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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Before She Was Found focuses on three young girls and a shocking crime that unsettles the citizens of a quiet little town in Iowa. Cora Landry wants to fit in with her friends, Violet and Jordyn, The 3 twelve-year-olds plan a sleepover that includes typical activities — discussions of boys, movies, junk food, and a Ouija board.
But an urban myth — is it? — has taken hold of one of the girls, causing her to obsess about it. She daydreams and journals about it, convinced that it is true. And she manages to find others online who want to talk about it. One of the individuals she encounters in an online forum claims to be the person around whom the myth persists. Could it really be him? When the girls sneak out from their slumber party to an abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town there are tragic consequences. Cora Landry is found alone on the tracks with catastrophic, disfiguring injuries.
Author Heather Gudenkauf’s gripping thriller is a cautionary tale deals with both traditional themes — pre-teen and teen friendships, popularity, and acceptance — and the heightened dangers that technology present. The little town in which everyone knows everyone else and socioeconomic delineations are clearly defined is rocked by the fear-inducing mystery. Who would want to hurt Cora? What could possibly motivate such an attack? Gudenkauf succeeds in making every one of her characters — each of whom is fully developed and multi-dimensional — into a suspect. She explores small-town allegiances, prepubescent angst, and familial loyalty with sensitivity, compassion, and gritty realism, making Before She Was Found a compelling and emotionally moving thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader’s Copy of the book.
A gripping thriller that kept me awake at night to find out what happened next. Heartrending and full of wonderful twists and turns.
Before She Was Found is the first book I’ve read by this author and I want more!! Three twelve year old girls having a sleepover, an urban legend, tragedy all come into play in this mystery filled with twists and turns and an ending you won’t see coming! Definitely a must read!
A must read!!
Heather Gudenkauf, as always, did not disappoint. This story of 3 young, unlikely friends who make a series of poor decisions is so well told you cannot read it fast enough. The characters come to life so vividly you’ll feel like you know them. You’ll think you have it all figured out but you won’t! My heart started racing on page 331… ! This is more than just a story though and if I were the Parent of a teen I would very seriously consider having them read this book depending on their maturity level. We all think we know our children and that we are doing everything we can to protect them…but do we? Are we?
Three young girls have a sleepover, but instead of staying home, they sneak out to the train yard. One of the girls is badly injured, another covered in blood, and the third seems fine. No one can understand why the girls snuck out. As the story unfolds, we find out about the girls, their relationship to each other and to others in their lives (parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers), and also about the psychiatrist that is treating some of the girls.
This novel is a thriller which examines how social media plays a big part in our view of the world, and also how young children are easily influenced. It also delves into the fragility of our psyche. I loved how the author told the story in multiple voices. I didn’t see the ending coming, although the clues were there. I thought the ending was spine-tingling.
Novels like this one really make me think about children and how important it is to be kind and loving to them.
#BeforeSheWasFound #HeatherGudenkauf
I received this book from a friend in my book club.
It starts out 3 young girls on a sleepover and like kids do they sneak out. But this goes so wrong for the girls. This story is so good. One minute you think this is what happens and then no wait this happen. The girls are friends but not always very nice friends. The ending is such a surprise.
You will really love this book. Now I will pass it on to a friend to enjoy.
My first book by Heather Gudenkauf and truely enjoyed it.
I would recommend to all
This was a totally captivating story of three pre-teen girls who are caught in a web of social media and peer pressure. Told with text messages, notes from a therapist, a journal and from the viewpoints of various characters, this story was portrayed realistically and in a way that kept me reading long into the night. The three friends are Cora, Jordyn and Violet who happen to decide to have a sleepover together. Before the night ends, one is horribly maimed, another is a psychological wreck and the third goes from being a goody-two-shoes to open defiance. Throughout the book, it was hard to tell who was lying and whose secrets were actually the truth. The conclusion was a real shocker to me; I never saw it coming at all! The ending was teased at but never fully revealed, making for a very satisfying and totally gripping read. It was also interesting that the author included three girls from different backgrounds and different kinds of families. Violet’s mom was single, doing her best to raise Max and Violet on a limited income. Cora was from a two-parent home, with a dad who had a problem with his anger. And Jordyn was being raised by her grandparents, an older generation doing its best to guide her in the right direction, but really too tired to deal with all of her problems. Fans of Gudenkauf will not want to miss this one and fans of psychological thrillers with a ton of twists will not want to miss out either. Seldom am I so fooled as I was by this book, and it was such a strange feeling when I got to the end that I wanted to read it again and again, just so I could watch for all the clues that I had missed the first time. A solid thriller with a lot of commentary about dangers for society’s pre-teens, dangers that are everywhere.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”
This is my first time reading Heather Gudenkauf. This is a twisted tale of adolescence. It has mean girls, bullies, mental health impairment, and family relationship issues. Mix in an urban ledgend assignment, and what could possibly go wrong? This book has so many twists and turns, it will keep you guessing who did what. Awesome book. Definitely worth reading.
I just read the best book! I have never read this author before and I love reading new authors. This book is so exciting and a page turner and so full of twists. I will be getting another book written by Heather for sure! Great job!
This was a hard-to-put-down read, really enjoyed it. Although the ending for me was a disappointment. Overall, well worth a read!
I ALWAYS look forward to new books by this author. She absolutely never lets me down. Great tale with lots of twists. Then you think you have it figured out and she nails you with a final twist! Don’t miss this one!
Favorite Quote:
I’ve always hated the sound of trains— like an old woman screaming in a thunderstorm.
