I want a Gavin for myself, so obviously I have a problem! Damn, you sexy villain!

I found this book very difficult to follow. You know those cartoons that have a hallway, lined on booth sides with doors? Then you have a bunch of people coming in at one door, but going out the other? It was pretty much like that for me,all the way trough.

The reason of my mass confusion were constant vague transitions between scenes. One minute you are dealing with one group of characters, and before you know it you started dealing with the other, but you weren't sure just how the transition took place or when.

The second thing was speech patterns throughout the novel. Gavin is a very intelligent, eloquent young man. He has a specific way with words, and that was one of his major distinguishing characteristics in the previous novel. The author herself has a unique way of intertwining her descriptions and up to so far both complimented each other greatly. Until now. The characters all managed to sound like the same, think the same, experience the same things equally. Add to it the vague transitions and you have a massive question mark as a result.

I loved the general idea of this novel, a party turned sinister. The concept was brilliant, but the problem was execution. Campbell usually has her characters defined and acting age-appropriately, but here it seems as if there was just to many of them to manage successfully.

When you have high school seniors, and college kids about, one thing is guaranteed, attitude. These kids acted like a bunch of five year olds all stuffed together for a sleepover. There wasn't any logic to majority of their actions.

There have been some massive oversights as well: Val hasn't been present in the room when game two was announced, yet she new to look for the chess pieces....and such.

This novel has so much potential,but the entire thing needs to go back to the drawing board.

The thing that kept all of this afloat was the progression in Gavin's instability. It sets the stage for the culmination of the story on a whole new level. Looking forward to that.

Ms. Campbell ratchets up the creep factor in this second book in the Horrorscape series. Gavin, or GM, as he calls himself, has turned freakish whack job into an art form. I know the book is a chess game, but to this reader, it kind of felt like playing Clue with Hannibal Lector: You know who did it (or is going to do it) but you have to figure out which weapon and in what room.

Val has grown up a bit but still suffers PTSD from the mental trauma inflicted by Gavin her freshman year. With some reticence, Val agrees to go to a party with her boyfriend and a couple of friends. Soon after arriving, she realizes the host is not who he seems. GM is Gavin, although his appearance is different than when she last saw him. He has invited two sets of kids (teams)- one set wearing white and one set wearing black. Then the chess game begins.

As the game wears on, the players all realize that GM is playing for real and that their lives are in danger. Val and her friends must get out of that house and away from GM as soon as they can. GM's overconfidence in his ability to seduce Val and his misinterpretation of her wants is his ultimate downfall. The ending leaves possibilities wide open for book three.(less)

Valerian is a young, rather naive teenager who is being stalked. Even though it's fairly obvious who her stalker is from the get-go, she lives in a world of denial about it. Maybe it's because of her young age (she's fourteen and admittedly innocent), that she cannot reconcile the high school TA of her art class to the threatening fb messages and disturbing "gift" in her gym locker. The imagery of a chess game and the hunter stalking its prey is very appropriate, but to this reader, another type of character is brought to mind. Lolita.

For a good part of the book, Val fights her gut feeling that he is dangerous and intends to harm her despite numerous warning signs. Her friend Lisa, flat-out tells him stay away and lets her know his nick name- "Hit List Guy". But like Lolita, Val is attracted to him. She even pursues him to an extent.

...I've been hunting you this whole time, waiting for you to stray from the path. But you-you came into the woods after me."

While Humbert Humbert of Lolita is quite a bit older than Gavin, Gavin speaks like someone in his thirties rather than in high school. Part of the reason Val can't believe her stalker is Gavin is due to the fact that on Facebook he sounds like an older man or someone from a different time period. That's where the similarities end, though. While Humbert Humbert tries to blame Lolita for his pedophilia, Gavin is completely cognizant of what he's doing and what a threat he is to Val. As far as I can tell, he never lies about his intentions. Even when she asks him directly about Facebook, he gives a non-answer, instead of a deceitful one. This reader tends to believe that he would have admitted to being a stalker if Val had asked him directly.

The adults in this story are quivering balls of ineptitude. Their absence/negligence gives Gavin free reign to hunt Val. (view spoiler)

Of course all of this is a great set up for a sequel. This book is a definite page turner and much like a horror movie, I found myself screaming at Val. "Don't go in there! Stop! Do you want to die?" The cover design of the chessboard is perfect. Moral of the story-listen to your gut, and your friend, Lisa.