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X-Isle
Money won't save you. An exclusive, glamorous resort and celebrity hotspot sounds like the perfect holiday destination to five teens all hoping for a summer to die for. But when the murders begin, their fun-filled holiday island starts to seem like less of a luxury escape and more like a grisly death-trap.
- GenresHorrorYoung Adult
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2003
226 people want to read
About the author
Peter Lerangis
151 books795 followersLerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf, the Drama Club series, the Spy X series, the Watchers series, the Abracadabra series, and the Antarctica two-book adventure, as well ghostwriting for series such as the Three Investigators, the Hardy Boys Casefiles, Sweet Valley Twins, and more than forty books in the series The Baby-sitters Club and its various spin-offs.[1] He has also written novels based on film screenplays, including The Sixth Sense, Sleepy Hollow, and Beauty and the Beast, and five video game novelizations in the Worlds of Power series created by Seth Godin.[2] As a ghostwriter he has been published under the name A. L. Singer.[3]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 21, 2023
This was a decent, fun, slasher but god where there loads of issues. How can a book fuck up so much in less than 170 pages. 2.5 stars is being hella generous!!!
• Saying that Carter ain't Jewish cause she saw his dick....like, what the actual fuck!!!! Kinda antisemitic, not gonna lie.
• 'Have you ever done...you know? With a girl?' Bruh, just say the word sex. That can mean anything from playing a game of twister all the way to genocide!!!
• Why's Carter a little rapey??? A lass tells him to get off her and fuck off so he's like *I just gotta try harder and overpower her*!!!! WHAT?!?!?! Nahh bruh!!! The author got hella issues.
• Why keep saying Indians. They're not from India. They're native Americans. Even a character starts to correct this language and then it's just left and people keep using Indians again with no mention to Native American.
• The fuck was up with the dog thing???
• Why you saying women are hysterical. Girlypop just ran into a dead body and she's like *let run away and call the police* and Carters like 'stop being hysterical'. The fuck?!?!
• Why's Martin just running out his house in the dead of night to chat up a lass who's on a walk...AND DOESN'T WANT HIM THERE!!! SHE SAYS SHE DOESN'T WANT COMPANY SO PISS OFF!!!
• Body in a wheelbarrow???
• Still don't even know who half the characters are - super basic and just blend together
• Why is the interviewer like 'uggghhhh, so hot!!! Hire them. They must look so sexy and wear skimpy outfits'. Erm, Mr author man...are you okay???
• What's with Martins constant nose bleeds.
• Surely if that guy is stealing stuff he would be a little more conspicuous if he's been doing it for so long.
• The whole Carter story line went abso-fucking-lutly nowhere.
• Martin is a living OwO emoji and grade A simp
🥺
👉👈
^ Martin
TLDR: This book is a hot mess and not in a sexy, relatable way. My go to sentence for this book is: what the fuck?!?!
• Saying that Carter ain't Jewish cause she saw his dick....like, what the actual fuck!!!! Kinda antisemitic, not gonna lie.
• 'Have you ever done...you know? With a girl?' Bruh, just say the word sex. That can mean anything from playing a game of twister all the way to genocide!!!
• Why's Carter a little rapey??? A lass tells him to get off her and fuck off so he's like *I just gotta try harder and overpower her*!!!! WHAT?!?!?! Nahh bruh!!! The author got hella issues.
• Why keep saying Indians. They're not from India. They're native Americans. Even a character starts to correct this language and then it's just left and people keep using Indians again with no mention to Native American.
• The fuck was up with the dog thing???
• Why you saying women are hysterical. Girlypop just ran into a dead body and she's like *let run away and call the police* and Carters like 'stop being hysterical'. The fuck?!?!
• Why's Martin just running out his house in the dead of night to chat up a lass who's on a walk...AND DOESN'T WANT HIM THERE!!! SHE SAYS SHE DOESN'T WANT COMPANY SO PISS OFF!!!
• Body in a wheelbarrow???
• Still don't even know who half the characters are - super basic and just blend together
• Why is the interviewer like 'uggghhhh, so hot!!! Hire them. They must look so sexy and wear skimpy outfits'. Erm, Mr author man...are you okay???
• What's with Martins constant nose bleeds.
• Surely if that guy is stealing stuff he would be a little more conspicuous if he's been doing it for so long.
• The whole Carter story line went abso-fucking-lutly nowhere.
• Martin is a living OwO emoji and grade A simp
🥺
👉👈
^ Martin
TLDR: This book is a hot mess and not in a sexy, relatable way. My go to sentence for this book is: what the fuck?!?!
