Definitely not for the younger YA crowd. This book as promised was dark. I liked the hero although I wanted him to make better decisions. I've read quite a few adult fiction books where this sort of character is shown as an adult ([b:Jackson Rule|616070|Jackson Rule|Dinah McCall|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348075548s/616070.jpg|602501] for example) and so it was interesting to read about the teenager actually going through the angst of the bad times. There were several instances where the story was predictable. There was a feeling of inevitability of the consequences of his actions rushing at him. I wasn't 100% on happy with how one of his relationships fell out at the end. But on the whole it was a good read. I definitely turned the pages as fast as I could to find out how it would all turn out. ( )

4.5 stars.

An absolutely haunting tale of abuse and manipulation, Still Waters is a stunning debut novel by Ash Parsons. Dark and violent, this young adult story is a mesmerizing psychological thriller with a compelling storyline and an unlikely hero.

Jason Roberts is no stranger to violence and he is fiercely protective of his younger sister, Janie. He meticulously plans every minute of his day with one goal in mind: stay out of the reach of his violent, ex-con and petty criminal father. Jason and Janie have devised a plan to escape their abusive father so when Michael Springfield, a popular student from a wealthy family, approaches him with a rather vague description of a well-paying job, Jason pushes aside his doubts and accepts his offer. What begins as a simple plan with Jason hanging out with Michael and his circle of friends soon spirals into one dangerous situation after another. Certain he has everything under control, Jason cannot resist the increasingly higher payoffs for each "job" but as he soon discovers, nothing is as simple as it appears and he is completely blindsided when he realizes the truth.

Jason is street smart and wise beyond his years due to his abusive home life. He has a well-earned tough guy reputation and no one messes with him, his sister or his best friend, Clay. He is a smart, loyal champion of the underdog and while he is extremely good at reading people, he seriously underestimates what he is getting into with Michael.

Michael is a well liked jock from an affluent, well respected family. With very little parental supervision, he is free to do just about whatever he wants and this has led him right into a problem with the wrong people. He concocts a rather brilliant scheme to reel Jason into his world and Michael then easily maneuvers the rest of his friends into carrying out his seemingly innocuous plans.

Jason glimpses the sometimes cruel streak Michael hides behind his mostly cheerful facade and he remains distrustful of Michael's motive for hiring him. In order to dispel Jason's suspicions, Michael tells a fairly believable story, but Jason is still pretty wary. Michael exploits Jason's vulnerabilities and Jason unknowingly does exactly what Michael wants. By the time Jason realizes that he is in way over his head, will it be too late for him to escape the diabolical scheme that is waiting for him?

Still Waters is truly remarkable young adult story that offers a heartbreaking and realistic portrayal of a desperate attempt to escape a violent childhood. Jason and Janie are finely crafted, multi-dimensional and devastatingly sympathetic characters. The plot is well-developed and engaging with plenty of action to keep the pages turning at a blistering pace. The story is full of unexpected plot twists and Ash Parsons brings this phenomenal novel to an absolutely spectacular, action filled conclusion.

An utterly outstanding psychological thriller I highly recommend to readers of all ages.
( )

I received this from the publisher for an early read/review.

Excellent story that turned out more enjoyable than I anticipated. I don't read as much YA as some of my reading buddies, and I tend to rate it a little harsher, so I was surprised by how hooked I became to this one.

I was kept on my toes with the dark psychological twists as the main character, Jason, is pulled into compromising directions by a popular, rich group in school. The story reminds me a little of something Christopher Pike may have written when I was growing up, but not quite the same, enjoyed in the similar vein (I love Pike's twists too.) Whatever seems to be simple on the surface never is, and it's impossible to guess everything, impossible to never be surprised.

Thankfully I cared about the protagonist, which made whatever was going on even more riveting. Sometimes he seemed to have too stiff a shoulder, but it showed in the end that he was right to be that standoffish and I was the one giving too much benefit of the doubt. His driving focus, that which kept him determined to make sacrifices and to take chances, was a plausible one. Yucky home life to the extreme, this story touched not only on the manipulations played at school, but the very real trauma of child abuse and psychological torment played on children by demented father figures.

As one of several villains of the story, Michael's personality hypnotized me. Sociopaths are a dime a dozen in novels, but its not a simple issue. The play in this with the power of dominance and influence in the high school circle revved my interest up another notch. Even if he is playing a villain with no heart, there is always some heart there, no matter how dark. It's a simple label, but he's not a simple character. I prefer realistic villains, not just black and white stereotypes. Villains in this book are facinorous through and through, but they're still madly fascinating.

I never saw all that could be coming - who could? - but some of the guesses proved true. Even when they did, I wasn't let down as there were twists with how it played out still. Using your fists to fight through life isn't an answer, as the character already knows in his reasoning, but sometimes violence isn't avoidable if you're in a violent world.

It was almost painful to put this book down in between real-life reading breaks. Always something is going on to change things or upset balances, raise questions and make me bite my lip wondering what's coming next. There are a few scenes that stand out in my mind especially well, geared forth through the writer's writing style, where I can picture them clearly in my head.

Parsons employs short and sharp sentences to carry hefty meaning, but he ties this in between poetically pretty phrasing. Hard to describe, but it's a style that works.

While Jason is beset with monstrous companions and a horrible situation, he isn't mopey or whiny, only realistically strong and realistically fragile. I felt for him through all the trials, and think the author handled the ending well. There is no such thing in this situation as a realistic happy-go-lucky turnaround, even if some things look up for the moment. There has to be that down time in between tragedies where one slowly starts to heal, no magic rubber band that bounces back in perfect shape when it's done.

This YA is recommended for every age - it avoids triangles, young adult cliches, or anything too 'young.' It's an adult novel for adults, a young adult novel for young adults. Highly recommended. I'll definitely check out more of the authors' work when he writes it. ( )

Very good book about abuse. ( )

An excellent choice for older YA readers can be found in this thriller. The themes are very mature and gritty, so parents, beware, you may want to screen this book for younger than high school readers. A high school male with an abusive father (a single parent household) and a younger sister gets mixed up with a really wrong crowd. The new clique are the football and cheerleader teens who are into the usual boy/girl games, but also are deeply into criminal activity which results in a seriously twisted plot and a horrendous outcome. It is a fast read taking only an afternoon for me to complete and I recommend this work without reservation. My thanks to the author and Penguin's First to Read program for a complimentary copy. ( )