The Pawn

The book opens right a disturbing scene of a teenage boy convincing a teenage girl to commit mutual suicide. Except this is a manipulation and he does not give himself a fatal cut. This is the most disturbing part of the book for me. That said, there are other  scenes that are disturbing to read that are less detailed and pass more quickly. 

The story moves quickly. There are times of introspection for the protagonist. He has his flaws that create conflict particularly with authority and familial characters. The story has a number of character and story elements that some will enjoy for their familiarity. Those who want characters to reflect real world people may find themselves frustrated with the direction the story takes in places. 

I found the story of solving the mystery to be what I connected with most in this book.