March 3, 2017
This was a boring book. Nothing at all like what I thought, or what I hoped. I was hoping for a horror, based on the cover and the series (Point Horror) but it was more of a mystery as to who was killing the island residents. There was no character development. The one thing I did like was the diversity in the characters, and the descriptions of them at the start. I kind of thought that I liked how And I'm glad that wasn't that obvious. I mean, if I'd been paying more attention, it probably would be, but yknow. I'll be reading Return to X-Isle at some point, just no idea when.
November 30, 2022
Well this book is...there were some serious problems with this book.
Before I get to those though, I'd like to say problems aside it was a quick fun slasher read. A bunch of rich teens stuck on an island with a deranged killer- what more can you ask for. The conclusion was a little ridiculous, but I never go into a slasher expecting literary masterpieces. I think i'll hunt down book 2 at some point.
The problems:
- Can we not call women hysterical? Particularly when they are reacting in a way that is completely justified based on the circumstances.
- Carter's character... would not have been published in today's market. That's for damn sure. There was a scene where the girl turns down his advances and,"He knew what that meant. It meant more. it meant you'll have to overpower me. He had to do this right. Firm. Confident. Not psychotic."
This whole scene made me uncomfortable because the girl ends up kneeing him in the nads, and then running away laughing and apologizing? and carter thinks, "Playing hard to get. he liked that. Made it more exciting." Just. no. This scene was written poorly, and is inexcusable.
Not problems but things that made me go hm:
- The police wheel a body off in a wheelbarrow? really?!
- so many parentheses- (why?!)
- Mark's constant nose bleeds? Is he anime character?
Before I get to those though, I'd like to say problems aside it was a quick fun slasher read. A bunch of rich teens stuck on an island with a deranged killer- what more can you ask for. The conclusion was a little ridiculous, but I never go into a slasher expecting literary masterpieces. I think i'll hunt down book 2 at some point.
The problems:
- Can we not call women hysterical? Particularly when they are reacting in a way that is completely justified based on the circumstances.
- Carter's character... would not have been published in today's market. That's for damn sure. There was a scene where the girl turns down his advances and,"He knew what that meant. It meant more. it meant you'll have to overpower me. He had to do this right. Firm. Confident. Not psychotic."
This whole scene made me uncomfortable because the girl ends up kneeing him in the nads, and then running away laughing and apologizing? and carter thinks, "Playing hard to get. he liked that. Made it more exciting." Just. no. This scene was written poorly, and is inexcusable.
Not problems but things that made me go hm:
- The police wheel a body off in a wheelbarrow? really?!
- so many parentheses- (why?!)
- Mark's constant nose bleeds? Is he anime character?
July 4, 2021
I have been waiting for so long for this book because both the first and second were just too much and I wanted to buy them together. I finally came across both for about $20, and I was so happy because I had really wanted these. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. There are too many characters and switching around who is being talked about. I spent the first half pretty much confused. I kept having to go back and see who was who, which one was talking and which character are we reading about. The story was just flat for me honestly.
January 31, 2009
I found this book really scary at the age of 11. I remember quite a few facts about it, but it's pretty much the same as any other Point Horror book. One thing which I find amusing about this particular book is that Peter Lerangis was one of the ghostwriters for Ann M. Martin's 'The Babysitters Club'! I think he did a better job in the BSC, to be honest.
January 3, 2025
The only good thing I can say about this absolute garbage is that it is very short, almost a short story.
We're only a few days into January, but this could well be the worst book of 2025.
A group of cardboard cut-out teens get jobs at an exclusive rich island. A prologue hints they have been selected for nefarious reasons. Note to future self: they haven't; it's just yet another element of this crap that goes nowhere. The teens flounder about doing fuck all that has anything to do with anything, none of which gets resolved, while ancillary characters show up dead. The book has a neat cover with a hooded figure wielding scythes - this pops up briefly only once. All of this book is just pointless, plotless, stupid garbage. The book shifts focus between several characters and you don't give a shit about any of them because nothing of consequence is happening. It caps off with a confusing climax (some characters access a bit through a house, but others through a clearing?) and a random, dumb motive.
That side plot about Rachel thinking she's pregnant with Carter's baby? Not resolved. It's raised, plays a significant part in the narrative, but never heard from again.
That side plot about Carter planning to rip off the senile millionaire he's boarding with? Raised once, then completely abandoned.
That wolf that has more page time than the hooded scythe killer that turns out to be a shapeshifter? Left completely unexplained, because that's just what this absolute shitfest needs: random supernatural material.
It ends on a cliffhanger, but there's no way I'm wasting a cent on the follow-up, Return To X-Isle, despite my book-collecting mentality. This was an utter, barely readable piece of garbage that deserves to be exiled to bins everywhere.
