Did you ever think an abandoned mall could feel claustrophobic? I certainly didn’t before reading this book but now I’m a believer. I love creepy abandoned places so when I heard there was a ya slasher (although nobody was actually killed by stabbing) set in a movie theater and mall the last day it was ever open I knew I had to pick it up. It didn’t disappoint. The tension is high from the very beginning bc our main female mc is very cautious around guns (and with a huuuuuge hero complex) due to past trauma. But don’t worry, like any good teen slasher the action picks up pretty quickly.

What plays out next is a great combo of tension and claustrophobia waiting to see what happens next (which is definitely the scariest part of scary movies/stories imo) and action. The abandoned mall turns into a truly terrifying house of horrors as the MCs try to find a way out while avoiding a man who’s clearly had a mental break.

I enjoyed the formatting of the book too. Most of it is from Jo’s perspective but every now and then you get newspaper reports and letters from the aftermath and bits and pieces of a letter written by one of the MCs about that night.

If you take this book for what it is, a fun ya thriller, you will definitely enjoy the ride.

This book was interesting from the beginning to the end! I couldn’t put it down I needed to know what was going to happen in the end!

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and were not affected by the free copy.

It's Jo's last day at the theater, and she and her co-workers are finishing up their final shift before heading off for pancakes. But after the lights go out and Jo finds the body of her co-worker, all they can do is try to survive. And in an abandoned mall, with boarded up exists and hiding spots for all, survival looks less and less likely.

I loved the premise; the execution, not so much. We know from the beginning who the murderer is, and strongly suspect the motive, which leaves little to puzzle out. Unfortunately, I didn't make any super strong connections with any of the characters, though I did like the PTSD representation with Jo. The pacing was pretty well done, I didn't ever get so bored I struggled to finish the book.

All in all, it's fine, but not for me.

Natalie D. Richards has done it again, I’ve read every book she has brought out and I loved each and every one.

Four found dead starts off with Joe and her coworkers getting ready to close up the movie theatre for the final time, the manager Clayton is a hot headed bully and we witness him and his wife arguing before they each storm off then the lights go out and the suspense really kicks off.

This book has a very adrenaline feeling to it, you are rooting for the characters but you’re also wondering who is going to be the four who are killed. The premise and storyline were suspenseful and it was a fast paced read which keeps you engaged. The characters were well written and some I particularly rooted for especially Naomi and Joe.

Definitely a quick read but a well written thrill/suspense read that’ll keep you going to the end.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Sourcebooks Fire for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel mixed about Four Found Dead.
While it was a quick read and I finished it quickly.
I just couldn't stand the characters which made me struggle to finish the book.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really like Natalie D. Richards' writing style. It's quick and easy and pulls you in. Now, I'm all for a story that gets right to the point but in this case, I wish we'd gotten to know the characters a little bit more before the action started. Most of them were flat while the killer was over the top. I also struggled with visualizing the mall, despite the detail given to it. Overall, it was still an enjoyable, fast-paced read.

I had been a fan of Natalie Richards since she had first started writing these thriller young adult novels. Unfortunately, I feel like the quality of the plot, characters, and writing has gone down. I find myself unable to continue through with this novel. Richards used to be a must read author for myself, I would look forward to her new releases but I can't get into them anymore.

This book had a lot of potential to be a really good thriller and honestly , I thought this was going to go way better than it did.

I loved how we know from the start four people would end up dead. It made me wonder the whole time, guessing who the four will be, so that was a great premise because it makes you want to read to see what happens.

But the fact that we also knew who the killer was from the start took away all the excitement. And a couple of "surprises" we got were not at all surprising, you could spot them very easily, and they were pretty predictable after a while.

The writing was rather repetitive, which was kind of frustrating. At the half way point I kind of lost interest was honestly kind looking to finish it to just finish it.

Although I still did like it, the premise was good and the writing was good as well.

I have read every other book by Natalie D. Richards and they have all been fantastic. This book is no exception. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book and when I thought I knew what was going to happen.... something totally different happened. I absolutely love this book.

Do you like your book with lots of suspense, a storyline that makes you hold your breath, a who-done-it where you know mid-way through the book who the bad guy is but there’s nothing you can do to save the others?

This is that book. I was hooked from page one. This is the book that I literally started at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and continued to read until I was done. Yes, I was reading on my Kindle at 2:30 in the morning.

The main characters are every boy and every girl you’ve ever met. The bad guy is someone you knew, maybe even know now. It’s that guy that makes you a little uneasy, a little uncomfortable, the guy you know you don’t want to have anything to do with, but you don’t know why.

The setting is amazing, an old abandoned mall that’s been shut down and boarded up, and the author’s descriptions are so visual that you’re there, you’re actually there. This book would make an awesome movie!

There were parts of this book where I was holding my breath, waiting to see what was going to happen. If you like thrillers and suspenseful reads, I highly recommend Four Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.


