Looking Ahead to Gripped Part 2 with Michael Farinacci

Last month, Michael Farinacci of Medfield, Massachusetts—a junior at St. Sebastian’s School—read and reviewed Gripped Part 1 by Stacy Padula: the first installment in a young adult book series that highlights the perils of prescription drug abuse. Afterwards, Michael was one of five teens selected to read Gripped Part 2 before its publication. Below Michael has answered a couple of questions about what he is most looking forward to uncovering in the next installment.

There are a few different storylines running through Gripped Part 1 because it is setting up the rest of the series. What storyline do you find the most interesting and why?

I find the storyline with Taylor and the police to be the most interesting. Toward the end of the story, Taylor seemed to be getting back on track and putting himself back together, and it will be interesting to see how this event with affect him. It will also be interesting to see how Jordan and especially Marc will be affected by this event. Marc seems to be stuck in the middle, which could lead to some potentially dangerous situations.

Gripped Part 1 sets up the rest of the series but leaves a lot of things “hanging.” What are you most curious to uncover by reading Gripped Part 2?

Personally, I’m most curious to uncover what happened to Cathy in Gripped Part 2. Cathy and Jason seemed to be in a normal relationship, and Cathy was a huge proponent of any substance. However, during the last chapter, the book looks forward to Cathy at Taylor’s house with Marc. Taylor is shocked, because Cathy is known to have used drugs, and Marc is super against that like Cathy used to be. I’m looking forward to seeing how Jason and Cathy’s relationship went and why Marc is now dating Cathy.

Gripped Part 1: The Truth We Never Told

In high school, Taylor Dunkin broke more records than any other athlete to step foot in Montgomery, Massachusetts. As a sophomore in college, he was ranked by ESPN as one of the NFL’s top 100 prospects. However, his aspirations came to a jarring halt when a knee injury and two surgeries left him sidelined.

One year later, Taylor is a person of interest in a highly confidential investigation headed by the Boston Police Department. He has entangled himself in a crime ring notorious for pushing opiates, cocaine, and benzodiazepines on local college campuses.

When Taylor’s younger brother Marc discovers that Taylor is behind the copious drug supply circulating around Montgomery Lake High School, he sets off to not only reverse the damage Taylor has caused, but also save his lifelong role model from becoming a casualty of America’s deadly opioid epidemic.