Trapped - Michael Northrop (On Sale Now)

Trapped by Michael Northrop

Scotty is a Sophomore at Tattawa Regional High School in New England. When an unexpected blizzard comes to town, seven kids are stranded at school, including Scotty and two of his friends Pete and Tommy. Les, Elijah, Krista and Julie are the other four students.

Scotty is one of the survivors, so we hear his story of being trapped at school for seven days.

Before I started reading, I wondered how Northrop would manage to have seven students still at school during a snow storm. I couldn't help thinking, everyone would be on their way home, making this scenario impossible. But the author quickly made it seem very possible. After that is was easy to lose myself in Trapped. It's a serious page turner.

Everything that happens, from the school losing power to physical violence was inevitable. What makes this story that much more powerful and scary is the fact that it doesn't seem that far out there.

" I remember the snow, drifting sideways into half crescents in the windowpanes, and I remember that I didn't eat my corn. I don't know if I took a bite and thought it was a little too soggy or if I just remembered that it had been soggy the last time, but I left it there on my tray.

As dumb as this sounds, that bothered me for days. I mean soggy or not, it was decent corn prepared by people who were at least borderline professionals. It was definitely a whole lot better than what I'd end up eating soon enough, and I'd just thrown it away, I still remember the little flash of yellow as I pushed the tray onto the conveyor belt that took it into the back of the kitchen, where the giant, hissing dishwashing machines were. Whoever thought you could be haunted by corn niblets?

Trapped is great winter time read. It's that much easier to picture the never ending snow. While walking in the cold, I found myself sympathizing with the characters, and wondering what I would do if I was in their situation. Imagining being stuck with six people anywhere thanks to a week long blizzard is scarier then any fantasy novel because of the possibility factor.

*I requested and received an arc of Trapped, which was scheduled to be released it February. It is out now, or at least where I work. Amazon still has Trapped listed as a pre-order, but trust me I've seen the finished copy in store for sale. So check your local bookstore.