Curl Up With This One, And Enjoy, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        "Final Girls" has two mysteries going for it.  One is on the printed page.  The other I solved right away.

                                          The publicity says this is Riley Sager's first book. True, to a point, but I discovered the name was a pseudonym for another published writer.  As I began reading, I was thinking, maybe, Joyce Carol Oates, or Lauren Weisberger, but I was wrong.

                                            "Final Girls" is written by a man I never heard of, named Todd Andrews.  Nor have I heard of his books.  Curious though I may be, I am afraid to read his books, as they may lack the vitality of Riley.  I cannot begin to guess why he made the decision he did, but I can guess that, when writing as Riley, a persona different from Todd, magically takes over.  Much as when I write this blog.

                                             I get it.  Which is why I may wait on Todd, but cannot wait for the next Riley Sager.

                                              While Wendy Walker, of "Emma In The Night," is far more literary, Riley Sager knows how to deliver driving narrative.  Things begin at a slow pace, then gather speed, until one cannot stop.

                                                 However, I was misled about the book.  An article in "Entertainment Weekly" implied it was about a group of women in a support group, all having survived attacks by different serial killers.  This peaked my interest, but, once I began reading, I discovered something  different.

                                                   Serial killers, and female survivors, figure here, but there is no traditional recovery group, where members are knocked off, which would have been a derivation of Ethan Black's "The Broken Hearts Club."   Which was far too easy to figure out.

                                                       "Final Girls" (the name is film speak for the last survivor in a slasher film) gets one sure of themselves.  I was so convinced I knew what was going on, and who the killer was, that I found other revelations more interesting.  When I found out I was wrong, I was delighted; I had been fooled, though I honestly did not agree with the author's final choice.  But I am not the one, writing this story.

                                                          It may not be the thriller of the year, as it has been touted, but the best I have read in a long time.

                                                 What a time I had, girls!!!!!!!!!!!  Go out, and have yourselves some fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!