Four teenagers with ulterior motives endure a deadly game of cat-and-mouse through the bustling streets of London.Nine months after his collaborator, Rose Tavistock, died in a mysterious accident, "disgraced teenage millionaire" and video game creator Anton Frazer stages his comeback. He announces a competition with a £100,000 prize in which 100 hand-picked recruits will use augmented virtual reality goggles and GPS devices to pick each other off, while also vanquishing virtual ghosts and completing side quests. Four participants, however, have darker motives for taking part: Quiet Grayson vows to avenge ex-girlfriend Rose's death, fanfic writer Charlotte is determined to win Anton's undying affection, social media star Erin is desperate to escape her blogger mother's clutches, and student reporter Emma is dead set on getting a scoop that catapults her to journalistic stardom. All bets are off, however, when an avatar of Rose hijacks the game, claiming there's a murderer among them and setting off a deadly chain of events. Though the multifaceted main characters in this impeccably paced, pulse-pounding page-turner are terribly flawed, their humanity will keep readers rooting for them. This unusually deft, compulsively readable blend of mystery, thriller, realistic fiction, and horror with a bit of science fiction sprinkled in features incredible plot twists and will appeal to a broad range of teen readers. Most major characters read white; Emma's surname cues Japanese heritage.An unputdownable, deliciously unsettling read. (Thriller. 13-18)

Four teenagers with ulterior motives endure a deadly game of cat-and-mouse through the bustling streets of London.Nine months after his collaborator, Rose Tavistock, died in a mysterious accident, "disgraced teenage millionaire" and video game creator Anton Frazer stages his comeback. He announces a competition with a £100,000 prize in which 100 hand-picked recruits will use augmented virtual reality goggles and GPS devices to pick each other off, while also vanquishing virtual ghosts and completing side quests. Four participants, however, have darker motives for taking part: Quiet Grayson vows to avenge ex-girlfriend Rose's death, fanfic writer Charlotte is determined to win Anton's undying affection, social media star Erin is desperate to escape her blogger mother's clutches, and student reporter Emma is dead set on getting a scoop that catapults her to journalistic stardom. All bets are off, however, when an avatar of Rose hijacks the game, claiming there's a murderer among them and setting off a deadly chain of events. Though the multifaceted main characters in this impeccably paced, pulse-pounding page-turner are terribly flawed, their humanity will keep readers rooting for them. This unusually deft, compulsively readable blend of mystery, thriller, realistic fiction, and horror with a bit of science fiction sprinkled in features incredible plot twists and will appeal to a broad range of teen readers. Most major characters read white; Emma's surname cues Japanese heritage.An unputdownable, deliciously unsettling read. (Thriller. 13-18)