Book:  The Long Weekend
Author:  Savita Kalhan
Release date: October 2, 2008 in UK
Publisher:  Andersen Press
Pages: 180
Source: Author/Teen Book Scene

Sam knows that he and his friend Lloyd made a colossal mistake when they accepted the ride home. They have ended up in a dark mansion in the middle of nowhere with a man who means to harm them. But Sam doesn’t know how to get them out.
They were trapped, then separated.
Now they are alone.
Will either of them get out alive?

The Long Weekend is unlike anything that I have read and I was completely shocked at it.  The storyline, characters, writing, and everything else was completely fabulous.  It’s not a book I would normally pick up but I am so glad that I did.

Sam doesn’t know what he has planned for the weekend but he knows what it doesn’t include; being kidnapped with his best friend Lloyd.  Sam isn’t too worried at first because he knows that Lloyd will come up with a plan for them to escape.  Except he doesn’t.  Instead Lloyd retreats into himself and tries to pretend like nothing is going on.  That leaves everything up to Sam.  Sam isn’t sure what is going to happen but he knows that if he doesn’t get them out of the house they will both die.  Can Sam come up with a plan to save both him and his new best friend or will they be trapped forever?

The Long Weekend is definitely the creepiest book I have read in my life.  In this case that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  I loved it, it was just hard to get through.  I definitely was not reading this one at night in a dark apartment.  The creepiest thing about The Long Weekend is how true it is.  People get kidnapped all the time and it’s hard to read about something that happens every day.  That was really the only reason I had trouble getting through it but I am glad that I didn’t stop reading.

There weren’t a lot of characters but that wasn’t a bad thing.  The ones that were in the book were well-developed and easy to relate to.  Sam and Lloyd were hadn’t been friends for long but the connection between them was strong.  They were very good together.  Sam was definitely my favorite though.  He was a strong kid even though the situation was horrible.  He broke down every now and then but it only made him more real.  Both boys were great kids and I loved reading about them even though they were in such a horrible situation.

Overall, The Long Weekend is a great book but one that I would have to recommend only to older teens.  It deals with some difficult subject matter but Savita Kalhan did an amazing job with it.  I can’t wait to see what else she has planned for the future.

First line:  It’s tough being the new kid,but when you’re not the only one it’s not so bad.

Rating:  A

Cover:  A (Great creep factor!)