A review by taylorhathcock
The Camp by Nancy Bush

4.0

I mean if there is one thing I absolutely adore it is 80's/90's slasher films. So I really had no choice but to read this book. It definitely had those vibes. It was one of those where you are so unsure about every character and their motives until the very end. Brooke, Rona, and Wendy are hiding a big secret and nobody knows what they did that summer.... or do they? I think the broad range of characters helped to give it the creepy slasher vibe. I will admit that at times it was hard to follow exactly what character was the focus because it would shift with like a sentence. Like most 80s slasher films we get the brief snippet of what happened twenty years ago, without actually seeing what happened, it's part of the big reveal at the end after all. 

I enjoyed the fact that the book had the adults come back to the camp for an alumni weekend. It was a different take on things that I haven't seen before, it was also fun to watch how quickly they reverted to past behaviors. Our main characters start to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the events of 20 years ago weren't how they appeared. It doesn't help when Emma claims to have seen a ghost from the past. The book really tries to model itself after the slasher films, which sometimes becomes a bit overwhelming due to the number of characters. Everyone in this book has some secrets and some of them are more connected than anyone thought. 

I will admit it took a hot minute for me to actually decide who the killer was. I created all these elaborate theories on why it was this thing or that thing, which I'm sure the author helped by providing specific information at that point and time. I think this book was really good, but it might have been better as a film just because of all the moving parts. I liked how we kept getting tiny reveals about the summer that started everything and I think the big reveal was actually done really well. All in all I would say it was a perfect book for those who love slasher movies.