The Breaking Game

September 5, 2022
Twelve-year-old Rebecca Stevens must escape an athletic summer camp turned deadly in this grisly horror novel from Charles, third in the Creeptown series. Hoberville Hornets soccer player Rebecca, aka Killer Ree, has been frequently disciplined for her reckless conduct on the field, but breaking a teammate’s collarbone is the final straw for her parents. When they stumble across a flyer for Athletes Scared Straight—a nearby “program for misguided youth” that specializes in reforming young athletes—and hand it to Rebecca, she and her younger brother Marshall are magically whisked away to Lake Falls, the camp’s locale. As the siblings try to find a way home, they become embroiled in the camp’s programming: a potentially fatal competition, in which the winner will walk away rich and the loser might not get to leave camp at all. Rebecca’s prickly countenance, chess-playing Marshall’s know-it-all personality, and the rest of the cast’s theatrical characterizations make it difficult to connect with their situations. Charles employs terrifyingly detailed scares, including a car accident that decapitates a horse, that portray overt gruesomeness, building tension and suspense for the harrowing adventure. Characters read as white. Ages 8–12.