brilliant books definitely glad I read this kept me hooked from the start and finished it quickly absolutely fantastic author

I’m glad I requested this one on Netgalley because I really enjoyed it! I raced through this in just a few hours. It was incredibly intense and stressed me out, definitely felt my own adrenaline pumping right alongside some of the characters.

I did think there would be more of a mystery around who the killer was — I didn’t expect it to be so obvious. I did keep waiting to get halfway through the book and for there to be a twist like “they’re not the killer!” but it never came. This didn’t hurt my enjoyment of the book at all, I think I just got my expectations twisted up.

I enjoyed the elements of seeing “newspaper articles” sprinkled in. It added another depth to the story that made it feel more real, if that makes sense? I also liked the interruptions from the mystery narrator, which all came together in the end in a very clever and unexpected way.

Overall, I did just really enjoy this. It was fast paced, scary, thrilling, and kept me engaged the whole time. The only reason it’s not a 5 star is because I sometimes felt there was a lack of depth to some of the characters. This wasn’t a massive issue, but it was there. Then again, I guess it’s hard to get to know a lot of character backstory when the characters main focus is not getting murdered…

All in all, I really liked this and recommend it to anyone who likes a fast paced thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Four Found Dead, by Natalie D. Richards
3-3.5/5⭐️⭐️⭐️

TRIGGER WARNINGS-
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Murder, death, gun violence,

It's the last night that the theatre is opened before it closes for good, along with the mall. The crew of eight is cleaning up for the very last time then going out for breakfast. Only suddenly the power goes out and their manager goes missing. Now they're locked in the theatre with no phones or keys. The whole mall is boarded up and nailed shut and they can't escape. Then something else terrifying happens. They find one of her coworkers murdered now they're not only trying to escape the building they're also trying to avoid a murderer.

The beginning is captivating and draws you in but the middle is a tad drawn out. I found the end to be a little rushed and more of a "tied up lose ends" ending.
At some points it's slightly confusing-ish because things are mentioned that happened before that you have to wait till you get further for them to resolve, as well as one of the characters thoughts and newspaper articles are intertwined within the story, but they're written in past tense where the story is taking place in current time.
There are some spelling errors, missing words and letters and mixed up character names which I think adds a tad to the confusion.
Overall I did enjoy it and it kept me reading.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.25-3.5

This book is a fast enough read with engaging writing, but it felt like there was something missing. The entire story fell a little flat for me - character motivation seemed simple enough, but the characters felt very two dimensional and I wasn’t really invested in their survival or their stories. I don’t know, it has a fun premise but I think I could have easily been genuinely invested; instead I felt like I was just reading random facts about blank slates for the entire book.

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you @netgalley and @sourcebooksfire for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review!

Four Found Dead is a fast-paced thrilling YA Mystery that took place in a closed down mall which is connected to the theater. After cleaning up for their last shift in the movie theater, things gone wrong when the power got cut off, and a dead body was soon discovered.
They know the killer, and they fear for his next move. Stuck in an abandoned mall with a killer among them, who will escape & make it out alive?

With the intense plot and hidden dark secrets, Four Found Dead is a young adult thriller/mystery that will catch the attention of readers.

I am a big fan of Natalie Richards. I’ve read all of her books, and found “Seven Dirty Secrets” and “Five Total Strangers” to be two of my favorite reads in quite some time. As a result I was very excited to be offered the eARC of “Four Found Dead.” Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed in this book.

The story revolves around a defunct mall in small town Ohio whose attached movie theatre is closing down. There are eight theater workers and by the time the story runs only four survive. It appears that this novel was going to be a cat and mouse,, figure out the killer, style book. Well, that’s half right. There is cat and mouse, for those remaining as they run through the abandoned mall hiding and trying to survive the night, but the killer is an early reveal. That was not what I was expecting and after that, I was bored with the forced banter, and the trying to survive the night yet we know who the killer is?

Natalie’s writing is as always, quick, and edgy. She has a way of drawing you into the story even if it isn’t as good a story as I could have been. The ending was wrapped up to quickly and I felt that additional POV’s would have helped the story be a bit more edgy and suspenseful. As it was, the characters presented were flat.

