Summary

The work begins with a prologue in the second-person. Scottoline provides commentary that reiterates how trying adolescence can be and notes that “when teenagers get together, something dark can take over” (1). The Prologue sets forth the circumstances around which the plot revolves: a game of Russian Roulette. Chapter One opens with Allie Garvey as an adult, returning to Brandywine Hunt, the planned community in which she grew up. Allie has returned to attend a funeral, and is reminded of her own sister’s untimely death in the process. Yet the true source of her heightened anxiety is seeing those individuals, the “cool kids,” who were present the night of the tragic death (5). Allie resolves to confront them about their shared secret.

Chapter Two begins Part One of the novel, and describes the circumstances surrounding the death of Kyle Gallagher, as well as the...