Book Review: You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin

Book: YOU KILLED WESLEY PAYNE
Author: SEAN BEAUDOIN
Genre: CONTEMPORARY YA/MYSTERY
Published: February 2011, LITTLE, BROWN BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

Series: none
Source: Publicist, no compensation given for honest review


From Good Reads:
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.

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.

My Review:
The first few pages of YOU KILLED WESLEY PAYNE is a key for all the cliques that exist in this novel. Usually it's the type of thing that I kinda skim over. I like to go pretty much blind into a book, and I very rarely read anything that gives an "explanation" of the world that I am about to jump into. But, something caught my eye, and seriously, by the time I had finished, I was cringing and laughing and remembering how high school was just like THAT. Except our cliques didn't have clever or obvious names, and it was all girls. Which can be even more brutal than mixed sex. BELIEVE ME.

YOU KILLED WESLEY PAYNE is a fairly fast-paced book that engaged me, all because of Dalton Rev, the main character. This kid is slick and mouthy, while at the same time the person everyone loves to hate. He barges into Salt River High to solve the mystery of The Body (Wesley Payne, if you haven't guessed), and despite his most wanted status he takes his shots and keeps coming back.

This is a book that has inside jokes, slang, and clever double-entendres, but never left me feeling confused or overwhelmed. This book was smart. It was intelligent, and didn't read as "dumbing" down. Dalton Rev's gotta keep up with his -stuff- and so does the reader. It was also funny, shocking, slick, enjoyable, quick-witted and it should appeal to the boy's boys, the smart girls, the young adults, the reluctant readers, and the looking-for-something-fresh book lovers. Read it. Now.

4.5/5 for plot
5/5 for characters
4/5 for language

My Rating:13.5/15 (4.5 stars)

Must Read, if you liked:
Tony Hill and Carol Jordan (series) by Val McDermid
StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce


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Available formats: Print (Hardcover), E-Book