My Review:
I was on edge while reading this brilliantly plotted and well-crafted book, my shoulders were up in my ears and the knots in my neck have additional knots of their own. Heather Gudenkauf is an evil genius and has nimbly contrived a perfectly vexing conundrum that kept me riveted to my Kindle all day. Her word voodoo is strong! Her original and cunningly paced storylines were wickedly confounding and perceptively written from multiple points of view while racking up a multitude of suspects and all kinds of twisty turns and blind alleys.
Ms. Gudenkauf embedded her story in a small town in Iowa and devilishly cast her tale with realistically obnoxious teens, vulnerable and insecure tweens, bullies of all ages, mean girl middle school pettiness, oblivious adults, and a seventy-five year old urban legend that just wouldn’t die and was currently being used as bait for a cruel catfish scheme. Each character was uniquely drawn yet this shrewd and devious author is such a wily minx, she taunted and nettled me by never fully fleshing anyone out. Each new piece of information gleaned left me even more curious. I had postulated and cast aside a multitude of theories but only had a small inkling of the actual conclusion. And I must note, Do Pull Inn was truly a smirk-worthy name for a small-town motel.
This one kept me guessing right up to the end! I just knew I had it figured out – wrong! Lots of family dynamics. True picture of how children want to be friends even when it’s complicated. Quick read but I had to finish reading in the daylight hours – I got a little spooked!
It will keep you guessing right to the end!
Eerily page-turning and wonderfully twisty, Before She Was Found is the riveting story of one troubled group of young girls struggling to belong, and the frighteningly blurred boundary between where urban legend ends and real danger begins.
This is a story that grabbed me from the very first chapter and didn’t let go until the very end. What an intense first chapter! So much was going on in those first few words that I needed to have straightened out and explained.
The ever changing relationships of the three young girls in this story was so indicative of the lives of teens today Some days they are best friends and then the next day, they could be conspiring against one another, planning and plotting to make the outcast friend miserable.
As the mystery of what happened that night in the abandoned rail yard unfolds, the reader learns all sides of the story and has to question who is telling the truth. What really happened that night? What is the truth?
I loved Before She Was Found for it’s complexity and for all of the interesting characters whose lives became so intertwined. This is a story that I will definitely read again. I am pretty sure that now that I know how all the twists resolve themselves, I will see everyone and everything in a whole different light.
This book. I mean really, this book. What do you say about Before She Was Found to do it justice? I have no idea.
I loved this book. It is about so much more than just three pre-teens and their friendship. It’s about family and what they will do to protect you from consequences (I’m looking at you, Grandpa) which is much too common these days, in my opinion. It’s also about social media and acceptance whether it’s classmates, teachers or really anyone. It’s about small towns and loooong memories and the struggles when three girls are “best friends”. That always become two against one even when the alliances shift.
Heather Gudenkauf has written a book that starts out grabbing the reader by the throat and not letting them go. The characters were so real I could picture them in my mind and could easily imagine just how I’d behave if I were in this story.
The truth though, that was something. It was a long time coming and it was a surprise. I was wholly invested in figuring out what happened and who should “pay”. Sadly the book ended and now I’m left to wait a long time for the next. While I mind, I also don’t. It takes hard work and time to come up with a book this good.
Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for approving my request for an ARC. My thoughts in this review are my own, as always.
A middle-school sleepover ends in tragedy in Heather Gudenkauf’s latest, Before She Was Found. Gudenkauf does small midwestern towns like no other, using social media and urban legends to lend a looming claustrophobia to the story. This is one that creeps up the back of your neck, an intense, twisty read filled with complex characters whose actions will have you constantly switching alliances, and an ending that I guarantee will catch you off guard. All the stars!
Cora, Jordyn, and Violet are school friends. They are 12 years old. They do a social studies project on the town’s urban legend on Joseph Wither. Legend has it that he kidnapped and maybe murdered girls for years. The girls are on again off again friends. Cora is just happy to have friends as she is bullied and very shy and introverted. Jordyn lives with her grandparents and gets into a little bit of trouble at school. Violet just moved to town with her Mom and brother. The girls decide to have a sleepover and go to the train depot to find Joseph Wither. This is a very bad idea. One girl is brutally attacked, one is left in shock, and one is nowhere to be found. None of the girls are talking about what happened. The police are trying to figure out what happened and the reader is taken on quite a wild ride. The characters are so real, I could feel what each of the girls and their families are feeling. The descriptions are vivid and you are there in the train depot with the girls. This book kept me glued to my seat while reading as I just couldn’t put it down. A definite must read! I received an advance readers copy from NetGalley and Harlequin Park Row. All opinions are my own.
First, I want to thank Heather Gudenkauf, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.
Heather Gudenkauf is back to bring her fan this fast paced, gripping, intense, and thrilling psychological thriller in Before She Was Found. Heather will shock you to the very core in all the secrets in this book. You will be hugging your son, daughter, niece or nephew a little tighter guaranteed.
The cover of the book is totally spot on to the book. Kudos to the graphic designer who designed this.
Many times, in the book I had to keep reminding myself that these girls in the book were only 12 years old. So young to be dealing with adult situations like they were. Cora getting attacked and left for dead on the train tracks and her best friend Violet found nearby just in total shock! Heather did an incredible job when it came to the raw emotions the parents and siblings were feeling.
This book deals with such topics as bullying, pedophile, violence, death, underage drinking, Inappropriate behavior with a teacher to a teacher, revenge, etc.
Heather has a magnificent gift for creating very creative and twisted storylines that keep her readers on their toes. I love that about her.
I would love to see this book made into a big screen blockbuster movie!! I think would be a smash hit.
This book would be perfect for your next book club pick. Heather even has Questions for discussion at the end of the book for you to discuss at your book club.
You can also find a conversation with the author in the back of this book. There she answers questions like what was the inspiration of the book?