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GIRL LAST SEEN by Heather Anastasiu

GIRL LAST SEEN

by Heather Anastasiu & Anne Greenwood Brown

Pub Date: March 1st, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8140-7
Publisher: Whitman

Betrayals and lies surround a girl’s mysterious disappearance.

Singers Kady and Lauren were a YouTube phenomenon and best friends until an infection damaged Lauren’s throat, stealing her voice, leading Kady to ditch Lauren and go solo. When Kady goes missing after a performance at the coffee shop where Lauren works, suspicion falls on Lauren—after all, though they’re supposedly best friends, they’ve recently had a massive fight. When public opinion turns against Lauren, the only one in her corner is handsome bad-boy Jude—reinvented from acne-covered bullying victim Nathan, Lauren’s pre-Kady best friend, who has cause to hate both girls. The narration shifts, combining first-person chapters from various characters’ perspectives (carefully written to cast suspicion on people without confirming guilt or ruling anyone out) and undated video-diary entries from Kady. As Lauren and Jude try to assemble a list of people with reason to hurt Kady, a picture is painted of a sociopathic bad girl willing to hurt anyone—but is that girl Kady…or Lauren? And how stable is Jude? Although characters occasionally stretch credulity and a sexual-assault storyline set amid the drama strikes a sour, tawdry note, the dark friendship is addictive. Endlessly twisty, this deliberate head trip will keep readers guessing until the very end.

The kind of dark, wild ride that begs to read in a single sitting.

(Mystery/thriller. 14-18)