Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

Text Publishing, 2012. ISBN 1922079146.
(Age: 15+) Burning Blue is a relatable, thrill and mystery themed novel that is set in the first person of a young adult boy called Jay Nazarro. Jay is a very intelligent computer hacker who is set upon solving the mystery of Nicole Castro. Nicole was the victim of a horrible acid attack that caused half of the most popular girl in school's face to be burned and because of her high status this creates a lot of suspects. Jay takes it upon himself to solve the increasingly difficult mystery as two more girls get entwined in the solving of the problem: Cherry, a local Starbucks waitress, and Angela, a punk emo that Jay had encountered in the past.
With Jay's odd and twisted past and his mysterious dad he finds it comforting to confide in Nicole who also needs a friend and confidant.
This novel contains characters that are so easy to relate to that when you put the book down you feel like you know them personally. The writing technique is easy to understand and the way that Paul Griffin has written his novel keeps the reader wanting to turn each page and find out and solve the mystery. This novel is targeted at an older audience; young adults and late teens would be well suited to understand themes in this novel.
Sarah Filkin (Student)