Welcome scavengers and hunters alike! I'm glad to have you here. I am a NYT Bestselling author of YA dark fantasy (Wicked, Crusade, Wolf Springs Chronicles). I also write adult thrillers and mysteries (Witch Hunt, Kiss trilogy, Psalm 23 Mysteries). There's a lot to see on my site so I hope you'll bookmark it and come back later. Now, on with the hunt!

This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! On this hunt, you get access to exclusive content from each author and you'll find clues to solve each team's puzzle–one lucky winner will receive TWENTY signed books! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt start page for more information about the hunt. This post is one of the stops for the BLUE Team. Search my post for a letter that's blue colored.

It's my joy to be hosting Gretchen McNeil.

Gretchen McNeil is an opera singer, writer and clown. Her YA horror/paranormal POSSESS debuted with Balzer + Bray for HarperCollins in 2011. Her second novel, TEN – YA horror/suspense about ten teens trapped on a remote island with a serial killer – will be released September 18, 2012. Gretchen is a former coloratura soprano, the voice of Mary on G4′s Code Monkeys and she currently sings with the LA-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. Gretchen is also a founding member of the vlog group YARebels where she can be seen as "Monday."

Gretchen's new book TEN comes out September 18th.

And their doom comes swiftly.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their reasons for being there (which involve T.J., the school's most eligible bachelor) and look forward to three glorious days of boys, booze and fun-filled luxury.

But what they expect is definitely not what they get, and what starts out as fun turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly people are dying, and with a storm raging, the teens are cut off the from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn't scheduled to return for two days. As the deathS become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

And here's a sneak peak excerpt from her book TEN:

A roar of wind rattled every window in the garret and the rain lashed at the glass so fiercely it sounded as if someone had thrown a handful of pebbles at the side of the house. The light filtering through the white gauze curtains was muted and dull, and Meg's first thought as she squinted her eyes open was that the storm must have raged all night without letting up. Judging by the wind and the rain, they were in for another dark, damp day on Henry Island.

She shivered and pulled the quilt up around her ears. Damn, the house was freezing. Had someone turned off the heat? She rolled on her side to check the time on the alarm clock but the digital face was completely blank. No wonder it was so cold in the house. The storm must have knocked out the power during the night. No power, no heat, no satellite. Minnie was right – they needed to catch the first boat out of there.

Meg listened for other noises in the house, but there was only the sound of Minnie's rhythmic breathing. She lay there for a moment, eyes squeezed shut against the encroaching daylight, and wondered if she should get up and tell someone about the power outage. Eh, what could they do? No point in leaving a warm bed. She snuggled under her covers, hoping she'd drift back off to sleep.

Except she had to pee. Small bladder and too much beer. She swung her legs over the bed and tested her toes on the frigid floor, silently cursing her decision not to pack slippers. With the giant comforter wrapped around her, Meg tiptoed across the garret and down the stairs.

There was a slight breeze in the open stairwell of the tower that sent a chill racing down Meg's neck. She hitched the comforter up over her head – sympathizing suddenly with Eskimos, mummies, and women in burkas – and quickened her pace.

Pat, pat, pat. The sound of her bare feet was distant and fuzzy as it permeated the layers of thick down wrapped around her head. Her toes were so cold she could barely feel the smooth wood of the stairs, and the comforter cocoon was like having blinders on: she could only see a small oval right in front of her. She moved as quickly as her bulky wrap would allow, praying she didn't trip and send herself careening down the stairs or worse, over the railing. That fall would certainly end in a broken neck.

Why was she always thinking of the most morbid scenarios? Sheesh. Just go down to the bathroom then back to a warm, comfy bed.

Pat, pat, pat.

Creeeeeak.

Meg paused. Was that the stairs creaking? It sounded like it came from somewhere above her. Maybe the old house was straining against the storm? She rounded a corner of the stairs and heard it again.

Creeeeeeak. A shadow on the white wall of the tower caught her eye. There was something odd about it, something familiar and yet there shouldn't be a shadow there at all. The windows in the tower didn't have any curtains, nothing to cast a shadow. Meg stared at it for a second and noticed the shadow was moving, swaying slowly from left to right.

Creeeeeak.

Meg froze, her eyes locked on the shadow. The heavy form, oblong and amorphous except for the dangling appendages…

Legs. Holy crap, they were legs.

Meg turned her head and came eye-to-eye with a face hanging in the stairwell. The noose around the neck. The purplish-blue hue to the skin.

Meg opened her mouth and screamed.

Preorder this book by clicking here.

Visit Gretchen's website by clicking here.

I'm giving away a free copy of Damned (the second book in the Crusade series) on my site here as well. To enter, comment below (1 entry) and tell me if you have followed me on Twitter (1 entry), liked my page on Facebook (2 entries) and followed my reviews on Goodreads (1 entry). Additional entries will be given for tweeting about the contest and for signing up for my newsletter.

And now on to the next stop on the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Visit Joy Preble by clicking here.