I don't read many psychological thrillers, so I was excited to give this novel, Bad Call by Stephen Wallenfels, a chance. It is a YA novel, and defnitely has the writing style of that particular age group. This story follows main characters Colin, Ceo, Grahame and Ellie as they are camping in Yosemite National Park. Through a series of unfortunate events, they end up trying to survive the elements and the mystery that surrounds a missing member of their party. I did think this book would be more thrilling and suspensful, but it as enjoyable for me. However, again, I am not too familiar with this genre so it was good for me and enjoyable.

This has to be a joke.
*SPOILER*

So, the explanation for all that shit going down was that someone decided to become a serial killer a la Jason for no reason other than he could? A perfectly normal guy until the moment they were stuck in the middle of nowhere? How does this crap get greenlighted for publication?

3.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. This isn't the best ya survival novel I have ever read, but it's a solid one. I recommend it for those looking for a quick, suspenseful read and who don't mind if the plot is lacking in depth. It's an especially good choice for after a heavier read.

This story read like a classic slasher/horror film, but was different enough it kept me on my toes the whole time and didn't end the way I expected it to.

This one was not for me. I read YA and often enjoy it, but this one didn't capture any of those wonderful reminiscent emotions. It also had a feel of little rich boy I couldn't relate to, and the characters were difficult to care about. I slogged through it becasue I wanted to know what happened, but for such a quick an easy read it took me entirely too long because I kept putting it off. Maybe it has an audience, but not me unfortunately.

While I very much thank the publisher for the approval on this title, it was unfortunately not a good fit for me. I did, however, add it to Goodreads, so that others may see it and find it more in line with their tastes.

The three star tennis players at an exclusive California boarding school break the rules to take a secret weekend camping trip to Yosemite. Ceo, the charismatic playboy of the group, arranges the trip, luring his teammates into a quest to hike the rugged trails of the national park and hopefully find the remnants of a drug smuggler’s plane that crashed in the 70s. Unknown to Colin and Grahame, Ceo has also arranged for a girl he met at a summer drama camp to join them. Ellie, a soccer stand out and aspiring artist, takes a risk and skips out on a college visit to take this spur of the moment adventure with her summertime crush. As the four arrive in Yosemite Valley, the unpredictable late fall weather and simmering tensions between the boys threaten their weekend plans and their lives. The story is told from the perspectives of Colin and Ellie, who are the heart and conscience of the tale. The strained relationship between the wealthy and manipulative Ceo, scholarship student Colin whose father has just died, and Grahame, an athletic powerhouse with a competitive grudge against Ceo, is revealed through flashbacks of the past school year. The story starts slow, establishing the characters’ connection, but quickly builds in suspense as the trip turns into a harrowing survival tale. Recommended for fans of adventure fiction.

I did not finish this title. I didn't get drawn into the story and didn't particularly like any of the characters based off of what I did read.

This book was fine. Really, just fine. I was not sure what to expect going into it, other than it being a survivalist read with a creepy, thriller undertone. And maybe if I were in my teens instead of mid twenties I would have enjoyed this more. The story and characters just felt a little juvenile for my taste and quite frankly just got on my nerves. While I can see how this might be scary to some, it really did nothing for me. It reminded me more of a ghost story that you'd tell around a campfire with your friends, rather than a piece of literature. Fun, but just not for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to read and review before it was archived. Reviews will be posted as titles are read.

This book was nothing like what i was expecting, and this time, it wasn’t a good thing. The storyline had alot of good potential. Survival. Jealousy. Betrayal. Danger. Everything that should have made it awesome, but it didn’t work. Not for me anyways. I was bored for maybe 90% of the time and when thing started gettinh exciting, it still felt too meh to fully grab my attention. Add to this extremely annoying characters and you just lost me. I kept reading because i really wanted to see where this story was goind and hopefully see a ending that would save the whole plot.

But it didn’t.

But i kept reading anyways…so, i guess something in this book worked, because my curiosity won.

Overall, i really can’t recommend this one. it just didn’t work well for

me.

Operation Cannabis Cove turns deadly

Three male seniors from the Chandler Gates Academy, a private well-to-do high school, fake their way into going on a weekend camping trip to Yosemite. All three are on the tennis team but there the similarities end. Colin is from Vermont and only attending the Academy because of a Needs-Based Scholarship. Ceo is rich and handsome and has his choice of girls. Grahame is also well-to-do and in constant rivalry with Ceo.

Also along on the trip is a girl, Ellie, that Ceo met at a theater arts workshop and asks along. For some reason she says yes to a weekend camping with three guys.

Ill prepared for the weekend trip, things start going bad from the beginning and head downhill from there.

I enjoyed this fast-paced story told from Colin and Ellie's points of view. It kept me interested from beginning to end.

Also, this is advertised as a book for young readers ages 12-18 but it might be a bit intense for some younger readers. There are references to sex, cannabis, and there is violence in the book.

I received this book from Disney Hyperion through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read the book and leave an unbiased review.

