As kids, they were tight. Now they’ve grown up—and apart. Before they go their separate ways for good, they decide to get together one last time on the night of the county fair. But, twisted by personal histories and fueled by pharmaceuticals, old jealousies soon surface. The group splinters off, their brief reunion a failure. Days later, a girl is found dead, her body dumped in the river. The prime suspect? Raymond, the one member of the old gang who’d always seemed a little strange. Pete doesn’t know what to believe: Raymond once made the bizarre claim that his beloved black rabbit spoke to him, whispering secrets and commands. But could Pete’s former childhood friend really be a deranged killer? Capturing the thoughts and words of teens as only Kevin Brooks can, Black Rabbit Summer is a trademark tense, smart mystery. It’s also a profound exploration of the many subtle influences that can change—that can end— relationships. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Starred Review. Sinister yet seductive, this brooding thriller bears all the Brooks (Lucas) hallmarks, chiefly the British author's painful awareness of teenage alienation, made urgent by violent events; and a marked taste for ambiguity. Five teens precede a trip to a carnival with a visit to their long-abandoned hideout; as the narrator, Pete, explains, all five used to be friends, now they see one another as people you used to know. The next morning, one of them is missing—Raymond, a borderline type who believes his black rabbit can talk to him—as is a local girl turned wild-child celebrity, seen taunting Raymond the previous evening. As the police hunt for the starlet, Pete alone worries about Raymond and begins trying to track him. Brooks calibrates the relationships among these characters with such subtlety that readers get swept up even by the MacGuffins, and it's in the characters' hidden histories that Pete finds his clues. A running motif about the relationship between close observation and intuition might encourage readers to pay unusually strict attention; it will equip them for the semi-open ending. Ages 12–up. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information