Left Column

McAulay (Lost Summer ) tautly weaves a fast-paced tale of terror. During an ice-cold January in Colorado, five high school friends are heading home from a weekend ski trip when their SUV veers off the road and crashes into the dense forest, stranding the teens in a blizzard miles from civilization. With no cell phone service and little food or water, best friends Courtney and Reyna brave the knee-deep snow and trudge a few miles up the road. But instead of finding help, the girls discover an abandoned prison van with the guard shot dead in the front seat. Terrified, they hurry back to their friends and the crushed SUV, where they all take refuge for the night. But hours later, when they see a handcuffed man in a prison jumpsuit crawling out of the forest, the teens are forced to make a life-or-death decision: save the potentially dangerous prisoner or let him freeze to death? The author excels at building suspense and providing nonstop action, constantly escalating the stakes in this fight for survival. However, there is little depth to his characters and the writing is at times stilted: "[Courtney] felt glad to be alive, but oddly detached. She guessed the emotions would hit her later." This is the print version of a popcorn flick—shocking and entertaining, but ultimately insubstantial. Ages 12-up. (Nov.)