Dangerous Boy

Hubbard's (Prada and Prejudice) thriller is genuinely creepy, but a teaser prologue and a telegraphed ending diffuse the story's tension. Though farm daughter Harper has a lot going for her%E2%80%94she's gorgeous, smart, and effortlessly popular%E2%80%94she misses her mother, who died while rock climbing, and is fearful of the outside world, even keeping a list of the things that scare her. Also, strange circumstances in her small town (including thousands of mysterious bird corpses and bloody cow bones left in mailboxes) have her especially on edge. Harper has recently fallen for hot new hunk Logan, who urges her to overcome her phobias, but a visit to his house reveals his homeschooled twin brother, Daemon, the nasty antithesis of Logan. Logan's decision to hide Daemon's existence from Harper throws a spanner into their relationship. Hubbard drives the action forward at an engrossing pace, but as the denouement hits, the "twist" is so obvious that Harper's obliviousness to it comes across as unbelievable. Readers who can look past the predictability will be drawn into the horror-tinged story. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. (Aug.)