Title: wtf
Author: Peter Lerangis
ISBN: 978-1416913603
Story Length: 272 pages
Genre: Young Adult Action/Adventure

Back Cover of wtf

ONE PLAN, TWO PARTIES, SIX PLAYERS:

Jimmy: the driver
Cam: the connect
Byron: the know-it-all
Waits: the supplier
Reina: the conscience
MC: the crasher

On one Friday night these six will test their limits to the extreme. Some are driven by lust, others by greed. One just wants to have fun, and another desires to be free. If everything goes as planned, they all get what they want. But within twenty-four hours, bones will break, bodies will touch, hearts will race, guns will be drawn, and everything will go oh so very wrong.

Three Quick Points About wtf

• Point 1: Ultimate in mental junk food. It’s like a McD’s Big Mac with extra cheese and special sauce with bacon piled on top and no lettuce or pickles.
• Point 2: There’s no room to breathe. It felt like being trapped in the passenger seat of a high octane sports car with a brick on the accelerator.
• Point 3: Darkly comical. I laughed a few times, but I had to wonder whether or not I was supposed to and if it made me a bad person because I did.

Short Synopsis of wtf

The shenanigans of six prep school teenagers over the course of one night involving a car accident with a deer, drug deals gone wrong, and horny couples hooking up in front of strangers.

My Thoughts on wtf

I’ll admit that I had no idea what to expect from this book—the back cover blurb is ambiguous enough to keep me in the dark, but intriguing enough to pique my curiosity.

From the first page the story flies. Though there are some lulls, it never slows down. This equates to a fast read—easily done in a single sitting—but the downside is that it leaves little time to process or digest the unfolding story.

Each chapter is time-stamped and  alternates between the perspectives of the individual students. It’s very much like watching a movie put together in short vignettes. And although there was plenty of action, it wasn’t the typical bombs exploding or rapid fire shoot-outs, it was more quirky action.

To give an example, there’s a scene where one of the guys needs to get something out of a dead deer’s mouth. When he gets back to the scene of the accident, he spots someone loading up the deer and driving away. He follows and right when he thinks he’s going to get what he needed, he’s looking down the barrel of a shotgun. (You’re probably trying to process the part about something being stuffed in a dead deer’s mouth, huh?)

While the book pushes you forward, it reveals how each of the characters are connected. There was even a dark twist at the end that tied everything up, but the happily-ever-after style ending felt contrived.

As far as quick fun reads go, this gets the job done. It truly is a romp. Just don’t expect any compelling character development or an earth-shattering plot. You’d probably enjoy this book if you enjoy movies in the style of Ocean’s Eleven, Snatch, or Get Shorty.

Rating: Worth Every Penny [PB] [B] (?)