Freaking chilling! Yes, this is a frightening little piece of work. Sam seems like a decent guy but he knows he’s stuck in a bad situation. The tension builds as Artie and Will are introduced into the story. It’s obvious that Artie has been cowed by Will at some point in the past and Will still holds power over him. Sam is facing two potential aggressors if he doesn’t go along with the program.

Will calls all the shots and he’s got a mean streak. Even offering up a different opinion while talking smack about baseball can land you in a world of hurt. Yet under all that redneck bravado, there’s a darker secret that the three share. Will is one of those perfect antagonists that you enjoy hating on.

In the background, the kids play. This shared dark secret is about to claim another victim, or three, depending on Sam’s next move. This story was full of delicious tension! As the book blurb says, Will has this big secret and figuring it out was just part of the tale. The ending left things a bit open as we never learn the why of the secret and that is part of it’s charm. I as the reader get to come up with my own ideas as to why Will has this secret. The aggressive baseball bat imagery made me think of a popular evil guy on a certain TV show. Scary!

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Brandon Woodall did a good job with this story. He kept all the characters distinct and had a good little kid voice as well. His gruff authoritative voice for Will worked really well. There were no technical issues. ( )