Surrender (by Sonya Hartnett)

The psycological thriller Surrender by Sonya Hartnett is very entertaining. The protagonist, Anwell, is dying at the age of 20. He remembers his short life and all the humiliation and mistakes he's made. When young Anwell meets a dirty boy named Finnegan on a hot, boring day, they make a pact. Anwell must only do good things from now on, after accidentally killing his brother, and so calls him Gabriel after an angel. Finnegan can do bad things and becomes an arsonist, punishing people who did bad things to Gabriel and making a game out of leaving the town in terror. Gabriel realizes how dangerous Finnegan is and wants to get rid of him, but is afraid of what Finnegan will do. I thought it was interesting how Finnegan thought he should be Gabriel's only friend. He acts like he owns everything and doesn't care about what the consequences might be, while on the other hand, Gabriel just wants to live a normal life. I felt bad for Gabriel because both his parents seclude him from other people. This makes Gabriel's only friends Finnegan and his dog, Surrender. I also feel bad for how Gabriel had to keep the secret that after the pact was made, Finnegan becomes an arsonist, teasing and terrorizing the town with fire. This novel was very good and I would recommend it to someone who likes suspense. The violence in the novel was a little frightening, but it kept you on the edge of your seat and left you feeling content at the end.