KEEP CALM AND LOVE BOOKS: The Masked Truth

Pages: 340 pages

Publication Date: October 13th 2015 by Doubleday Canada

ISBN: 0385684754 (ISBN13: 9780385684750)

Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to discover that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.

Now, What I Thought:

Kelley Armstrong is considered one of my favourite authors. She is a wonderfully creative and well written author who writes the best paranormal fiction novel. I was a bit surprised when I saw this stand alone book in the book store because I was definitely not expecting that from Armstrong. So I was pretty skeptical considering this is categorized as a 'Mystery Thriller' and 'Mental Illness'. I decided to give it a go.. and lets just say, once again I have not been disappointed by her writing.

From the beginning of the book, where Riley is walking towards the house she's babysitting for and bumps into the man and fully sees the gun but doesn't think anything of it, I knew this was going to be a hell of a ride. Long story short, the couple is murdered and Riley acted quick and hid the child and herself under the bed upstairs to keep safe. She is deemed a hero in society, but obviously, having gone through what she went through, doesn't see herself as such and actually is some what ashamed of how weak she was. It was a traumatizing experience and I just loved how the scene was described. She then gets sent to this closed off weekend getaway for some therapy with other teens going through their own shit. That just sucks. Not like anything can go worse for her right? Wrong. This girl has the WORST luck in the world because then men come in with guns trying to get ransom money for one of the patients there. She meets a boy, of course, but its not sappy or anything.

Amongst all of this killing spree drama, we get to learn about Max and his mental illness. It was very interesting learning about him and reading through his point of view. It reminded me of Mara Dyer and how we can never trust her point of view. Same thing happens here, and we don't really know what he's seeing is true or if it's the illness. I loved Max. He was definitely a highlight of the book. One thing that did shock me was how easily Armstrong killed of characters. I was not expecting so many to go in practically the beginning-middle of the book. Im not complaining but it was definitely shocking because who knew if Max or even Riley will make it by the end of this thriller? After all, like the description says, their captors are on a killing spree ;). This was definitely a mystery thriller type book and I loved it a lot! Also, not one part was slow or the least bit boring. AND, can we just say, W O W to that cover..