Review: Dead Fake by Vincent Ralph

Dead Fake (Bleak Haven, #1)

by Vincent Ralph

Release Date: January 20, 2026

2026 Wednesday Books

Ebook ARC; 256 Pages

ISBN: 978-1250372123

ASIN: B0F5PDV41V

Audiobook: B0GH8NKFJK

Genre: Fiction / YA / Horror

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3.5 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Would you Swipe to Die?

When the new craze takes over Bleak Haven High, Ava Wilson refuses to join in. As the niece of an infamous murderer, it’s the last thing she needs.

The mysterious website allows people to view their own ‘death’ – an AI generated version of their final slasher-movie-moments. But, when some of her classmates’ deepfakes are replicated in real life, Ava can either catch the killer…or be the next victim.

 

My Thoughts

Dead Fake is the first book in a planned trilogy revolving around a town suffering from a past history of brutality with several 'slasher' episodes in its past. The story features Ava, a teenager whose own family suffers with a notorious past, one that Ava is not sure she is in complete agreement. I really enjoyed this book, enjoyed the characters even though they could have used a bit more character development, and thought the ending set up the second book quite well. 

 

I really liked Ava as a main character and enjoyed her character development as she faced new trials and tribulations with a possible new serial killer in town, one linked to her family's past. She is a bit of a loner due to her family's history, but has a solid friend group to help support her when events start spiraling out of control.  Having taught high school for many years, I did think the cliques and the groups were realistic, and enjoyed the different dynamics that came into play as new classmates and characters were introduced. The way the author introduced the new characters also fed into the plot as it created tension and suspicion within the cliques and towards each other heightening the fear that was slowly spreading through the school community.  Ava had to endure a lot of gossip and suspicion herself when events started happening and I have to give her credit for being brave and continuing to keep her head high as it would not have been easy.

 

The plot moved along rather quickly, and the author did a great job keeping the tension at a high level throughout the book.  Because Ava's family has a dark past, there was this atmosphere that surrounded them all of the time, almost one of urgency so people didn't start turning on them.  The new app situation in this book was kind of cool and I did wonder if I would have swiped it myself to see what my own situation would have been.  I would like to think I wouldn't have, but as a teenager I hate to say it, but I probably would have considering my love of horror and mystery.  The ending to this book was satisfying even if I figured it out. Definitely a lot of themes to explore in this book as well, trauma, friendship, loyalty, suspicion, death, lying, cheating, family, and so on. 

 

Verdict

Dead Fake is one of those books that I can't really explain very well why I liked it, but it just resonated with me.  It wasn't that it was wholly original or that I didn't guess the killer because I did, but I just empathized with Ava and her situation and liked how she had this strong moral code. Maybe it's because she didn't feel entitled to know everything whenever the police were involved, tried to stay out of dangerous situations, and was very loyal to her friends.  The author did manage to create a slasher vibe with the story and the town and it just seemed to work.