Not as intense as her others, it’s not that I hated it, I just didn’t much care for the early reveal and then everyone running around in the dark, the mystery and suspense just lacked.

Thanks to NetGalley and SourceBooks for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

I really love stories that take place in atmospheric settings (i.e. theme park or mall in this case). It really helps me get engrossed in the story. I live in a metro city and we have 2 malls, but I definitely was picturing one over the other while reading this book - imagining everything taking place there. Great visualizations!

Also, since this is a YA novel, I think I need to mention that I am almost 42 years old and I really enjoyed it! Yes, there will always be some juvenile situations and aspects in a YA book because that is the target audience, but as an adult, I know what I'm signing up for. Some YA books are just too juvenile, but this one was not overpowering in that area.

This was a fabulous thriller that kept me scrolling pages and gave me those nervous stomach knots at times.

Definitely check this one out!

Eight people go into the mall. Only four of them survive it.

Jo is no stranger to tragedy and death. Her father was killed in front of her and her sister when they were younger. When she finds herself in an eerily similar situation, she knows she needs to fight this time. She couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t help protect her coworkers - her friends. Trapped inside an empty, sealed mall with a killer, Jo and her friends must work out what is going and how they can possibly escape a building that’s been completely shut down.

I. Loved. This. So much. The storyline is so unique and also fast paced which is always good. Majority of the plot is action filled, there is suspense from beginning to end. And Jo. She cared about her friends and did her absolute best to protect them. She refused to hide. She put up a fight because she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with it if she didn’t. I love reliable, admirable characters like her. I also noticed there’s a lot of basic but lesser known important medical knowledge throughout this and I thought that was really cool!

I highly recommend this!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

Seven employees of a local theater, Jo, Lexi, Quincy, Hudson, Summer, Noemi, and Hannah, are working their last shift under their manager, Clayton, before it closes. It’s the only remaining business left in the local mall, which is about be renovated. The movie-goers leave, and the employees are closing up for the last time.

Instead of finishing up the closing shift and going to get pancakes, there’s a gun, a fight, and a power outage.

The story is told primarily from Jo’s perspective. There are a few new snippets and other thing scattered throughout, but Jo is the main narrator. We get a couple flashbacks to a past experience she had, but it’s mostly a linear timeline.

Honestly this wasn’t my favorite by this author. I felt like something was missing. I get the basic motivation which we discover in the end, but there’s so little backstory about the main plot point.

It definitely kept me interested, but nothing was actually shocking and it left me wanting more.

I’d probably rate this book 3.5/5, but that isn’t an option here so I’m rounding up.

On their last shift at the closing Riverview Theaters coworkers soon find themselves fighting for their lives as things begin to escalate and one by one they are being hunted down. Jo and her six coworkers all want to close their final shift, clock out, and grab dinner but their overbearing, angry, and power tripping boss has other plans. Things only take a worse when Jo notices their boss Clayton is carrying a gun on him and his wife comes in with a chilling accusation... from there things spiral as the power goes out, their manager disappears, and the keys to the lobby doors and the theater safe are gone.... the safe containing all their phones... Tension and terror rise as Jo discovers the dead body of one of her coworkers and another states that it was their boss who killed her... now they have to find a way to escape being trapped in the mall that has boarded up exist and disabled fire alarms... what could have caused their boss to snap and how will they make it out alive before he hunts them down? this was a fun thriller read and you follow Jo with her PTSD of a previous shooting experience she had when she was younger and her father was killed at a gas station robbery. She lives in fear but wants to help people, and despite the horrible situation and her trauma coming at her, she is trying her best to keep everyone alive. This was definitely a fun read that had you wanting to see if they would make it out alive and what their next move was. I would definitely recommend this thriller~!

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire, Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The synopsis of this story really hooked me! I love a good YA thriller/mystery and this was no exception! This was a quick read and I managed to get through it in one sitting. I really enjoyed the storyline and the plot!

