A Deadly Game of Magic

It took a little time for the Psycho-like background to take effect but once moving this is an intense and quite satisfying suspense story. The mechanics (literally) of the four teenagers ending up in the large, strange house in a thunderstorm at night barely matters. They're stranded and the house begins to reveal its tricks. That Lisa is an amateur magician might seem improbable but it's convenient here. The four of them are being played with by, as it turns out, a murderous magician whose unfolding character is one of the strengths of the book. The education of the characters is thin but the suspense is good strong stuff and not easy to resist -- just right for many readers in this age -- group who will be attracted by the cover and will not need much help from there on.