Book Tour, Review & Giveaway! - Phantom

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Title: Phantom

Author: Laura De Luca

Publisher: Pagan Writers Press

Pages: 270

Blurb

The “Phantom” was a musical phenomenon that Rebecca had always found enchanting. She had no idea that her life was about to mirror the play that was her obsession. When her high school drama club chooses “Phantom” as their annual production, Rebecca finds herself in the middle of an unlikely love triangle and the target of a sadistic stalker who uses the lines from the play as their calling card.

Rebecca lands the lead role of Christine, the opera diva, and like her character, she is torn between her two co-stars—Tom the surfer and basketball star who plays the lovable hero, and Justyn, the strangely appealing Goth who is more than realistic in the role of the tortured artist.

Almost immediately after casting, strange things start to happen both on and off the stage. Curtains fall. Mirrors are shattered. People are hurt in true phantom style. They all seem like accidents until Rebecca receives notes and phone calls that hint at something more sinister. Is Justyn bringing to life the twisted character of the phantom? Or in real life are the roles of the hero and the villain reversed? Rebecca doesn’t know who to trust, but she knows she’s running out of time as she gets closer and closer to opening night. Only when the mask is stripped away, will the twenty first century phantom finally be revealed.

Buy Links

http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-ebook/dp/B007Q3W7XC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1346854207&sr=8-1

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/146617

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/phantom-laura-deluca/1109825093

Media Links

http://authorlauradeluca.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/authorlauradeluca

www.twitter.com/authorldeluca

http://www.goodreads.com/authorlauradeluca

Giveaway
 
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My Review
I've only ever seen 'The Phantom of the Opera' once on DVD but I did enjoy it and I like the idea of the storyline, and the music is beautiful. I have had the soundtrack on my ipod for years and know a lot of the songs. My best friend has seen it in theaters all round the world and it's her all time favourite so I thought I would give this a go and see if it was worth recommending to her.
The story starts with Becca - she's shy and tends to be invisible to everyone but her two best friends Carmen and Deb, but then the school announces that their end of year play will be Phantom and she decides to audition. She has been a fan for years and already knows it word for word, and when her teacher discovers that she has the voice of an angel she is thrown into the lead role, but then strange events start to happen, events that mirror the script and end up with people being killed. Things start to get out of hand and Becca must find out who is behind it, all whilst figuring out whether she likes dreamy guy Tom, or new mysterious guy Justyn.
I liked all the characters, they all seemed very realistic and I could picture people I was at school with acting the same way. Tom sounded like a good guy and actually quite considerate to others, which isn't always usual for the popular guy. Justyn was strange, I did like him but I also wanted him to just come out and say things occasionally instead of being so mysterious, but it all added to the atmosphere so I was happy overall.
This book surprisingly had me hooked. I sat down with the intent of reading just a few pages, but then found that I was totally engrossed and would end up reading multiple chapters. In fact I read this book in two halves, and between reading I found myself thinking about reading it.
This book is basically a High School Murder mystery which I never thought I would like (being a total wimp and all) but it is done in a really clever way - none of the deaths are overly described - there are no gory details but the suspense is at a good level that will keep your heart thumping.
Some things were a little bit predictable and I think if you knew the original Phantom story better it might be very predictable but for me it was just right.
I did find that the characters recovered quite quickly from the deaths that happened - they move on very easily, almost like it's not a big deal. Which I found slightly odd, the other thing that puzzled me is the fact that Becca never reports any of the threats or messages, she gets some voicemails telling her that some has or will be murdered yet she doesn't say anything to her parents or the police - not even in passing. I would sure hope that if teenagers were getting worrying messages they would tell someone, especially if after the first one comes true - she must surely realise the others could too.

So there were a few eye raising questions but overall I really enjoyed the book and I did not suspect the guilty person. Totally shocked me, looking back on it, I should have realised but at the time, I had no idea. 
So overall an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to others. :D

My Rating