The lifeguards at North Beach Country Club know they’re lucky. While other kids are flipping burgers, they’re sunning themselves by day and partying by night. So what if some people say the place is cursed, haunted. This is the life!

And then, one by one, the lifeguards start to die horrible deaths. Someone—or something— evil is stalking them. They all know how to save other people’s lives…but who will save theirs?

This is probably one of the hardest reviews I’ll have to write for this series. On one hand, the book contained a lot of really smart and creative ways to keep you guessing about who is really responsible for the murders. Time and time again, you get insight from the killer as them self and as who they are pretending to be. And yet, until it gets revealed, you have no clue. In fact, they are one of the characters I never suspected in this book. That’s a fantastic feat in itself.

But, on the other hand, the book hardly lives up to the previous super chiller I read. The plot was flimsy and the characters were really underdeveloped. It’s the same length as a typical Fear Street novel, which leaves little room to truly explore what the hell is going on. It’s obvious that something is up with Lindsay, but it’s not until you are more than 100 pages into the book that they even begin to explore what it could possibly be.

Also, I know there are those people who can move on quickly after the death of someone they know. But the gruesome nature of the first murder leaves me wondering how these teenagers even managed to stay in that house. And yet, two days later, it’s as if nothing has happened? Really? I can let go of my sense of disbelief for some things, but this is ridiculous and impossible to ignore. These are supposed to be super chillers and while there was some great potential for a great addition to this series, this particular book just fell really short on the execution.

Rating

Amazon

Pick up your copy on Amazon: The Dead Lifeguard by R.L. Stine