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REVIEW: You Killed Welsey Payne by Sean Beaudoin

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Description

He’s come to do a job.
A job that involves a body.
A body wrapped in duct tape found hanging from the goal posts at the end of the football field.

You Killed Wesley Payne is a truly original and darkly hilarious update of classic pulp-noir, in which hard-boiled seventeen year-old Dalton Rev transfers to the mean hallways of Salt River High to take on the toughest case of his life. The question isn’t whether Dalton’s going to get paid. He always gets paid. Or whether he’s gonna get the girl. He always (sometimes) gets the girl. The real question is whether Dalton Rev can outwit crooked cops and killer cliques in time to solve the mystery of “The Body” before it solves him.

Sean Beaudoin (Going Nowhere Faster, Fade to Blue) evokes the distinctive voices of legendary crime/noir authors Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson with a little bit of Mean Girls and Heathers throwin in for good measure. It’ll tease you, please you, and never ever leave you. Actually, that’s not true. It’s only a book. One that’s going to suck you in, spit you out, and make you shake hands with the devil. Probably.

About the Author

Sean Beaudoin is the author of Going Nowhere Faster. and Fade to Blue. He lives in Seattle with his wife and daughter.

Details

  • Reading level: Young Adult
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (February 1, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316077429
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316077422

SOURCE:  PUBLISHER

MY THOUGHTS
LOVED IT

I never recommend reading the last page first, but for this book, that is a must! The last few pages of the book condense all of the characters into an easy to follow form.  There are so many cliques and factions to follow that it makes the reading so much more pleasurable when you know exactly who is doing what to whom.

This is a crime caper that takes place in an alternative universe where bribes with school officials are common place and  crime is the name of the game in high school.  I think this will appeal to boys who are difficult to please.  It is told with such snark and sarcasm that I was in heaven.  The characters are something out of cartoon and this would probably make an excellent movie.

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Comments

  2. I’ve read nothing but good things about this book. I thought it sounded great so I went and requested it from the library. Hope I enjoy it as much as you did.