“Everything changes when Tiffany Quinn disappears.” Kendall lives in a tiny farming community in Montana. One spring a classmate disappears. The entire community searches with no avail. Tiffany is simply gone. As summer turns to fall, Kendall and her classmates attempt to return to normal. Tiffany’s absence is obvious, since Kendall’s community is so small that the entire high school attends a one room school house. In spite of her OCD (“counting, always counting something”) Kendall feels like life is back on track with the beginning of school until her best friend Nico acts strange and then he, too, disappears. Kendall’s world is rocked. The community is unsettled, struggling to keep its young people safe with curfews and partner polices. But no one knows how to protect the teens because no one can find a clue about either Tiffany or Nico’s disappearance. Then, Kendall begins to hear the whispers. Will they leader her to Nico or something more sinister?
Cryer’s Cross is not your average mystery. There is more brewing here than simply a “who done it?” Short, tight chapters are divided by clues from the “We, When it is over, We breathe and ache like old oak, like peeling birch. One of Our souls set free….Calling to Our next victim, Our next savior. We carve on Our face: Touch Me. Save my soul.” Kendall’s struggle over the mysterious loss of her best friend and perhaps boyfriend is authentic. Her escalating struggle with her OCD in the face of events spinning beyond her control becomes increasingly unsettling. Cryer’s Cross becomes ever more creepy and spooky in the second half. For all the clues and fingers pointed in frustration, the end remains entirely unpredictable. For readers who enjoy being kept in the dark waiting for things to bump and surprise, this is a great choice. Cryer’s Cross hooks readers and won’t let go. Read this book if you like thrillers, creepy stories, and surprising endings that also remain free of the gratuitous language and sex that often work their way into YA literature.
