Escape

Secret Diaries #3

by Janice Harrell

Swearing secrecy to the group that is covering up the facts about Laurie and Casey's "accidental" deaths, Joanna and her boyfriend, Penn, are horrified to discover that her diary has been stolen by a killer who is out of control.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Horror, Teen

281 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jessie Wilkens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series when I was a kid and it turns out I still love it. There isn't much depth but it's fun and I always loved the characters. Maybe because they were so different.

[Livian Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover and title sucked me into this series, and I remember it reading as more mature when I first read it in high school. It was harder to actually get through the series recently, but I've kept all three and wouldn't give them up. I even spent time learning the secret code from the codex in the book and wrote a diary using it, minus the murders but complete with a lot of teen angst. (PS the book is right, it's an easy code to break). In my head, all the characters look like adults even though they're seventeen, and the conceit behind the murders is fitting for the fact it's a teen drama book but kind of unrealistic if you flesh it out in the real world. Otherwise it was the only YA thing I read in high school that didn't make me totally cringe.

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to give this final book and the Secret Diaries as a whole four stars.

Spoilers for the second book Betrayal...even though that clearly spoils a lot in that one word.

Also, the back of Escape in its original printing and this reprint spoils a few bits too.

All of them were thinking of ways they could get rid of Casey before he went and told the police about how Penn and his friends were involved with Laurie's accidental death. New in town Joanna, desperately in love with Penn, has written every detail in her secret coded diary.

They went to confront Casey at the school computer lab, and he found the gun in the pocket of Stephen's jacket. Everybody had seen it before out at the cabin for target shooting and the way Casey had been acting, why wouldn't Stephen be paranoid to have it just in case?

Too bad the boys had to fight over it, and the gun went off. Stephen and Tessa were wearing their motorcycle gloves, so the only prints were Casey's, so they typed a "suicide" note on the computer.

Shot in the head under the chin but Penn and Joanna saw the whole thing.

That's what everyone believes now and a murder a few towns over has the police looking that maybe Laurie was killed by a serial killer and not her friends or her stepbrother, Bobby. So, it seems that life can go on normally the last few weeks of school before everyone heads off to college.

Until Joanna realizes her diary is missing.

It doesn't stay missing for long, but Penn is able to crack the code and if he could do it, so could Stephen or Tessa. Now, it is only a matter of time before either Penn or Joanna faces a little "accident" of their own.

There are some genuinely terrifying things that occur in this last book yet also a lot of bittersweet moments sort of mixed together. A friendship coming undone but also a relationship growing despite all of the obstacles.

We get a little bit more information about the kind of people are characters are and especially in the depths of the adults. The police officers are still gunning for Penn to be responsible, Joanna's dad is a real self-centered loser, their hard physics teacher Mr. Dockerty is a pretty decent man and Penn's surgeon father is not as wrapped up in work as his son thought.

We also get to know Bobby better thanks to the introduction of another character who turns out to be very significant to the plot if you pay attention throughout the whole series...

The climax doesn't go the way you expect but it is more the ending that matters and I'm pretty impressed enough to discover more of Janice Harrell's works in the future.

[Chawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy could easily have been one book, admittedly a longer than usual one for the genre. The first book, though written at a palatial rate, somehow managed to keep me hooked enough to read book 2. Book 2 picked up a bit but still a lot of slow-paced emotional scenes that mostly took place in the narrator’s head, or rather her diary. Yet again there was something about the trilogy that made me want to continue into book 3. I gave book 1 and 2 a 3 star rating but pulled out a 4 for the conclusion simply because it did its job of engaging me in the story! I did struggle to get through the first 2 because of the slow motion action but it all ended nicely, if abruptly. Luckily the epilogue tied in some random loose ends. Overall I would say read this if you enjoy a lot of pensive over-thinking but skip if you are looking for a fast-paced thriller.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ending could have been better

[Carson Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this series, Up until the last book. I didn't get to read it until 5 years after the first two and I was so disappointed. I was amped up for an awesome climax and I feel like it was a very cheap way to solve the problem. The rest of the book was great though.

[Alīna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaut kad skolas laikā izlasīju visu triloģiju ar lielu aizrautību. Ļoti patika.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this trilogy as a teenager. Hoping I can find it on Amazon so I can reread it for nostalgias' sake. :)

[Kara Rutledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books from high school. Every few years, I pick up the trilogy and reread it.