Review: Skull Creek Stakeout by Eddie Jones

Title: Skull Creek Stakeout (The Caden Chronicles, #2)

Author: Eddit Jones
Publisher: Zondervan

Publication date: August 6, 2013

Genre(s): Middle Grade (Mystery/Paranormal)

Source: Publisher 

Format: ARC

Pages: 183

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The good news is...vampires aren't real. The bad news is...you can't believe the news. After solving the Deadwood ghost story, Nick lands a job as a roving reporter for The Cool Ghoul Gazette, a website on paranormal disturbances. When the editor sends Nick to investigate a murder, Nick finds a corpse sporting fangs, bite marks and a gaping hole in its chest, courtesy of a wooden stake. Will Nick unravel the truth behind the 'blood covenant, ' or will his new job suck the life out of him? Nick Caden has a 'supernatural' knack for finding trouble. He's a normal fourteen-year-old who attracts ghosts, vampires, and the undead---or so it seems. But Nick's relentless search for truth leads him into worlds of darkness with grave consequences, where the dead, dying and deranged walk... on really hot coals

Nick Caden is a 14 year old reporter for a website for the paranormal, called The Cool Ghoul Gazette. Which is exactly why he goes to Transylvania, North Carolina, investigating a murder for his editor. Expecting the usual murder case, Nick is chilled to the bone to see the body has fangs and bite marks on his neck. Not only that, but the body also was stabbed in the chest with a wooden stake. Talk about creepy! Nick now has to ask questions and risk his life to find the murderer of someone who may, or may not, be part of the walking undead... 

This book was great! The characters were engaging, and I just had to try and solve this mystery with Nick. Nick was a fantastic main character and detective, asking lots of questions and getting lots of answers. Eddie Jones thought like a 14 year old, so he wrote like a 14 year old. My favorite character is Meg, a witty girl who befriended Nick while he tried to solve this mystery. I loved a lot of her comebacks while joking around with Nick, as they seemed to be made on the spot instead of well thought out and rehearsed, like in some books I’ve read. 

The book was also very suspenseful, especially in the climax, where I was on the edge of my seat, reading everything very quickly. The pacing in Skull Creek Stakeout was very fast and compelling at suspenseful parts of the story, but slower during interrogations, as if the author wanted you to catch every detail. I don’t feel like there are any parts that were unnecessary, because everything seemed to fit into place. As you guys know, first person POV (Point Of View) is my favorite type of POV, so that automatically makes me like this book's writing style, but I also liked the way Eddie Jones created a somewhat suspenseful scene very vividly before moving on in the story. I recommend this book for teens ages 12-15. Skull Creek Stakeout is perfect for anyone looking for a fast paced murder mystery.

        Other books by Eddie Jones:

        Dead Man's Hand (The Caden Chronicles, #1)