'Bad Call' is a young adult survival/adventure story that fans of the genre will surely enjoy. I was under the impression that it was going to be more mystery/thriller as well, but that part fell flat, which left the book lacking for me. Don't get me wrong - the story is well done with complex characters, an interesting plot with lots of action and deadly survival scenarios. I just personally wish there would have been more thriller included. It would've made a big difference in my experience. On top of the great descriptions and vivid imagery, the author wrote the book in my favorite style - first person with the bonus of multiple characters' points of view. I love when stories are written this way because it allows the reader a deeper connection with the characters and you can usually invest more into the story. I think the author picked the perfect writing style for the novel and it made a huge plus for me personally. Although this one wasn't quite what I was hoping for or expecting, it was still a good book with lots of great aspects. I recommend it to fans of YA contemporary, action, adventure, and survival stories.

Bad Call is harsh, oddly funny, a bit cynical, and totally unsettling. What made it feel really creepy was the little things leading up to the action. It was a slow pace that built suspense with little things that felt off.

“Tell me you’re not seriously thinking about hauling a freaking fifteen-pound ax on a twenty-mile hike?” Grahame grins into the rearview, says, “I wasn’t.” … this was the line where I knew that Bad Call was going to be more unsettling then I ever thought it would be. For a long time while reading, lines like this kept me wondering at what exactly was waiting for them on this camping trip. There were a lot of things kept behind closed doors revealed slowly as the story progressed and things began to take on a messier and messier form.

In the end, what was to be a fun trip with friends evolved into something sinister. Sometimes rivalries and good intentions make for a grotesque mess. Mistakes and tensions build to a horrible crescendo in Bad Call. All you have to wonder is who in the end will survive?

When I'm feeling kind, I refer to books of this sort as "man's inhumanity to man". The rest of the time I call them "authors think teens are sociopaths". It has become a trope, teens on a clandestine trip devolving into a bloodbath. Especially when the friendships involved are strained at best. And especially when the author pays special attention to the ax one of the characters brings along. It's trying to be more, a deeper exploration of relationships, but I'm not sure that it succeeds..

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Bad Call by Stephen Wallenfelts.
This is a camping trip gone way wrong and a group of young people find that out pretty quickly.
A trip to Yosemite turns into a nightmare when someone winds up missing, the weather is treacherous, and they are way over their heads.
Found this is geared to a younger reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Disney-Hyperion for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book totally intrigued me from the start. A psychological thriller with 4 teens who go camping but one of them disappears? I couldn’t wait to start reading this one!

The beginning was pretty intriguing. We start getting a little bit of background information about the characters, but not everything all at once which is nice. Because of this the set up of the story took a while but for the most part I didn’t mind because I enjoyed getting the background info; it helped break up the monotony of the set up. But then the 50% mark hit, and the 65% mark hit and still it felt like nothing was happening. I feel like these parts were supposed to maybe make the book more thrilling but I was just getting bored.

The real action didn’t start until about the 70% mark, but even then it wasn’t super thrilling. The character that committed the pivotal act was the only character we had no information on. We have no idea why this character did this particular thing other then it was all because of a girl. I would have liked to know more about this character’s history, his mental state, maybe some scenes from his POV.

I think the ending was very well done. I was nervous how it was all going to wrap up since there were only 20 pages left and they still hadn’t completely gotten out of their bad situation, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall, this book is not my favourite and I wouldn’t recommend it if you were looking for a thriller. If you’re looking for a quick and easy read, however, then I would recommend it. It’s not entirely bad, it just wasn’t as good/thrilling as I was hoping for.

This novel is suspenseful and thrilling with various characters that drive the story along. This book will really only find fans in those looking for a bit of a scare.

This book isn't quite what I thought it was going to be. I thought this was going to be creepier, more suspenseful, and definitely more thrilling. It's not really any of those things. It's a YA novel and it most certainly reads like one and maybe if I were still a teenager I might of liked this more. I found all of the characters pretty annoying. I found the reasons for why they did certain things to be beyond stupid. There was just constant bickering and it was all just very melodramatic. It is a quick read and I did finish it just to see what the conclusion was. All in all, meh.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It starts as a poker bet: Ceo, Colin, Grahame, and Rhody agree to go hiking in Yosemite. In the winter. Except Rhody backs out at the last minute, so Ceo invites Ellie along. Ellie, who doesn’t know she’ll be hiking alone with three guys, and who the guys have never heard of. Ceo is a master manipulator, so this turn of events isn’t a huge surprise to Collin. What is a surprise is the connection he feels with Ellie. With the animosity between Ceo and Grahame rising, soon it’s all Collin and Ellie can do to keep the peace.

Despite warnings from fellow hikers, the group sets off to summit, and finds themselves in the midst of a bad snowstorm, with a leaking Craigslist tent and no food. Trying desperately to survive, they seek to make a camp that will shelter them all from the storm. But one of them does not return, and the circumstances don’t quite add up. In addition to battling the weather, the remaining three will have fight their suspicions—while always watching their backs—if they are to make it off the mountain alive.

I spent most of my reading time for Bad Call wondering why on Earth…1)…did Ellie go hiking in the wilderness with 3 boys, 2 of whom were strangers? 2)…does anyone hang out with Grahame, when he’s such a jerk? 3)…is Collin still friends with Ceo, who totally screwed him over? I had lots of questions about the characters’ motivations, and basically no answers. There was a decent level of suspense, and some chilling bits—creepy and cold—but the characters just didn’t make sense to me.

(Galley provided by Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)