First published 2026
The Coastal Canyon debate team arrives at their Airbnb rental already simmering with resentment. Their recent competition loss still stings, and old grudges run deep among the seven students. Then the storm hits with brutal force, trapping them inside for the night with their three teachers. The situation turns deadly when they discover a body outside in the rain. Someone cuts the landline. A teammate collapses unconscious. Their car sits useless with a flat tire. As the night spirals into chaos, the students realize death has joined their group. The killer could be anyone: a fellow debater harboring secret rage, one of their teachers with hidden motives, or a stranger stalking them from the dark woods surrounding their isolated refuge. Trust crumbles as quickly as their safety. Each person becomes both potential victim and suspect in a game where the stakes are life and death.
Genres: mystery, horror, contemporary, thriller, young-adult
Vibes: claustrophobic, dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, tense
Tropes: locked-room-mystery, trust-crumbles, unreliable-suspects, whodunit
Setting: Airbnb rental, Coastal Canyon, woods
Period: one night, contemporary
320 pages · Hardcover · Delacorte Press
Content warnings: death, murder, violence