Smart Phone by Josh Eber
Publisher: Peter Goldberger
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary, Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by SnowdropA California Mystery Adventure
It started with a text —
a time, a place, then…———————–
A mystery set in 2009 Los Angeles — when cell phones seemed innocent.
On his first trip to California, Jeffrey is getting the grand tour of Los Angeles from his cousin and a new friend.
Sun-kissed beaches. A mansion in Brentwood. Hollywood studios. Horseback adventures and moonlight swims. Limo rides. A secret cave in Malibu…
Until things go sideways.
And his new phone suddenly changes everything.
Blending danger, fun, and brain teasers, Smart Phone is a page-turner with a message more relevant today than ever — and one that lingers long past its final page.
Sometimes, right when you feel like a misfit, you meet a person or two who seem to make you feel like you fit in somewhere. That’s what happened to Jeffrey, Diana, and M. Two of them were new and awkward cousins, the other a goddess from the heavens, or at least a beautiful girl who smiles at you. Somehow it all worked out until Jeffrey’s phone started texting them.
This was a neat mix of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and AI technology. What a hoot. Some of the things that happened to the kids were things we’d all have thought were dreams when we were schoolkids.
Somehow, Josh Eber mixed adults, kids, mystery, technology, Cadillacs, and teenage crushes and made an interesting read that would keep anyone turning the pages.
I did think there were a few places that slowed down while the team tried to figure out the analytics of the source of all the clues, but it sure would not keep me from buying this book for any Young Adult or even pre-teen. This is truly a fun mystery, and yet it brings up some of the hurt many of us had to handle growing up. At the same time, it is also clean and nice. Hard to find today, and that makes it a good read in my mind.
