Meet Me in Barcelona

Aspiring country singer Grace and her boyfriend, Jake, are thrilled to win an unexpected trip to Barcelona. Soon after arriving, however, Grace discovers that her long-estranged, semisociopathic foster sister, Carrie Ann, is in Barcelona too, and is up to her old games, accompanied by another unwelcome visitor from Grace’s past, creepy stalkerish Stan. What starts as a prank soon becomes dangerous and deadly. Reader Mitchell’s narration is hit-or-miss. She is excellent at voicing manipulative Carrie Ann, her voice by turns wheedling, affectionate, hurt, or coldly sarcastic, whereas Grace and Jake sound fairly generic. Mitchell’s accents are off-putting: a character from Barcelona has just a vaguely Spanish accent, with lots of “Joo want help with that?” and a character introduced as Belgian has a vaguely French accent. the entire book is narrated in one consistent tone, which undercuts the ever-increasing danger of the plot. [em]A Kensington hardcover. (Aug.) [/em]