The Darkest Corners

March 28, 2016
In a gripping novel that could have been ripped from the headlines, newcomer Thomas introduces Tessa, a young woman who lost everything she ever knew, only to have the past reach out to take even more. With her father dying in prison, Tessa makes the difficult journey from Florida, where she had been living with her grandmother, back to Fayette, Pa. Years ago, Tessa and her best friend Callie had been instrumental in putting a serial killer in jail. Now, people aren't entirely sure that he was guiltyâthe real killer may still be at large. To complicate matters, Tessa's runaway older sister has resurfaced, and Tessa is desperate to find her, as well as their missing mother. Suffused with chilling detail, the story is slow to gain momentum, trailing through numerous red herrings that may be as frustrating for some readers as they are Tessa. However, a truly surprising ending and the aching beauty of Tessa and Callie's friendship, reforged in adversity, ensure a memorable, disquieting read. Ages 14âup. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary & Media.

Starred review from January 1, 2016
Haunted by a decade-old murder, Tessa faces ghosts from the past that threaten her future. Tessa and her best friend, Callie, have never talked about the summer night when they were 8 and Callie's cousin Lori was killed. After a trial that sent Wyatt Stokes to death row for Lori's murder, the two friends lost contact when Tessa moved away from their hometown of Fayette, Pennsylvania. Nine years later, Tessa must return to Fayette, where she finds Callie partying to excess as a means of escaping the past. Tessa also finds lingering questions about the night Lori died--questions she had tried to leave behind when she left Fayette. Tessa and Callie are a few months away from starting college and moving forward with the rest of their lives, but now they are both looking back, desperate to find out the truth about what really happened to Lori that night. Their search for answers leads to many twists and turns in this fast-paced mystery-thriller. Thomas carefully crafts the suspense, leaving present-tense narrator Tessa--and readers--to doubt even those she loves the most. Working-class Tessa's troubled background and the small-town western Pennsylvania setting add texture as the tension builds all the way to the I-didn't-see-that-coming conclusion. An unsettling story of loss, lies, and violence lurking in the shadows of a small town. (Thriller. 14 & up)

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March 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Ten years after leaving the state and losing touch with everyone she knew and loved, Tessa Lowell returns to small-town Fayette to say goodbye to her father, who's dying in prison. She is too late to see her father but ends up with too many questions about her past to return home to Florida right away. Joining forces with her childhood best friend, Callie, Tessa begins looking for answers in this exciting psychological thriller. Callie and Tessa haven't talked since Tessa left after the strain testifying in the trial of Wyatt Stokes when she was eight years old, a trial that ended with him on death row. Working through the pain of lost friendship and unshared secrets, the girls collaborate to search for the truth when another girl is killed. Did they help convict an innocent man? Has the real killer returned to Fayette? How does Tessa's long-lost sister fit into all this, and what happened to her mother? The world of a working-class town in Pennsylvania comes alive as Callie deals with her pain through hard partying and Tessa attempts to escape her guilty disquiet by immersing herself in her sleuthing. Through strong character development and thrilling reveals, readers become as engrossed as Tessa as she searches for the truth and deals with the emotions of her past. VERDICT As a dark psychological thriller with a compelling story and an unexpected but satisfying ending, this novel is a sure bet.-Genevieve Feldman, San Francisco Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2016
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* On the heels of TV documentaries Making a Murderer and The Jinx comes a psychological thriller strongly rooted in the true-crime tradition. Ten years ago, Tessa provided an eyewitness statement in the case of the Ohio River Monster, a serial killer whose last target was her best friend's cousin, Lori. Returning to Fayette, Pennsylvania, to say good-bye to her dying convict father, Tessa is stunned by the murder of another childhood friend in circumstances mirroring those of the murders 10 years ago. Could the man she helped put on death row be the wrong person? And if so, who is the true Ohio River Monster? Could it be her older sister, who was close friends with Lori? Set in the seedy underbelly of the small rural towns that mainstream media often forgets, this puts Tessa in hot pursuit of answers to all three mysteriesbut could they be intertwined? Expertly plotted with plenty of twists and turnsnever mind a truly shocking conclusionthis gritty thriller is sure to find a wide audience among teens and adults alike. Equally concerned with a quest for the truth and the powerful motivation of guilt, this compelling novel won't linger on the shelf.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)