I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan is a Young-Adult suspense/mystery/coming of age book about four teenagers who find themselves in a struggle for their lives when the horrible secret of “what happened last summer” eventually gets out, and a killer is out for their blood. The story has extremely well written characters, however the horror aspect is quite old and predictable considering the age of the book, which originally came out in 1973 when teen-horror was still relatively fresh. The book hooks readers from the beginning by not mentioning exactly what happened last summer, although it is not difficult to figure out. Then, once the mystery starts to pick up, the events from last summer are revealed, and at this point readers are now interested in how the conflict will be resolved. The book is set in a traditional 70’s town. Not very big, not the kind of place where a killer would be expected, and where each character has their own small desires. (Such as getting a job, going to University, etc.) The most complex characters in the book would be the four main protagonists, who are each unique and go through many dynamic changes throughout the story. The characters are Julie, the one most affected mentally by the accident, Ray, the mature one, Helen, the pretty TV star, and Barry, the cocky football hero. The book slowly build the tension as the killer starts making more and more dangerous moves on the protagonists, however the main internal conflict is the kids decision to keep the accident a secret so that they could resume their lives as normal, though bearing the pain of what they had done. Overall, the book is a great mystery story, and has great characters and good pacing, and is a very good suspenseful read for those who don’t like hardcore horror.