Phoenix Island - John Dixon

[goodreads]

Title: Phoenix Island
Author: John Dixon
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 320
Date read: October, 2014


"Phoenix Island" is the first book in a series. Carl Freeman - orphan who's been sent from foster home to foster home - is charged with assult for defending a weaker classmate against bullies, and is given the choice: Go to jail, or go to Phoenix Island until he's 18.

Figuring nothing could be worse than jail, he chooses Phoenix Island... only to discover that everything is not as it seems.

This is "Unwind" meets "Lord of the Flies" with a dash of "Battle Royale" thrown in for good measure. For most of the book I had no idea what was going to happen next, or how on earth John Dixon would manage to resolve this in a satisfying way... especially as the number of remaining pages grew smaller and smaller.

Most of the book was absolutely fascinating, and I grew increasingly intrigued by the events on Phoenix Island, and Carl's chances there. However, the shades of "Unwind" (by Neal Shusterman) that I spotted in the book made me rather uneasy, and I wondered just how open an ending the book would have.

Fortunately not as much as I had feared. Enough that I've subtracted a star for it, but not so much that I wouldn't be keen to read the next book too, once it is published.