One beautiful spring day, Martyn decides that he is going to create the greatest prank "Our Glorious School" has ever seen. Martyn is a brilliant prankster, always conceiving dirty, sly jokes that send ripples throughout the school. Everyone knows who the culprit is, but since he is so quiet and so good --- handing in homework on time, doing tons of extra credit work --- he never gets caught. Martyn hopes that this will be the case again. He rallies five specimens to take part in this prank with him, but he isn't looking to get a laugh out of them. Martyn is testing a theory. He wants to create an "experiment with life," one that none of them will ever forget.

The five students come from all cliques in the school: Geoff the strong, Frankie the festive, Alex the meek, Mike the brave, and Liz the savior. All venture down into a long-forgotten pit inside the school grounds while the rest of their classmates are on a school trip. Their parents all assume the five are on the trip as well. Sound cool, so far? The five students have time on their hands, time to chill, party and --- become trapped in the scariest predicament imaginable!

Martyn is supposed to pick them up three days later. When night comes on the third day, they realize he isn't coming back. And so the five unwittingly become part of an unimaginable mind game. Food, water, and then lastly light are taken away from them, one after the other. Fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and tension grow and threaten the five. Will they ever get out of there alive?

THE HOLE, a suspenseful and electrifying novel, digs deep inside the mind of Liz, the narrator and writer of the novel. Liz's perspective becomes dulled and strange as the book continues on, due to the deprivation and horror with which she is faced. Is Liz telling the truth? What really happens?

THE HOLE compares favorably to such books as William Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES and John Fowles's THE COLLECTOR. If you like psychological suspense and crave a quick reading thriller, THE HOLE is the medicine you've been looking for. The uncertainty as to what really occurs is definitely what British author Guy Burt is aiming for, and he knows how to keep his audience captivated through different perspectives and personalities. How do five completely different people survive an incident so insane? You'll have to read to find out!

   --- Reviewed by Rachel, high school student and reading diva


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