Genre : Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Author : Brandi Salazar
Author Website: http://www.amazon.com/Brandi-Salazar/e/B004TWZSS4
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4810728.Brandi_Salazar
Amazon Store: http://www.amazon.com/Buried-Secrets-ebook/dp/B0075VOJ4U
Print ISBN: 9781105519
Paperback Edition at Lulu Stores : http://www.lulu.com/shop/brandi-salazar/buried-secrets/paperbackReviews : 4-5 stars
SYNOPSIS : How do you live with yourself when you don't even know who you are?
On a chill October night, a girl goes missing setting the small town of Oakridge on edge. James has spent the last five years running from a past that still haunts him to this day. Now he finds himself thrust back into a life he thought he left behind. Finding out his new home may be haunted and reconnecting with an old friend while being thrust into a murder mystery, James finds himself trying to figure out which end is up while questioning his own sanity.
Reviews: 4.4 star out of 5 on Amazon
"The writer does a good job at keeping the reader on their toes through the whole book in this murder/mystery/paranormal story. I loved the details in the writing, namely in the prologue. It hooked me right from the beginning and towards the end I couldn't put it down. I NEEDED to see who the killer was! I would say that the book is safe for YA readers, the book has moments of violence but nothing too grotesque. I will definitely be looking forward to see what other stories this writer has coming out in the future!"
"The author does a very good job with the characters in this story. The reader is pulled in with a good storyline and characters you can empathize with. I enjoyed how it all pulled together in the end. It didn't bother me that I was able to predict what was going to be the end result because I enjoyed the twists and turns to get there. Good read."
"It is really hard to review this book without giving anything away. I really didn't think I was going to like this book when I found out it was about a high schooler, but I am glad that I didn't let that deter me. If you don't like sex scenes or swearing I don't think there was any in this book. Doesn't bother me but it does bother some people. I couldn't give this book a solid 5 because I knew what was going on from the get-go. I have a sixth sense when it comes to mysteries;) However, that did not make it less enjoyable to read. It was just so interesting. I will definitely check out any other books by this author."
"I loved this book because it made me think. I like a book that keeps me on my toes and is not predictable. This book was not. I also enjoyed the dark, mysterious ways of the MC, he was a guy with a past, but you never quite know just what that is. There were moments I felt sad for him and other times I was freaked out. The author knows how to get inside the minds of the readers. Anyone who enjoys a thriller that keeps you guessing all the way until the end, I suggest this book."
"The author very well understands her characters, so the reader sees them from inside out, as if they were our own friends or family. That makes it simple for us to empathise, and want to see the deserving ones rewarded, the bullies and jerks disciplined or at least going without. Then too, the suspense starts right from the very beginning, with poor loner James' itinerant friend, A. J., a boy whom only James knows and who is the only person who really respects and befriends James. Before we can get our feet solidly on the ground story-wise, the author turns us topsy-turvy with the first major tragic event-and before we can catch our breath from that, we're tossed five years forward, and watching the past determine to replay itself-only this time, will things turn out right for James? Or will tragedy strike again-and again? Homecoming can be a wonderful thing-or it can mean misery.
I really liked the author's approach. I didn't have time nor inclination to lose interest, because the story was "always happening," and I just kept reading and flipping the pages without even thinking, to learn more and more. Author Brandi Salazar does not disappoint; the goodies in this novel just keep on rollin'. "Buried Secrets" has quite a different, yet appealing, "feel" to it, and I enjoyed it very much. I've put Ms. Salazar on my "must read all" list."
"One of my favorite episodes of "Criminal Minds" stars Frankie Muniz, who grew up as "Malcolm in the Middle." In this episode, though, he is a cartoonist who watched gang members rape and kill his fiancee, and subsequently had a violent break in his personality.
After his break, he goes around the city killing people -- including the gang members who killed his fiancee. The most poignant part of the show involves the killer calling his fiance's cell phone, over and over again, only to hear it go to voice mail. His confusion as to her whereabouts shows how far he has fallen from reality. At the end of the story, the profilers from the BAU treat the killer with gentleness, even pity.
In "Buried Secrets," five years ago, James Clearwater and his family had moved away from the town where they lived, after the disappearance of Mercy Worthington. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the family moves back, and the pattern begins again.
Now that he is back, James notices that whenever his friend A.J. spends time with a girl, she turns up missing -- and eventually dead. A.J. is everything that James is not, but sort of wants to be -- he ditches school, dresses like a heavy metal fan, and has an easy time picking up girls.
Constantly at war with his father, beset by migraines and blackouts, bothered by ghosts at night, and harassed at school by those who remember the cloud of suspicion that hung over him five years ago, James starts down a doomed path almost at the start. Despite the fact that the beautiful Jennifer Morton sees great things in James, the truth is inevitable.
In stories such as this, the better authors will show you the tension between the good person that the villain wants to be, and the awful deeds that the villain commits. Salazar does a fine job of showing James unraveling, and his illusions becoming less and less real. It would have been better to see some development with the parents, particularly in a third-person work such as this. What turn out to be two fairly static characters could have been so much more dynamic, especially given the family secret that we learn about three-fourths of the way through. Even though I had a pretty good idea of the truth about James, though, the storytelling was compelling."
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