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Today, Lily's Reviews welcomes Lucienne Diver with a guest post about her new release: The Countdown Club
Welcome, Ms. Diver!
The Countdown Club is the story of five kids with little in common, all of whom receive notes with expiration dates⸻telling them they have Two Days to Die or Six Days to Die or… There’s already a forensics club at the school, formed largely to investigate an old case where the uncle of one of the members was convicted of a murder he may not have committed. Some of those threatened even have connections to the club, and the rest join up to try to find the killer before he picks them off one by one.
I chose two of the five as POV characters: Rayna Butler and Jack Harkness, who couldn’t be more different if they tried. Rayna is an artsy girl with blue hair who prefers to see the beauty in the world and tune out the darkness…until it comes for her. Jack doesn’t have nearly her idyllic life or view of the world. He was a different kid once, but that kid is long gone. When his brother Eric became sick with leukemia, his mother retreated into the bottle, his father became a ticking time-bomb, overloaded with anger, and Jack became both parent and punching bag. To introduce Jack the way he’s introduced in the book:
Shit, shit, shit. He was going to be late. Again. He didn't give two craps about that, but if the school called home to report him as tardy or a skip, his father would use it as yet another excuse for a beating. Not that Dad ever needed an excuse.
But every beating got Jack closer to using the bug-out bag he'd been stuffing for the last nine months—stealing change left on the counter, hoping it wouldn't be missed, shaking down kids here and there for their lunch money, once even grabbing a twenty sitting out in the open on a teacher's desk. That had been risky, but the risk had paid off, and he'd certainly needed it more than Mr. Jorgenson.
He'd have bugged out already if it weren't for his little brother. Jack knew he'd do okay on the street by himself. He was tough and good-looking. Women wanted him. Not arrogance, just fact. Whether they thought he was older or just didn't care, he'd had enough eyelashes batted and phone numbers slipped to him that he had no delusions there. He was sure he could find a soft heart out there somewhere. Women loved a bad boy. But Eric...he couldn't leave him behind undefended, and he couldn’t bring him along. His brother wouldn't do well out in the world. He needed medical treatment and health insurance and all kinds of things Jack couldn't give him.
As you can see, the last thing Jack needs is one more worry, like a note telling him that he has Twelve Days To Die. Suddenly, his brother’s life isn’t the only one hanging in the balance. He doesn’t take it all that seriously at first; he doesn’t figure it’s anything he can’t handle.
Until the first death, right on schedule.
He needs to solve the mystery and stop the murders. For himself, but most of all so that he can be there for Eric.
Maybe a little bit for Maria, the good girl he’s always known wasn’t for him. And if he didn’t know, she’s made it clear enough. Until they’re thrown together in the killer’s crosshairs, and finally have something in common.
The other Meddlers (members of the forensics club)…well, I hope you’ll pick up The Countdown Club and that you’ll get to meet them. Rayna, Reggie, Grace, Kali, Charlie, Evan. Those meddling kids.
The Countdown Club sounds like a very interesting read. Thank you, Ms. Diver, for stopping by and sharing.
The book is available at the following locations:
Barnes & Noble (Nook and paperback formats)
Amazon (Kindle format)
Books-a-Million (paperback format)
Welcome, Ms. Diver!
The Countdown Club is the story of five kids with little in common, all of whom receive notes with expiration dates⸻telling them they have Two Days to Die or Six Days to Die or… There’s already a forensics club at the school, formed largely to investigate an old case where the uncle of one of the members was convicted of a murder he may not have committed. Some of those threatened even have connections to the club, and the rest join up to try to find the killer before he picks them off one by one.
I chose two of the five as POV characters: Rayna Butler and Jack Harkness, who couldn’t be more different if they tried. Rayna is an artsy girl with blue hair who prefers to see the beauty in the world and tune out the darkness…until it comes for her. Jack doesn’t have nearly her idyllic life or view of the world. He was a different kid once, but that kid is long gone. When his brother Eric became sick with leukemia, his mother retreated into the bottle, his father became a ticking time-bomb, overloaded with anger, and Jack became both parent and punching bag. To introduce Jack the way he’s introduced in the book:
Shit, shit, shit. He was going to be late. Again. He didn't give two craps about that, but if the school called home to report him as tardy or a skip, his father would use it as yet another excuse for a beating. Not that Dad ever needed an excuse.
But every beating got Jack closer to using the bug-out bag he'd been stuffing for the last nine months—stealing change left on the counter, hoping it wouldn't be missed, shaking down kids here and there for their lunch money, once even grabbing a twenty sitting out in the open on a teacher's desk. That had been risky, but the risk had paid off, and he'd certainly needed it more than Mr. Jorgenson.
He'd have bugged out already if it weren't for his little brother. Jack knew he'd do okay on the street by himself. He was tough and good-looking. Women wanted him. Not arrogance, just fact. Whether they thought he was older or just didn't care, he'd had enough eyelashes batted and phone numbers slipped to him that he had no delusions there. He was sure he could find a soft heart out there somewhere. Women loved a bad boy. But Eric...he couldn't leave him behind undefended, and he couldn’t bring him along. His brother wouldn't do well out in the world. He needed medical treatment and health insurance and all kinds of things Jack couldn't give him.
As you can see, the last thing Jack needs is one more worry, like a note telling him that he has Twelve Days To Die. Suddenly, his brother’s life isn’t the only one hanging in the balance. He doesn’t take it all that seriously at first; he doesn’t figure it’s anything he can’t handle.
Until the first death, right on schedule.
He needs to solve the mystery and stop the murders. For himself, but most of all so that he can be there for Eric.
Maybe a little bit for Maria, the good girl he’s always known wasn’t for him. And if he didn’t know, she’s made it clear enough. Until they’re thrown together in the killer’s crosshairs, and finally have something in common.
The other Meddlers (members of the forensics club)…well, I hope you’ll pick up The Countdown Club and that you’ll get to meet them. Rayna, Reggie, Grace, Kali, Charlie, Evan. Those meddling kids.
The Countdown Club sounds like a very interesting read. Thank you, Ms. Diver, for stopping by and sharing.
The book is available at the following locations:
Barnes & Noble (Nook and paperback formats)
Amazon (Kindle format)
Books-a-Million (paperback format)
