Breaker

by Kat Ellis

Overview

Kyle Henry has a new name, a new school, and a new life — one without the shadow of the Bonebreaker hanging over him. It's been a year since his serial killer father's execution, and it finally looks like things are turning around for Kyle.

Until he recognizes the girl sitting in the back row in homeroom.

Naomi Steadman is immediately intrigued by Killdeer Academy's newcomer. She does not know he is the son of the man who murdered her mother. What she does know is she and Kyle have a connection with each other — and a spark that Kyle continues to back away from.

Soon after Kyle's arrival, the death count on campus starts to rise. Someone is set on finishing what the Bonebreaker started, and murdering ghosts from the past may be the only thing that can stop the spree.

Told in alternating viewpoints, Kat Ellis's tale of mystery and horror is full of broken bonds and new beginnings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762459087
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	05/24/2016
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Kat Ellis is the author of Blackfin Sky, which was a Junior Library Guild selection and a 2015 YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults selection. She currently lives in Denbighshire, North Wales, with her husband and feral cat.

Editorial Reviews

"Spine-chilling and splendidly gory, with a genre-perfect stormy night denouement." —Kirkus Reviews

"Packed full of suspense, red herrings, and creepy taxidermy, this is an intriguing murder mystery and a compelling look at the ties that bind." —Booklist

"Fans of YA thrillers will be hooked from the first page. . . . A standout thriller with a splash of romance." —School Library Journal

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From the Publisher

04/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—Fans of YA thrillers will be hooked from the first page. Told from alternating viewpoints, Kyle's and Naomi's backstories captivatingly unfold to reveal the gruesome connection between the two teens. Kyle has come to Kildeer Academy in an attempt to escape his past. His father—a convicted serial killer nicknamed Bonebreaker because of the vicious bludgeoning of his victims—has been recently executed. In an attempt to make a fresh start, Kyle and his fragile mother move to a different state and establish new identities. At the boarding school, Kyle finds that he is attracted to someone he recognizes from his old life and whose past is as filled with trauma as his own. The feelings are mutual; however, Naomi has no idea that Kyle's father is the one who murdered her mother. While the two teens' attraction grows, disturbing things begin to occur around them, including the appearance of unusual items that are tied to the Bonebreaker. Clearly someone knows the truth about Kyle's past, but who? What will happen when Naomi finds out the truth about Kyle? Suspicious deaths, an urban legend, and red herrings will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the satisfying conclusion. VERDICT A standout thriller with a splash of romance.—Sherry J. Mills, Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis

School Library Journal

2016-02-17
A serial killer's son is drawn to the daughter of his dad's final victim. It's been years since Kyle's dad was convicted for the infamous Bonebreaker murders, and he finally has the chance to escape that legacy. Uncle Coby's somehow wrangled Kyle a place at a Pennsylvania prep school. At Killdeer Academy, he can become Kyle Henry instead of Kyle Henry Bluchevsky, the Bonebreaker's son. Surely it's only a heinous coincidence that his first friend at Killdeer turns out to be Naomi Steadman, the only girl to see the Bonebreaker and live? But it can't be a coincidence that people are dying: a girl falls from the academy roof, and a boy is found hanging in the dark. Killdeer Academy provides a suitably Gothic setting for these new deaths: the ivy-covered turrets, the alcoves populated by dusty taxidermic birds, the campus hidden behind iron gates in the deep woods, once a mental institution until arson by inmates in the 1940s left many in the asylum dead. Chapters interleave Kyle's voice with Naomi's (both are white), occasionally interrupted with news clippings, court documents, and other ephemera. These, along with subtle in-story hints (and numerous red herrings) slowly paint a picture of the Bonebreaker's past—and Killdeer's present. Spine-chilling and splendidly gory, with a genre-perfect stormy night denouement: the power cut, the phones out, the corpses revealed by lightning. (Thriller. 12-15)

Kirkus Reviews

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