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The Finalists by David Bell

"What had potential as a dark academia, suspenseful thriller quickly devolved into a "he said, she said" blame game. ciche, "who dun it" murder mystery. The only reason I finished the book was to find out "who dun it" and it was rather a let down in the end."

1 Star

Pros: The idea of the Hyde Scholarship, the whole process had me intrigued but it quickly lost its edge. 

Cons: The characters couldn't have been anymore cliche or one dimensional. A veteran who insists that everyone call him Captain, the bespectacled, black clad, Doc Marten wearing English Major with tattoo sleeves and the good ol' home grown, American boy, Duffy who works on his family farm and I'm pretty sure, actually said, "Aw shucks" at one point/The fact that no one was ever honest with anyone got really old really quickly and is one of the main reasons I don't really read murder mysteries.   

Full Review

Vincent Gaines, the Vice President of Institutional Development at Hyde College pulls up to Hyde House, eager and excited for this new year and new opportunity. Every year, on the third Saturday of April, six students from six different majors and six obviously different backgrounds all meet at the legendary Hyde House at Hyde College.  They're given the opportunity to compete for the legendary and prestigious Hyde Fellowship. The winner gets the rest of their tuition paid and a guaranteed entry level job at the Hyde Corporation after graduation.  

Of course, it's come to light that Ezekiel Hyde, the founder of Hyde House and the resulting Hyde College, was in the Union army during the Civil War and participated in a slaughtering of Confederate prisoners, so his morality is brought into question. Also the Hyde fortune was founded on Coal, which people thinks is killing the Earth. This year is very different from anything prior since there are now protestors, a police presence and also, Theodore Hyde has passed and the sole survivor and heir of the Hyde fortune is Nicholas Hyde, a perpetually hung over 30 something year old Billionaire playboy. 

Once the process begins, everyone hands over their cell phones and are locked in Hyde House and must remain in the house until 4 pm or everything is null and void. 

They all have Tea, as is customary and Nicholas Hyde does his best to fill in for his Father, playing the role of the Hyde heir. and explaining how the day will proceed. But when one of the students suddenly starts seizing, frothing at the mouth and dies, well, this whole being locked in a house with 7 other people suddenly isn't as appealing as it was. 

The story quickly devolved into a "who dun it" cliche murder mystery and the only reason I kept reading was to find out well, "who dun it." And the revelation at the end made sense but 300+ pages felt like an awfully long time to get to the point. Also, every chapter ended with, "Mr. Gaines, you should come see this" or "Mr. Gaines, I need to speak to you in private." No one was honest with one another and it was all a huge "he said, she said" blame game that got old after 20 pages in. I'd been looking at this book for a long time and now that I've read it, I just wasn't all that impressed. 

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