You Killed Wesley Payne

He’s come to do a job. A job that involves a body. A body wrapped in duct tape found hanging from the goal posts at the end of the football field.

Written by Sean Beaudoin

Kind of a strange book about the death of a teenage boy in a strange high school full of cliques. Dalton is a student who also sees himself as a detective, and he wants to solve what happened to Wesley Payne. Dalton tries to find the facts while trying to curb the violence plaguing his school. There is no swearing; however, there are words that replace actual swear words, such as “Oh my Bob!” There is some sexual innuendo where you know what is going on, but it is not graphic.

Review by Warren Child, Cyprus High Media Center
Rating: ★★★★✩ (4 stars)
Interest Level: High School

Sean Beaudoin – Official Website

You Killed Wesley Payne
Written by Sean Beaudoin
Little, Brown
359 p.
Release Date: January 13, 2011
ISBN: 9780316077422

From the Publisher

“He’s come to do a job.
A job that involves a body.
A body wrapped in duct tape found hanging from the goal posts at the end of the football field.”

You Killed Wesley Payne is a truly original and darkly hilarious update of classic pulp-noir, in which hard-boiled seventeen year-old Dalton Rev transfers to the mean hallways of Salt River High to take on the toughest case of his life. The question isn’t whether Dalton’s going to get paid. He always gets paid. Or whether he’s gonna get the girl. He always (sometimes) gets the girl. The real question is whether Dalton Rev can outwit crooked cops and killer cliques in time to solve the mystery of “The Body” before it solves him.

Sean Beaudoin (Going Nowhere Faster, Fade to Blue) evokes the distinctive voices of legendary crime/noir authors Dashiell Hammett and Jim Thompson with a little bit of Mean Girls and Heathers thrown in for good measure. It’ll tease you, please you, and never ever leave you. Actually, that’s not true. It’s only a book. One that’s going to suck you in, spit you out, and make you shake hands with the devil. Probably.

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