Saturday 19 August 2017

S.T.A.G.S by M. A. Bennett

Synopsis (from Goodreads

Pages: 294
Publisher: Hot Key Books 
Released: 10th of August 2017 

Nine students. Three bloodsports. One deadly weekend.

It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. Just when she despairs of making friends Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin'. When Greer learns that the invitation is to spend the half term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S., she is as surprised as she is flattered.

But when Greer joins the other chosen few at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, she realises that Henry's parents are not at home; the only adults present are a cohort of eerily compliant servants. The students are at the mercy of their capricious host, and, over the next three days, as the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying realisation that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school...

What I Have to Say 

There are few books that can keep me up and reading late into the night these days. STAGS was the first one in a while, but it was just so good. I didn't want to stop reading, even when I knew there would be a while before the action got really good again. 

It was all just so ominous. Even when Greer was trusting Henry and putting the "accidents" that happened down to just bad luck, there was this background sense that they were being toyed with. I'm not sure how much that's because of what it says in the synopsis. If the synopsis left us questioning more over whether they are just genuinely accidents, would it have felt so ominous? It would be something I'd like to know. 

I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters.  The friendship that formed between the three victims and the way that they barely knew each other before, but being in the house drew them closer together. 

After the way it ended, I'm really hoping for a sequel. 


My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing me with this copy for review. 

1 comment:

  1. I'm really intrigued by this one, I've been hearing good things lately. Not usually the type of book I'd pick up but I think I could be swayed :)

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