Tag, You’re Dead by Kathryn Foxfield (Scholastic), RRP $19.99 Young Adult ISBN 9-781761-642326
Reviewed by Susan Hancy
One
hundred teenage competitors in a virtual reality game of tag have taken to the
streets of London after dark, vying for £100,000 and the coveted honour of
joining the inner circle of the game master – social media superstar and multi-millionaire,
Anton Fraser. Fans of his games adore him, but Anton hasn’t been seen in public
for over a year. He went underground after the suspicious death of his beautiful
accomplice Rose at one of his alcohol and drug-fuelled house parties. Now he’s
back on the social media scene and this game of tag has been hyped as his
relaunch. Unbeknownst to him, three of the competitors he’s allowed into the
game – Erin, Charlotte and Grayson – are playing for more than just the money
and a prospective job. But when the ghost of Rose takes control of the game,
they’re all playing for their lives.
Told
in sequence from the points of view of Erin, Charlotte and Grayson, Tag,
You’re Dead had me hooked from the start. It’s a classic whodunit
thriller/mystery meets The Hunger Games set in the world of online
gaming. Ultimately, as the reader we want to find out who killed Rose. Was it
her pathetic ex-boyfriend, Grayson, who is still obsessing over her after
having been dumped for Anton months ago? But Grayson has no connection to Anton
and had certainly never been invited to Anton’s house nor one of his parties.
Was
it Charlotte, the younger stepsister of one of Anton’s remaining accomplices?
Charlotte is an online blogger who fantasizes about being Anton’s girlfriend
and she hated Rose with a passion. She was at the party that fateful night and
when Anton passed out drunk on her shoulder, she willingly provided him with an
alibi, even though she couldn’t account for him at the time of the murder.
Or
was it Erin, the online influencer who’s desperate for the prize money to be
able to break free of her possessive, gambling-addicted mother? Nude photos of
Erin that she’d sold to pay her mother’s debts had made their way into Rose’s
possession and the two had argued shortly before Rose’s death. Or was Rose’s
murderer one of the remaining inner-circle accomplices of Anton who have been
helping him run the tag competition and have been equally blindsided by the
ghost of Rose?
Overall,
the narrative from the three points of view keeps the story face-paced and
exciting. Often the point of view switch happens mid-action scene, and
occasionally I had to re-read parts to remember who was doing what. But the
character motivations are well setup and the plot kept me guessing to the end.
I highly recommend to anyone from 13 years and up as your next page-turner.
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