BOOK REVIEW: BAD CALL BY STEPHEN WALLENFELS

Bad Call by Stephen Wallenfels

Published December 19, 2017

Hardcover, 320 pages

MY GOODREADS RATING 3/5 STARS

(Thanks to a bookishfirst.com raffle & Disney Hyperion, I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

It was supposed to be epic.

During a late-night poker game, tennis teammates Colin, Ceo, Grahame, and Rhody make a pact to go on a camping trip in Yosemite National Park. And poker vows can’t be broken.

So the first sign that they should ditch the plan is when Rhody backs out. The next is when Ceo replaces him with Ellie, a girl Grahame and Colin have never even heard of. And then there’s the forest fire at their intended campsite.

But instead of bailing, they decide to take the treacherous Snow Creek Falls Trail to the top of Yosemite Valley. From there, the bad decisions really pile up.

A freak storm is threatening snow, their Craigslist tent is a piece of junk, and Grahame is pretty sure there’s a bear on the prowl. On top of that, the guys have some serious baggage (and that’s not including the ridiculously heavy ax that Grahame insisted on packing) and Ellie can’t figure out what their deal is.

And then one of them doesn’t make it back to the tent.

Desperate to survive while piecing together what happened, the remaining hikers must decide who to trust in this riveting, witty, and truly unforgettable psychological thriller that reveals how one small mistake can have chilling consequences.

MY THOUGHTS:

I was hooked from the mysterious prologue. I was happy to see the chapters were written in multiple points of view (Ellie and Colin) and were short and to the point. Throughout the book I felt like I was missing some important key information to help me unravel this whole thing. The story was also extremely descriptive in terms on setting, I felt like looking around I would be in the woods with this group.

I would definitely say this book was highly character driven and less focused on the action. This threw me because I was thinking it was going to be action packed. I thought the synopsis was a bit deceiving to be honest. I really enjoyed the flashbacks throughout the book. I felt like it gave just the right amounts of background information to keep the mystery alive, but also gave the reader something to work with. I really enjoyed reading from both Colin and Ellie’s points of view, because most of the time they were very different.

I thought the twist at the end was great, I didn’t see it coming and it pulled everything together really well. If you are looking for a quick, character driven story with minimal action this would be a great book for you. I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if there was more action, since that’s what I thought going in.