BLINK AND CAUTION

Two teenagers hurt by life “with its never-ending snares and pitfalls and dire consequences” come together in this elegantly constructed noir mystery and love story. Blink is a scruffy street kid with “tea-colored eyes” trying to steal breakfast in a hotel when he witnesses what he believes is a fake kidnapping. Caution is a girl with “dove-colored eyes,” who sees her relationship with badass drug dealer Merlin as penance for her past crimes. Separate narratives—with spot-on dialogue and an effective use of a second-person point of view—come together to unite the two characters in a breathtaking thriller as they search for the kidnapped businessman and maybe make a fair sum of money in the process. Blink and Caution are good people with tough lives, each in a kind of purgatory and each turning out to be just what the other needs. Together they make peace with their pasts and cobble together a future. Wynne-Jones’ finest, most beautifully written novel yet, one more in a career full of distinguished works. (afterword) (Mystery. YA)