If I Die Tonight

Author: Alison Gaylin

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Release Date: March 6, 2018

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Things are never as open and shut as they seem!

The quiet town of Havenkill, New York rarely sees any action. In fact, the most action that Officer Pearl Maze has seen has been when dealing with some teenagers who were pool hopping in the dark.  But that all changes one stormy night when a washed up 80s pop music icon crashes through the police station doors claiming that someone hijacked her precious green jaguar and then ran over a teenage boy.

As Liam Miller fights for his life, the town’s teenagers take to social media. Liam traverses from being a spoiled rich kid to all American small town hero.  And those who were ever opposed to the status quo start to become a target.  Can the state police get to the bottom of the case?  Was it the pop star?  Could it be another teenage boy who ran Liam over?  As Pearl works to find the truth, even one of her fellow officers begins to ignore the facts and trust his gut.  The ugliness of social media is brought on full display for all of Havenkill to see.

After reading this book, I’m wondering why I have never picked up an Alison Gaylin book before. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was quickly hooked and couldn’t put it down until I knew the full truth.  Throughout the book, the reader has the opportunity to form opinions about several of the characters to determine who ran over Liam.  Gaylin did an expert job of leading the reader down certain paths only to suddenly take a hard left turn of out nowhere, which left me reeling several times as I thought I had the mystery solved.

One of the things I loved about this book was the ability to read the behavior of the characters. They way there were acting was very realistic and I could figure out what was going on behind the scenes, particularly with two of the main characters.  It is not often that you have an author talented enough to make you fully immersed into the book in a way that you feel like you are witnessing it in person.  Gaylin also did a great job showing the power of social media in both a positive and negative way.  So many teens today take to social media when things happen and it can create an ugly monster, just like it witnessed in this book.

There is some strong language throughout, so I recommend this book to older mature teens and an audience that enjoys such a story as this.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.