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Zusatztext "Benoit’s handling of cultural diversity, adolescent religious awareness, and everyday technology in teen lives makes for satisfying, thought-provoking reading." —Booklist "Bullying, blackmail, and bad choices are interwoven through this cautionary tale in a manner that's relatable and engaging." —VOYA "With a quick pace, this psychological thriller takes readers for a ride, providing clues to the secrets the characters are trying to hide but without disclosing all of the information until later chapters. The coldness of the caller in relation to the damage he/she is doing to the bullying victims as well as the blackmail victims is particularly chilling." —School Library Journal Informationen zum Autor Charles Benoit'steen novels include Cold Calls, Snow Job,Fall from Grace and You, an American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. A former high school teacher, Charles is also the Edgar-nominated author of three adult mysteries. He lives in Rochester, New York. Visit him on the web at www.charlesbenoit.com or follow him on Twitter (@BenoitTheWriter). Klappentext Three high school students?Eric, Shelly, and Fatima?have one thing in common: ?I know your secret.? Each one is blackmailed into bullying specifically targeted schoolmates by a mysterious caller who whispers from their cell phones and holds carefully guarded secrets over their heads. But how could anyone have obtained that photo, read those hidden pages, uncovered this buried past? Thrown together, the three teens join forces to find the stranger who threatens them?before time runs out and their shattering secrets are revealed . . .This suspenseful, pitch-perfect mystery-thriller raises timely questions about privacy, bullying, and culpability. Leseprobe One The phone rang and he answered it. Later, when it looked like it was over, he’d think back on that moment and what he could have done different. But that was weeks away, and it was just a phone call. No number came up on caller ID. It was weird, but it happened now and then, somebody calling from a pay phone or using a cheap throwaway. If he had recognized the number—Nick or Duane or Andrew or Yousef or one of the guys from the team—he would have said something that sounded like “’Zup.” If it had been Kate or Tabitha or Felicia or Emma or any girl—even April—he would have said, “Hey.” It wouldn’t have been April, though. It was still too early to say if they’d even get back to being just friends. With no number to recognize, he went with “’Zup?” There was a pause on the other end and the sound of air being sucked through a straw, then two quick clicks, and then a voice, computer generated and pitched low like distant thunder. “Eric Hamilton.” At first he thought it was the library. They had an automated system that called when a book went overdue, and the calls would come around that time in the evening, not so early that it disturbed dinner, not so late that it was rude. But he hadn’t been in any library since June. Besides, their message started friendly before getting into the details. There was nothing friendly in this voice. More clicks, static. “Eric Hamilton.” Somebody screwing around. The stupid kind of thing you did in sixth grade, or the first time you got high. And it wasn’t even funny then. He pressed end, tossed the phone onto his bed, and went back to Gears of War. Ten minutes later, the phone buzzed and he answered without thinking. That hollow air sound, the clicks. “Eric Hamilton.” If he was outside or home alone, he would have rattled off some f-bombs and hung up, but he could hear his mother outside his door, shifting things around in the hall closet, and he didn’t talk like that when she could hear him. And maybe it wasn’t a prank. Ma...
About the author
Charles Benoit's
teen novels include
Cold Calls, Snow Job,Fall from Grace and
You, an American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. A former high school teacher, Charles is also the Edgar-nominated author of three adult mysteries. He lives in Rochester, New York. Visit him on the web at www.charlesbenoit.com or follow him on Twitter (@BenoitTheWriter).