This book was a bit of a letdown for me, sadly.
From the start, we know who is the murderer and that takes away a lot of the mystery and appeal. There are a couple of twists here and there but I was able to correctly guess some of them very early into the story, which made the reading experience not as exciting, since there was very little to unveil.
I had a personal problem with the situation of the MC. She wants to be a doctor and there is a lot of pressure from herself and others to be calm, collected and act in certain situations. I get that, but she is not even in a premed program! As a healthcare worker I wouldn’t expect most of the first-year students to understand how to act in situations like those. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great MC has the initiative and drive. The situation was critical and they had limited resources, I understand. But it was weird how much they focused on that.

Now, the bright side of the books: It’s a page turner! It keeps you hooked!
I think the plot is logical and the author does great work setting the events into motion, explaining the problems and patching up any plot holes. You feel trapped inside the mall with all the characters.
The setting is amazing. It gives great slasher vibes and I would like to see and adaptation in the form of a limited series or a streaming movie. It has a Fear Street movie kind of vibe.

I would recommend this book no anyone looking for a quick read.

A fast-paced thriller joining the already stellar lineup of Natalie Richards. A diverse cast of characters will have you rooting for survival even when you already know there will only be carnage! For fans of Stephanie Perkins, this will keep you on the edge of your seat.

It is the last night for the movie theater to be open and the last thing Joe and her coworkers want to do is watch her bully Manager Clayton argue with his wife but that’s exactly what happens. It isn’t bad enough that earlier he tried to intimidate Hudson and acted like he was going to fight him over something stupid. when he finally finishes arguing with his wife Joe decides since she has the least friction with Clayton she will go and asked to get their cell phones out of the safe but before she can do that the lights go out. After they realize they’re not coming back on Joe Here’s heavy footsteps coming from the hallway where the managers office and the staff locker rooms are.. She think it may be Clayton or one of the girls who went back there earlier but when the footsteps pass her up and despite her calling out their names no one answers she gets a kill down her spine. She remembers they have flashlights in the office and so her, Hudson, Naomi and Quincy make their way in the dark to the hallway. After finding the flashlights they go to check on the girls in the locker room but when they find one of them dead with summer crying saying Clayton did it I don’t know what to think and Joe hasn’t even told them she saw that Clayton had a gun in the back of his pants earlier. This is the beginning of a night of terror. You would think that knowing who the killer is would take away from the tension, but knowing who were stocking the kids to me only made it worse. I love horror and have been reading a lot of horror lately and this would have to be at the top of my list for my favorite horror books this year. I think Natalie D Richards really knows how to build up the tension I really enjoyed this book and highly recommended if you love tension filled horror as opposed to jump scares you love Four Found Dead I certainly did. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The cinema manager and employees are cleaning after the final showing. The cinema will join the rest of the boarded up mall and torn down.
All goes smooth until a Parton comes to the door, a quarrel breaks out with the manager.
Things get bad fast as the worker try and stay both safe and alive. But how do you stay alive when you don’t know who the killer is?
Oh, and the phones are all locked in a safe, most of the story takes place in darkness and one character has past trauma.

If your a fan of scary movies you’ll love this one.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in advance for an honest opinion.
This is a tense story from start to finish.

Firstly I do wanna thank net galley and the publishers for giving me an arc of good book it was quick moving very quick paced I was constantly on my toes throughout this entire book there was a lot of twists that didn't see coming The characters were wrote very well the plot lived moves steadily I finished it in one sitting I do how they recommend this to anyone who typically reads YA or new adult thrillers it was very good. I really enjoyed it and that is why I gave it 4 stars

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. When you read a Natalie D. Richards book, you know that you'll be in for a ride. I absolutely love this author, every single one of her books is unique, and adrenalin-inducing. You stay engaged throughout the whole fast-paced story, and the characters are ones that you can feel a connection to, even when you don't love them because they're so well rounded. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

The book started out very promising and the setting was marvelous. Unfortunately i started to lose interest soon and found the characters poorly written. Towards the end it was ok and the scenes were well described but I can’t give it more than 2,5 stars because it failed to keep my attention. It had a lot of potential though.

2.5 ⭐

To be honest, I thought this was going to go way better than it did.

The story had a great premise, and I loved how we know from the start four people would end up dead. It made me wonder the whole time, guessing who the four will be.

But the fact that we also knew who the killer was from the start took away a lot of excitement. And a couple of "surprises" we got were not at all surprising, you could spot them from miles away.

I also didn't like how repetitive the writing was. Many punches were repeated again and again and again, and because of it they quickly lost their impact, but we still had to go through them a couple hundred more times.

If you want to see my more in-depth review, you can check it out on my book blog NovelOnMyMind.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Four Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards in exchange for an honest review.

A quick & fast paced read. Some of the characters were likeable, especially Naomi.

It really wasn’t that hard to discern what was happening and why. Jo freezing when she sees the weapon and not telling anyone was so irritating. I understand she had PTSD, but really this probably could’ve all been avoided if she spoke up. Or if Quincy had shared what he saw previously in the locker room.

Definitely give it a read. I felt it definitely fell under more YA or New Adult than a General/Mature adult category.

Thank you the NetGalley, the author, and Sourcebooks Fire for a copy.

This was a good read one of my last ones of 2022. I felt encapsulated and almost as if I was there at that one location on that one day and I felt as if I knew who the murderer/bad guy was. The thing to keep you guessing who of those eight will be the four to die. Grab this book if you can it’s worth it for a young adult!