Everyone knows about PANIC. The cops know, the parents have heard of it, but it’s the graduating senior
students of Carp High that run it.
Every year, all seniors must pay into a pot that is up for grabs after graduation. PANIC is facilitated by judges who have been chosen to run it by the previous year’s judges. No one knows who they are, and it’s entirely up to you if you want to enter. If you dare.
The jackpot held by the judges is even more than last year, now at $67,000. That’s a sure fire way for many to leave their going-nowhere-boring small town called Carp.
The night after school finishes, PANIC begins. Your announcement to enter is made by jumping off a cliff into water far below. Heather wasn’t going to enter. She was only at the beach party to watch her friend Nat jump. Heather hardly admits to herself what triggers her to enter, let alone to her friends, but it’s enough to drive her forward into the game.
PANIC is made up of several life threatening, nail-biting challenges – which steadily get worse. Challenges are timed, or staged so only those who complete them move forward. The judges challenge is to keep it hidden from law enforcement, and everyone knows what happens to anyone who narks. It’s not pretty.
Heather lives with her little sister and deadbeat mum in a trailer. Her mum’s trail of different boyfriends, alcohol and drug abuse is increasing and Heather can’t see a way out. She might have entered PANIC after a knee-jerk reaction to heartbreak, but maybe, just maybe, she could actually win?
Dodge has his own reasons for entering. His older sister Dayna is in a wheelchair and told she will never walk again. Dodge knows it was PANIC that put her there, but he is bent on revenge for his sister.
The high-stakes game called PANIC drew me in, but it was the desperation of the characters to reap revenge and escape their lives that captured my heart. Four teenagers aged 18 (or very close to it) are caught up in this game.
The longer they played, the more their lives seemed to unravel, making the stakes even higher. These teens are experiencing first love, life-long friendships, broken hearts, new jobs, and parental neglect. There is truth and lies, homelessness, and a feeling of betrayal, not to mention the life threatening challenges being set by mystery judges.
Guns, dogs, water, spiders, heights, and ghosts. Throw in tigers and fast cars and you have a game!
Welcome to PANIC.Â
(Panic has also been released as a Prime Video)
Author – Lauren Oliver
Age – 14+
(2021, Hachette, Game, Thriller, Friendship, Intrigue, Animals, Love, Romance, Homelessness, Challenge, Revenge, Lies, Truth, Growing Up, Action, Crime, Violence, Family, Mystery, Poverty, Secrets, Kindness)