Project 17, by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Project 17

by Lauri Faria Stolarz

Hyperion Books, NY 2007

Project 17 is totally like The Breakfast Club, if it had been set in a decrepit, haunted, abandoned mental institution. Derik (a hot jocky ladies man) hatches an escape-my-future-behind-the-counter-of-my-parent's-diner scheme. The plan is to film a stellar reality show in the old Danvers State Mental Hospital, hoping it will lead to an internship with a local news crew.  He casts several classmates to star in the reality fare; Liza, the gorgeous, miss goody-two-shoes, valedictorian; Chet, the class clown with issues at home; Mimi, the goth chick with a hidden agenda; Greta, the needy attention-seeking theater girl; and Tony, her leading man, whose nicknames for her (babycakes and sweetcheeks) are gag-worthy.

Each chapter is written from a different character's point of view, which is pretty cool, though aside from having different agendas and such, they sort of all "sounded" the same to me. However, supernatural twists and turns kept the pace moving but never went to far into "yeah, right," territory, which I appreciated. Overall, this was an entertaining story, made even more so by its local setting.

Bottom Line:

The scene with the creepy talking doll got to me; I just can't even imagine how hellish this place had to have been when it was a (dis)functioning hospital.