A gripping thriller about three young girlfriends, a dark obsession and a chilling crime that shakes up a quiet Iowa town, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence. For twelve-year-old Cora Landry and her friends Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover–movies and Ouija and talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out to go to the … the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences.
Later that night, Cora Landry is discovered on the tracks, bloody and clinging to life, her friends nowhere to be found. Soon their small rural town is thrust into a maelstrom. Who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora–and why? In an investigation that leaves no stone unturned, everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted–not even those closest to Cora.
Before She Was Found is a timely and gripping thriller about friendship and betrayal, about the power of social pressure and the price of needing to fit in. It is about the great lengths a parent will go to protect their child and keep them safe–even if that means burying the truth, no matter the cost.
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Heather Gudenkauf has done it again. She manages to merge engaging characters and terrifying topics resulting in unputdownable suspense set in a small Iowa town. In Before She Was Found, Gudenkauf takes us into the lives of three young girlfriends as a sleepover turns into tragedy. Examining today’s realities of social media and the added pressure our connected culture creates, Gudenkauf has crafted a gripping thriller.
Wow! This book took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions! Three twelve year old girls are researching an urban legend. They go to the train yard where one girl is brutally attacked. This is a story of friendship, bullying and the need to belong and yet encompasses so much more. I knew these girls. I felt what they felt. I especially related to Cora. This book is all consuming and you won’t be able to put it down. With deeply complex characters, this is a book that will stay with you. Well written and with exquisite twists that kept me turning the pages. The ending totally caught me off guard and left me saying, “What!!”. Absolutely mind blowing! Grab this book!! If you love psychological suspense you will love this book!
Thank you to Edelwiess. All opinions are my own.
Topical treatment about three 12-year old girls, their families, their small town and the urban legend that haunts that town. The three girls end up in an abandoned train yard at midnight to meet the legend. Two come out but one is seriously injured, near death. Which girl did it? There are multiple likely avenues for the police to pursue and we go along for the ride. The terrible truth ekes out throughout the story where the truth is not revealed until the bitter end. Engaging, engrossing and terribly scary!
I have been a fan of Heather Gudenkauf’s books since her first book, The Weight of Silence in 2009. Many times in this genre, the mystery is the central part of the book and the characters are not as important. What makes her books so fantastic is that there is always a central mystery but it’s about characters that we feel like we know and that we care about -which to me, makes the mystery even more intense.
This book is about three 12 year old girls. Cora and Jordyn had lived in their small town in Iowa for their whole lives. They had a strange relationship – sometimes they were friends but most of the time Jordyn bullied Cora and turned their other classmates against her. When Violet moves to town, she and Cora becomes friends until Jordyn tries to take that friendship away from her too. When the three of them start working on a class project about an urban legend, it ends with Cora badly injured, Violet totally traumatized and Jordyn unhurt. What occurred during their last sleep over is the mystery of the novel. As the secrets begin to unravel and the truth comes out, everyone is a suspect even those closest to the three girls.
This is a wonderful exciting book by an author who writes fantastic books in the genre. As a reader, I cared about the three girls and their families. I wanted them all to be ok and I wanted the ‘bad guy’ to be punished for what happened to these girls. The ending was perfect and I never saw it coming! This is a novel about friendship and family and wanting to belong no matter the cost.
Thanks to Edelweiss for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.