I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Relic by Gretchen McNeil
Published by HarperCollins on 3/8/16
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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For Annie Kramer, the summer before college is bittersweet—both a last hurrah of freedom and the last days she'll spend with her boyfriend, Jack, before they head off to different colleges. So she and her friends plan one final adventure: a houseboating trip on Shasta Lake, complete with booze, romance . . . and an off-limits exploration of the notorious Bull Valley Mine.

The legends of mysterious lights and missing persons on Shasta Lake have been a staple of sleepovers and campouts since Annie was a kid. Full of decrepit bridges that lead to nowhere, railroad tunnels that disappear into the mountains, and terrifying stories of unexplained deaths and bodies that were never recovered, Bull Valley Mine is notorious and frightening—perfect for an epic conclusion to their high school lives.

The trip is fun and light—at first. But when a deranged stranger stumbles upon their campsite, spouting terrifying warnings and pleas for help, it's clear that everyone is in danger. And when their exploration of the mine goes horribly wrong, Annie and her friends quickly discover that the menace of Bull Valley Mine doesn't stay at Shasta Lake—it follows them home.

As one by one her friends fall victim to this mysterious and violent force, Annie must do whatever it takes to discover the ancient secrets of the mine and save her friends . . . if she's not already too late.

Short and Sweet

Annie and her friends are graduating and planning their summer of “no regrets” before leaving for college in the fall. They take a trip to the lake, where they venture into an old, deserted mine. In the mine Annie and her friends get separated. After leaving the lake and the mine Annie and her friends realize something has followed them out of the mine and is determined to kill each of them one by one.

What I liked

~ Annie, she was smart and determined to solve the mystery of what happened in the mine and what’s after them.

~ The teens were getting picked off one by one and trying to figure out who was next and if Annie would be able to save them had me on the edge.

~ It was fast paced, eerie, and also had some humor.

What I didn’t like

~Nothing!

Quotes

~ “I have no idea why you would bring a controlled substance for which I do not have a medical license onto government premises. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

~“Four tunnels,” Jack says decisively, “eight of us. We’ll split up and see where they lead.”
“Split up?” Sonya asks. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

Overall

I love all of Gretchen McNeil’s books and this one was just as good as all of her others and its kind of like Ten. The ending was great and it really threw me because I wasn’t expecting it at all. If you like mysteries and horrors this is a great book to read and you can definitely try to find out yourselves what’s after Annie and her friends.