Secret Society & The Trust

As you know, I love a good book.  I cherish it; I recommend it; I talk about it...the whole works.  But, if there is one thing I love more than a good book, it's a good, free book.  It's like winning the lottery to me.  I'm talking about one of those scratch off tickets, not the Power Ball of course.  I love it.  Through one of these amazing free experiences, I came across the Secret Society novels by Tom Dolby.  You too can try your hand at scoring free books if you become a fan of Harper Teen on Facebook.  Their frequent contests reward the faithful clickers with ARC's.  What could be better than getting a free book that can't even be bought yet?  I can't think of much.

After snagging an ARC of The Trust (which is now available), I purchased Secrect Society in order to get the full experience.  It had me at hello.  In this book, readers attempt to figure out the mystery as Nick, Patch, Lauren, and Phoebe, students at the exclusive Chadwick School are immersed into the dangerous, secret world of the Society.  Society members do not attempt to join, but are selected and notified by mysterious text messages they are expected to follow. 

After receiving the first mysterious message the initiates become part of a world they could have only imagined existed in New York.  Suddenly doors are open for them they would never have expected, but at what cost?  Membership in the Society appears as permanent as the tattoos its members are marked with during their initiation.  Ohhhhhh, good stuff.

In The Trust the characters continue to try to solve the mystery of the Society.  As they do this, they begin to learn how deeply involved their families are and how much of their lives they are expected to give to the Society.  The price of membership seems quite high, but it doesn't seem likely that anyone can leave.

These two books are really exciting.  Dolby weaves information from Egyptian mythology into the mystery and creates characters that are quite complex.  Tom Dolby has also written The Sixth Form (among other things), which is also about the prep school scene.  I'm planning to read this soon.  Note: Secret Society and The Trust are for older teens.