Learn about Karen M. McManus’s Bayview High trilogy – comprising One of Us is Back, One of Us is Lying, and One of Us is Next, find out more about each book in the series.
If you’re a fan of YA thrillers, then you likely know the name Karen M. McManus.
Known for getting teens to read, her books are addictive, fast-paced and full of mystery.
Starting with One Of Us Is Lying, her Bayview High books centre around a group of high schoolers who find themselves on the wrong side of a shocking death and mysterious game. When the creator of a gossip app dies of an allergic reaction while in detention, the police rule that it was no accident.
Four students immediately become suspects, and the drama doesn’t end there. Even after the suspected students (The Bayview Four) graduate, a new generation will have to face similar challenges – working their way through the secrets of their small town in One Of Us Is Next.
In the concluding book, One of Us is Back, it becomes clear that all of Bayview’s secrets are bound to come out eventually. With the entire Bayview Crew together, they might just be able to finally put an end to all of the drama.
Whether you’re hoping to learn more or want a refresher, scroll on to familiarise yourself with the Bayview High books.
A reading guide for Karen M. McManus’s Bayview High books
Five students go into detention, but only four leave alive.
Bronwyn has never broken a rule in her life, Cooper only knows what he’s doing on the baseball diamond, Nate seems to be one step away from a life of crime, and prom queen Addy is simply trying to hold together the cracks in her not-so-perfect life.
Simon, the outsider and creator of the notorious gossip app at Bayview High School won’t talk about any of them again. Twenty-four hours before he can post their deepest secrets, he dies in detention, and everyone else is a suspect.
One year after the action of One of Us Is Lying, someone has started a dangerous game of Truth or Dare. The book centres around Maeve (the sister of Bronwyn from One of Us Is Lying) and another group of juniors at Bayview High. When the students start getting text messages from an anonymous texter they refer to as ‘The Unknown’, things quickly become dangerous. Along with trying to figure out who is sending the messages, they’ll also uncover a few dark secrets about each other . . .
The trilogy’s finale opens almost two years after Simon died in detention. And the aftermath has been hard to shake. When the original Bayview Four (Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy and Nate) and the new generation (Maeve, Phoebe, Knox, Luis and Kris) come home for the summer, the stakes become higher than ever. When a mysterious billboard announces that it’s ‘time for a new game’ in Bayview, it becomes obvious that this game is serious. The thing is, Simon was right about secrets – they all come out, eventually.
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