SYNOPSIS:

Late at night Tori receives a random phone call. It’s a wrong number. But the caller seems to want to talk, so she stays on the line.

He asks for a single thing—one reason not to kill himself.

The request plunges her into confusion. Because if this random caller actually does what he plans, he’ll be the second person connected to Tori to take his own life. And the first just might land her in jail. After her Facebook page became Exhibit A in a tragic national news story about cyberbullying, Tori can’t help but suspect the caller is a fraud. But what if he’s not? Her words alone may hold the power of life or death.

With the clock ticking, Tori has little time to save a stranger—and maybe redeem herself—leading to a startling conclusion that changes everything…

WHY SHOULD YOU CHECK IT OUT?

The villains are often the most interesting part of a story, but here the purported villain is front and center.  We love that Tori must grapple with the reality that the caller might be someone playing a cruel joke on her, and whether she can take that risk or not.  It’s good to see bullying getting so much literary attention… though we hope some day soon it won’t need it as badly.

On the cover, the tag line says, “Not guilty doesn’t mean you’re innocent.” That is really the heart of the matter in suicide from bullying cases.  That probably could have stood a larger font, especially since the rest of the cover has a much more kidnap-victim feel: the obscured face, the earth tones, and the gray background send the wrong message.

Author Tom Leveen is the brains behind such YA novels as SICK, MANICPIXIEDREAMGIRL, PARTY, and the YALSA Best Book of 2013: ZERO.  Can’t wait for RANDOM?  Check out Tom’s other novels today!

EARLY REVIEWS SAY…

[T]he story moves quickly and with genuine tension, and there is enough ambiguity even after the ending that readers can draw their own conclusions about Victoria’s character and level of culpability. (Kirkus Reviews)

NECESSARY DETAILS

YA Contemporary

Hardcover & ebook, 224 pages

Published on August 12th 2014 by Simon Pulse (ISBN 1442499567)

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Random/Tom-Leveen/9781442499560