Cryer's Cross
Author: Lisa McMann
Series: ---
Publisher: Simon Pulse
How Received: publisher ARC
Release Date: February 8, 2011
The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.
When a second student goes missing - someone close to Kendall’s heart - the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school - messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there - Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.
Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross - and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.
I am on a creepy book marathon.
Seriously - I followed up the Escape from Furnace series with this. I think I need a fluffy romance novel now just to prevent the nightmares of the two combined.
Cryer's Cross is as creepy as catching your neighbor peering into your window at midnight. Don't read it before you go to bed. Don't read it if you're easily scared. Don't read it if you live in a small town. And most of all, don't read it if you have a desk with carved in graffiti.
Lisa McMann has this amazing ability to tell a story and do it without loads of description or random sidebars or tons of subplots. She's a very straight forward storyteller, and it's one of the reasons I like her. You have the characters - all of whom I love; the relationships were mapped out fantastically - and the plots and a few subplots (in this particular story, the friendships, the romance, and the colleges) without all the added fuss.
I'm writing this review as I finish reading it, which probably influences how I'm writing this - I'm still thinking about the book and it's huge (majorly huge) creeptastic factor and how I wasn't expecting it to be what it was. It's got a great plot twist about what you think is taking the kids, and I liked it. I didn't love it - mainly because it IS majorly creepy - but it was a nice (er, creepy) surprise for me.
The one thing that I wish I had learned more about was the backstory of some of the side characters - you'll know which ones I'm talking about when you read them. It seemed kind of jammed in there at the end, and if their story was really that influential, I feel like we should have gotten hints at the beginning.
But besides that, I really did like it - I mean, I'm going to have nightmares now, but I think that's part of the fun.
Overall Rating & Final Thoughts: 8/10. CREEPY.
Wait, what?: I was humming this song the entire time I was reading this.
Cryer's Cross comes out in stores February 8. Don't forget to check it out.