Avoid.
We're only a few days into January, but this could well be the worst book of 2025.
A group of cardboard cut-out teens get jobs at an exclusive rich island. A prologue hints they have been selected for nefarious reasons. Note to future self: they haven't; it's just yet another element of this crap that goes nowhere. The teens flounder about doing fuck all that has anything to do with anything, none of which gets resolved, while ancillary characters show up dead. The book has a neat cover with a hooded figure wielding scythes - this pops up briefly only once. All of this book is just pointless, plotless, stupid garbage. The book shifts focus between several characters and you don't give a shit about any of them because nothing of consequence is happening. It caps off with a confusing climax (some characters access a bit through a house, but others through a clearing?) and a random, dumb motive.
That side plot about Rachel thinking she's pregnant with Carter's baby? Not resolved. It's raised, plays a significant part in the narrative, but never heard from again.
That side plot about Carter planning to rip off the senile millionaire he's boarding with? Raised once, then completely abandoned.
That wolf that has more page time than the hooded scythe killer that turns out to be a shapeshifter? Left completely unexplained, because that's just what this absolute shitfest needs: random supernatural material.
It ends on a cliffhanger, but there's no way I'm wasting a cent on the follow-up, Return To X-Isle, despite my book-collecting mentality. This was an utter, barely readable piece of garbage that deserves to be exiled to bins everywhere.
Avoid.
February 8, 2023
Full review at:https://www.jackreacts.com.au/x-isle-...
Snippet: I really wasn’t expecting much after the first few pages, so I’m surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it, although it didn’t really feel like Point Horror. Splitting the story between multiple protagonists isn’t always a good thing, but I think it was done successfully here, especially in regards to keeping everyone a suspect.
There were several parts of the book where I wasn’t really sure what was even happening, though. Ambiguity can be a useful tool sometimes, but things should still be clear enough to a certain extent.
There was some social commentary about racism which is nice to see in a book written so long ago, but I think it could have been explored in different ways. Martin was sort of critical about being stereotyped as good at computers, but it was a true fact for his character, so I’m not sure what the point was there. On the other hand, Erica was constantly bringing up skin colour when literally no-one else was shown making any sort of reference to it. It seems like someone could give her a friendly smile as they passed on the street and her mindset would be, “They’re only smiling at me because I’m African-American.” Maybe she was just going off her past experiences, but we weren’t given any sort of backstory for her, only her own pre-conceived ideas about small communities. I did really like her character, but I think whatever Lerangis was trying to do with the subject of racism could have been a lot more impactful...
Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)
Snippet: I really wasn’t expecting much after the first few pages, so I’m surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it, although it didn’t really feel like Point Horror. Splitting the story between multiple protagonists isn’t always a good thing, but I think it was done successfully here, especially in regards to keeping everyone a suspect.
There were several parts of the book where I wasn’t really sure what was even happening, though. Ambiguity can be a useful tool sometimes, but things should still be clear enough to a certain extent.
There was some social commentary about racism which is nice to see in a book written so long ago, but I think it could have been explored in different ways. Martin was sort of critical about being stereotyped as good at computers, but it was a true fact for his character, so I’m not sure what the point was there. On the other hand, Erica was constantly bringing up skin colour when literally no-one else was shown making any sort of reference to it. It seems like someone could give her a friendly smile as they passed on the street and her mindset would be, “They’re only smiling at me because I’m African-American.” Maybe she was just going off her past experiences, but we weren’t given any sort of backstory for her, only her own pre-conceived ideas about small communities. I did really like her character, but I think whatever Lerangis was trying to do with the subject of racism could have been a lot more impactful...
Check out my full review linked up top for an in-depth recap :)
March 29, 2024
Dang, I really wanted to like this more. Perfect setup for a slasher story, but a bloated cast makes the plot and pacing choppy, and a lot of characters get a few lines of into, vanish for long stretched, and then turn up dead later. I mean, I read it in a few hours, so I don't feel cheated, but it really didn't live up to expectations. Might still read the sequel, though.
September 30, 2025
I didn't really enjoy this book. I felt it was all over the place. One minute you're at a hotel, next on boat, then in a hole in the woods. To me it seemed like lots had been cut to make it shorter. Maybe it wasn't but it was too disjointed with a lot of characters. Also a random dog/wolf/werewolf that served no purpose.
September 19, 2024
Was a while ago, but from what I remember, it was a good horror book. Very "I know what you did last summer" vibe
June 30, 2025
Nostalgia = yes
A strong plot = no
A strong plot = no
April 23, 2011
This is an amazing book!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews