REVIEW: LET'S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS' BY MENDAL JOHNSON

LET'S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS'
MENDAL JOHNSON


GENRE: HORROR


SYNOPSIS (Goodreads)

Surely, it was only a game. In the orderly, pleasant world Barbara inhabited, nice children -- and they were nice children -- didn't hold an adult captive.

But what Barbara didn't count on was the heady effect their new-found freedom would have on the children. Their wealthy parents were away in Europe, and in this rural area of Maryland, the next house was easily a quarter of a mile away. The power of adults was in their hands, and they were tempted by it. They tasted it and toyed with it -- their only aim was to test its limits. Each child was consumed by his own individual lust and caught up with the others in sadistic manipulation and passion, until finally, step by step, their grim game strips away the layers of childishness to reveal the vicious psyche, conceived in evil and educated in society's sophisticated violence, that lies always within civilized men.

More than a terrifying horror story, Let's Go Play At The Adams' is a compelling psychological exercise of brooding insights and deadly implications.
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MY TAKE

5 STARS!

*May Contain Spoilers*
Let's Go Play At The Adams' was not an easy read. At times it was gut-wrenching to continue.

I went through a range of emotions while reading this. The things that happened to the babysitter, Barbara, while being tied-up and under the control of the five kids (ranging in age from 10-17) was terrible to say the least.

What started out as a game, or experiment, for these kids turns into so much more. For the first 3 chapters or so, it's a bit slow-going. There is a lot of character building in these chapters--which is crucial to this story. As the story continues, we see the innocence and human emotion being stripped away from these children. They become inhumane, cold, and monsterous.

It was very hard to see Barbara's optimisim begin to degrade when she realizes that it has become more than a game and she's not going to get out of the situation alive. When she accepts that she is going to die, I felt my heart just drop.

The last few chapters of this book were the worst. I just wanted to cry for Barbara. Reading the epilogue was hard as well. Knowing these kids would never get punished for what they did infuriated me.

Let's Go Play At The Adams' will get inside your head and turn your emotions inside out. If you think you can handle it, then give it a try.