**Thank you to SourcebooksFire and NetGalley for the ARC**

So this book was pretty intense, but in a good way. I was honestly surprised that the killer was made so obvious so early on. Well, maybe not that obvious as for a moment I thought it would be a different character. I really liked the way that, as a reader, we got to learn about the main characters over time. The descriptions of the dark theater, the abandoned mall, and the killer chasing them throughout had the right amount of creepiness.

The story wrapped up nicely in the end though I’m not sure how I feel about Quincy’s ending. I do like the twist of how it ties into the rest of the story though.

A suspenseful story set in an abandoned shopping mall. Jo and six others are closing down the movie theater they work at. It's the last night the movie theater was open before closing along with all the connected stores in a defunct mall. After the electricity goes out, Jo and her co-workers find one of their own dead. With their phones locked up in a safe and their temperamental boss missing with the keys to the door, Jo and her co-workers flee into the mall hoping to find a way out. They find themselves trapped because the exits have already been boarded up and the alarms no longer work. I felt anxious for Jo and her friends as they try to escape and was counting down the victims hoping more would survive despite the book title. I wish there was more description of Jo the main character, I felt disconnected from her. What does she look like, how old is she, what's her real name...small things like that would make me connect with her more.

I loved the concept of a locked-door scenario in a mall, but this book didn't deliver for me. Because of the way the story was structured, it lacked the suspense and pull of a standard thriller. Overall, it just felt really dark and sad — which I'm sure was the point — but eventually the heaviness made me put it down. I'm surprised that some of this subject matter was in a YA book.

Very fast and easy read but for me there was a lot packed in for YA and for how short it was. There was a lot of missing developments

A fast paced ya thriller that makes for a quick read.

We know who the killer is almost right off the bat, but we don't know motivations. The stalking of the group makes for a tense game of cat and mouse with quite a few confrontations. The only mystery is really, who's next?

The news blurbs at most of the chapters were neat, even though I found a few unnecessary to the plot or characters. The italic thoughts were a bit confusing at the end of some chapters because there wasn't a clear distinction that it was separate from the main POV. I don't mind questioning whose thoughts they are but I don't think it was well executed in this instance. That's my only complaint with this read.

A solid tense thriller in the YA reads for sure.

Four Found Dead has a really interesting and promising premise. I love the idea of surviving the night in a theatre/defunct shopping mall. Sadly, this book wasn’t what I had expected at all and fell flat. From the synopsis, I was expecting this story to be a whodunit mystery/thriller, but it’s very clear who the killer is from the first chapter. There’s no element of surprise or twists because the story is very predictable.

The characters lacked development, which made it difficult to root for or care what happens to them. The news paper articles at the end of each chapter would’ve been great, had they not included the same “story developing” or “no further comments at this time." There was just too much mindless wandering and no real action plan. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Four Found Dead is an atmospheric thriller about the last night of a movie theater being open. The reader knows from the title that 4 people die so it’s interesting to follows the suspense of who is next. It’s a cat and mouse edge of your seat story through a closed theater and it’s adjoining abandoned mall. The main character of Jo is well fleshed out but the supporting character are a blur and hard to distinguish between. In the end, there doesn’t seem to be a real deep reason for all the death but I guess that’s true in mass killings. I went into this book not knowing it was YA and I don’t think it really reads that way. A solid read.

In this fast-paced ride, teens spend the last night of their movie theatre job trapped with a killer. For a few, it's the last night of their lives, period.

A group of teens and their creepy adult supervisor are closing up on the last night of their movie theatre-within-a-mall job right before the mall shuts its doors forever. The premise is excellent and rife with possibilities--a potential slasher with the bonus settings of both a movie theatre and a colorful mall. Unfortunately, everything about Four Found Dead was incredibly dull and didn't live up to even the tiniest of my expectations.

The story reads fast, but that's because it's mostly dialogue and mindless action, with very little else. It could have taken place anywhere because hardly any of the setting was described. This was plot over character driven, so we don't get to know any of the kids beyond surface level. I didn't care about any of them.

Don't even get me started on the fact that the identity of the killer is obvious from the beginning and there isn't even a fun twist to counter it.

Thanks to NG and the publisher!