like Jason Street and Lila on FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS so I was not surprised when a Jason Street-like football accident curtails his career for the foreseeable future and plunged Cody into a sea of depression and pain.In the meantime Clea Weston, the Daisy Buchanan of the story, goes away to an exclusive coed prep school in Vermont, where she meets a bunch of snooty Bret Easton Ellis characters, and one day she goes for a ride on her beloved horse Bud, and disappears. Cody to the rescue! Like INTO THE DARK (the last Ingrid book), REALITY CHECK takes full advantage of Abrahams' wonderful gift for evoking snow and extreme cold. You will need a pair of gloves and a warm hat just to get through this book even if you're reading it on the beach at Waikiki. Searching for Clea lets Cody grow up and find some maturity deep within, and he overcomes the most extraordinary obstacles; however he's no plaster saint, and Abrahams paints his picture with great depth, and it's kind of scary. Abrahams is the Francis Bacon of suspense; his heroes aren't too good to be true, you will probably recognize a little bit of yourself in Cody's confused climb towards the light and towards redemption.

Definitely unpredictable. This is a mystery/thriller that will leave you to question what happens next. I leave this as a 4 star, because once in a while. Chapters will just be endless blabbing about different things going on.

Not up to his standards of some other works. Predictable, moved slowly until the last third of so. Then it was very good, and kept up the tension and interest.

I didn't know this was a YA book when I bought it. Some YA books are well written and worth reading by adults. This isn't one of them.The worst thing is that the plot is so simple. You can see every "surprise" coming from a mile away. The narrative and characters are lifeless. If you're an adult, I would give this one a pass.

Disillusioned teenager living with single Dad in turmoil when his wealthy girlfriend get sent to 'Uppity" school out of town. Then she goes missing, so he needs to go after his true love. Other wealthy classmates don't trust the Interloper. Intrigue ensues. Good read with a satisfying ending.

I love this book I got it from the library and read it but I loved it so much that I wanted to re-read it so I bought it on my kindle.

The beginning to the end was awesome. The book is awesome. Cody and Clea are a great bf and gf and a great team. I recommend this book to any who likes a page turner and some suspense. :)

This book was very great for any teenagers going into high school and likes some mystery/romance books. I would recommend this for 9th-11th graders.