Customer Reviews

A Hole in Juan: An Amanda Pepper Mystery (Amanda Pepper Mysteries)

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Another school year has begun at Philadelphia Prep. Amanda Pepper, with mixed feelings as always, returns to teaching English to a student body that is less than motivated to excel.

A new teacher hired over the summer, Juan Reyes, who is a chemistry doctorate, finds the students "...a disappointment. Sloppy thinkers, lazy, only interested in their petty lives." Of course, the teenagers sense this attitude and proceed to make his life miserable.

Odd things begin to happen to Mr. Reyes. But odd things begin to happen to Amanda as well. They were called "tricks," as they were attributed to the approach of Halloween. (In Philadelphia, it is a tradition for children to pull harmless pranks on the night before Halloween.) As this night of tradition draws even closer, the tricks take a deadly twist--both for the faculty and students. Amanda Pepper must use her sleuthing skills to uncover the perpetrators before the fateful night arrives.

I loved this book--the characters, and the plotline. As an avid reader of action and adventure stories, this book had plenty to keep me interested. And, I appreciated the lack of violence and cuss words.

Being a teacher myself, I empathized with the daily struggles of the main characters. The book is a quick read and I read it cover to cover on a Friday night. Good for relaxing on a cold winter's night!

Armchair Interviews says: Grab this book and a mug of hot cocoa on a cold winter night, and enjoy!

It is been almost a month since Amanda Pepper and Mackenzie were married but now that the schoolteacher is considered family, her husband's kin send his nephew Pip stay with them for a while until he calms down and gets over his broken heart. Her spouse, a former homicide detective, is now in school studying to get his PH.D in criminology. He is a part time private investigator and Amanda is learning to be on call they can supplement her income from Philly Prep.

Mischief Night is coming up soon but the atmosphere at the school is dark and foreboding as the senior students are not acting like themselves. Physics teacher Juan Reyes is complaining that equipment disappears and reappears and blames his students who think he is too hard and strict with them. Amanda is getting notes that point to something terrible happening at the Friday Mischief party at the school. Two female students who are supposedly best friends are constantly arguing and two males who were best buddies have a vicious altercation. Professor Reyes is seriously injured in what police think is an accident but is in reality a sadistic prank that viciously backfires on the students who caused it. All these happenings are linked but unless Amanda figures out what it all means, a terrible tragedy will occur.

Gillian Roberts has written another exciting mystery that demonstrates how a mob can rule and force their collective mindset on another person. After reading this book readers will understand how a Columbine situation can happen if stops aren't taken to prevent it. A HOLE IN JUAN is a chilling and terrifying storyline involving crimes that are beyond comprehension yet seem plausible. The protagonist takes action making her a true heroine.

Harriet Klausner

Amanda Pepper is coping with newlywed status, a visiting 16-year-old nephew, and strange happenings at school. New science teacher Juan Reyes is intensely disliked by his students. But does the dislike go as far as atttempted murder? An "accidental" explosion in the science lab causes Reyes to go to ICU in critical condition. None of the clues come together though to point to the real reason for her unease at school.
With each Amanda Pepper book, I know that the author had to have been a teacher. More of this book, than previous books, takes place in the classroom and in school. The behind the scenes problems of a principal who only cares about the bottom line and cares little for the actual education process and colleagues who do not see beyond their classrooms, plus trying to understand teenagers make this an interesting and satisfying reading experience.

I like the Amanda Pepper series and was euphoric when I heard about Gillian's latest entry, A HOLE IN JUAN. I ordered a copy and am awaiting a great read. If you're a fan of the series, do not hesitate. Read the book. If you're a newbie to Amanda's adventures, start from the beginning and work your way to the latest novel. They're a treat, never disappointing.

Bess