Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help – but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something...but he's not the only one with a secret.
Review: Deadly Little Secret is the first novel of the Touch series written by Laurie Stolarz. The book is written in Camelia's (the main character) point of view.
It all starts with the main character, Camelia, being pushed out of the way of a reckless driver by a mysterious, handsome stranger. At first it was an average "hero saves the damsel" scene, but then the stranger makes an odd gesture. He touched Camelia's stomach and lingers there for a moment. Before she or anyone else can get answer about his odd behavior, he darts, leaving the scene and Camelia behind.
When the new school year start, the guy who saved Camelia is now enrolled into her high school. She learned his name was Ben Carter, he used to be home schooled and rumor has it he murdered his girlfriend by shoving her off a cliff one day while they were on a hike.The students play a number of cruel jokes on Ben for the accusation he carried around. They called him "murder" and other harsh names that would send an average bullied person running.
Camelia, though, can't help but feel a connection between herself and Ben ever since he saved her life and touched her on the stomach. Shortly after Ben's arrival at their school, Camelia begins to receive photos (of herself), gifts and threatening notes from a stalker. At first she thinks it's just another prank her friends have pulled, but then later realizes there is more to it then that.
The plot line of this book is basically surrounded by the fact Camelia is being stalked by someone who is overly obsessed about her. What really got me into the book was that you actually got to read the journal of the stalker. I loved getting into the mind of the antagonist and seeing how his/her mind worked. Plus it really keep me guessing on who the stalker was and in the end the journal entries threw me way off, which ended the book with an awesome element of surprise.
I liked the connection between Camelia and Ben. Ben wasn't really the DARK, mysterious kind of guy you seen in a lot of books these days. If he had been, I feel like Camelia would have just liked him out of rebellion or trying live on edge like a lot a teen girls we see in books. He was a more timid and quiet character but could still beat someone to a pulp if needed.
Kimmie and Wes, Camelia's two best friends, provided great comic relief. They were your average teens with nonstop, humorous comebacks and I loved laughing along with them. While they don't exactly provide Camelia with the most helpful advice on Ben and the stalker, I still really like them as good secondary characters.
I really liked this book and when the suspense rose and rose, I found myself turning around to see if anyone was stalking me. The characters and the plot line were well developed AND unique. It was a perfect combination of romance, humor and suspense all in one and the ending was far from forgettable.
Check out the other books Laurie Stolarz has written at her website:
Can't wait to read this! Sounds awesome!
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