Eyes of a Stranger (Laurel-Leaf Books) - Softcover

Heisel, Sharon E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440219930 ISBN 13: 9780440219934

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1997

Synopsis

Shy Marissa has always enjoyed running the carousel--especially now that a handsome, blue-eyed stranger has started coming to ride. Marissa longs to take the place of the young man's beautiful, blond girlfriends. She can't help foolishly hoping to attract the stranger's attention, and she begins to wait anxiously for further visits.
But uncertainty tugs at Marissa alongside her excitement. Could it be that her stranger is somehow connected to the recent murders she's heard about in the news? The photos of the blond victims have a vague familiarity.
Then Marissa's stranger returns to the carousel, and this time he's alone.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

The girl-stalked-by-serial-killer plot gets a fresh twist with an inventive premise: Marissa, self-conscious because one of her legs is shorter than the other, learns there are a lot of people in the world more unbalanced than she is. An orphan, she lives with her Uncle Paul, who operates a carousel and restores carousel horses. When a stranger with brooding blue eyes begins bringing different dates each week to ride the glittering carousel, Marissa can't stop herself from developing a crush. However, when the young women start disappearing, she suspects that he might not be ideal boyfriend material after all. Fuzzy peripheral players (e.g., Marissa's friend Gloria, one of the victims) don't inspire much reaction from the main characters, and the townspeople don't put up the expected hue and cry when their teenage girl population begins a precipitous decline. In fact, Uncle Paul thinks it's a fine time to leave his niece alone while he goes on an extended business trip. But even without consistent tension, there's enough here to keep the reader going. Some violence, threats of pseudo-religious sacrifices, dismembered toes and an ice pick add chills without getting too graphic, and a terrific climax proves Heisel (Wrapped in a Riddle) capable of first-rate suspense. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews:

For Marissa, the ticket booth at her uncle's carousel is the only place where she can forget her crippled leg and the subsequent taunts and jeers of her classmates and strangers. She longs to find a boy who will see beyond her limp to the real person she is. When a stunningly handsome young man shows up at the carousel repeatedly, always accompanied by a pretty blond girl (but never the same girl twice), Marissa falls hard. In the meantime, several teenage girls in the area have disappeared. When one of her own classmates vanishes, Marissa faces the ugly truth that the man she loves is probably involved and takes steps to stop him. As a serial killer, neurotic Nick Farmer is no Hannibal Lecter, but readers won't mind a bit. There's enough suspense to keep them turning the pages, accompanied by plenty of blood and gore (much of it implied, all of it effective). Marissa is as gutsy as they come, battling in the cruel showdown hyperthermia and exhaustion as she out- maneuvers the creepy Nick. Heisel's first YA novel is a little pulpy, occasionally purple, and sometimes predictable, but it combines swift plotting and some especially horrible scenes to provide breathless entertainment to the end. (Fiction. 14+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0440219930
• ISBN 13: 9780440219934
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176