The Incident on the Bridge

Starred review from January 25, 2016
California’s sun and sand harbor dark secrets in this creepy thriller from National Book Award finalist McNeal (Dark Water). When 17-year-old Thisbe Locke disappears, her family is mystified. Thisbe is a “good girl”—studious, not preoccupied with boys, and determined to get into a good college. Unfortunately, Clay Moorehead, a boy known for treating girls as disposable commodities, sets his sights on her, leaving her fortune cookies with cute messages; after he gets what he wants, he drops her. Humiliated and sad, Thisbe lets her grades suffer and becomes withdrawn. In the wake of her disappearance, there are whispers of suicide, but Thisbe’s younger sister, Ted, knows better, and undertakes her own search. McNeal tells this absorbing story from multiple perspectives—Thisbe, her family, law enforcement, Clay and his best friend Jerome, and even a possible witness—resulting in fully realized characters with different motivations and goals. While what happens to Thisbe is revealed almost immediately, McNeal writes with a mature hand, expert pacing, and an immediacy that ensures readers will be engrossed. Ages 12–up. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic.

January 15, 2016
A girl disappears after last being seen standing on a bridge: she must have jumped...right? Reeling after boyfriend Clay, for whom she has jeopardized her future, dumps her, Thisbe takes his car and drives around Southern California's Coronado Island, ending up on the bridge between the island and the mainland. She's seen by Fen, a newcomer to the island, and Graycie, watching on the bridge's cameras. And then she's gone, leaving sister Ted, crush Jerome, and other people in Coronado all wondering the same thing: what happened to Thisbe? Did she jump? Or could there be another explanation? Like an actual investigation, there are so many possibilities, so many people with pieces of information. But this novel is less of a whodunit and more of a what-happens-next. And what does happen has a surprising twist or two. While Thisbe's fate is somewhat uncertain, readers follow her along with those she's left behind, so the book is not as suspenseful as it might be. The third-person narration moves from character to character, lending the investigation a quickly paced authority, but the story naturally feels disjointed due to so many character voices. Expert pacing will keep readers turning the pages until they know Thisbe's fate. (Thriller. 14-18)

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February 1, 2016

Gr 8 Up-A fascinating peek into the fractured mind of a kidnapper is marred by a somewhat stereotypical portrayal of teens and an ending that feels unnecessarily abrupt. The book opens slowly and fairly tediously, as readers meet self-centered teens who are tied together by their shared experience when one of them is kidnapped. Although a few of the teens may engender sympathy or produce a flash of recognition from readers, most begin the tale as simply unlikable. The adults don't fare much better. Soon after Thisbe is dumped by her wealthy Mexican drug-dealing boyfriend, Clay, she "borrows" his car and disappears from a bridge that is a common suicide spot. The police think Thisbe is dead, but her sister Ted is sure that Thisbe would never jump. Thisbe's friends and acquaintances, a witness, and the local authorities take turns narrating the chapters. Readers who hang in until the end are rewarded with a quickly paced, well-written denouement, only to have the rug pulled out from under them once the kidnapped teen is discovered. There, the story ends. A short, odd epilogue of sorts refers to all but one of the major characters not by name as throughout the rest of the book but by gender (as a boy, a girl, and a woman) and precipitously ends the book. VERDICT While the psychologically damaged kidnapper is deftly portrayed, an overload of teen angst and an all too sudden ending damages this suspenseful kidnapping tale.-Cindy Wall, Southington Library & Museum, CT

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
Grades 10-1 Acclaimed author McNeal's latest is a literary thriller reminiscent of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You (2014). When Clay rejects and then humiliates high-school junior Thisbe at a party, she decides to take her revenge by stealing his car. But when his car is recovered on a nearby bridge with Thisbe nowhere to be found, a local mystery enwraps the citizens of Coronado, California. Was Thisbe depressed? Did she jump? And if she didn't, where is she? In a taut, controlled third-person narrative, McNeal carefully unspools the mystery surrounding Thisbe's fate, as it is experienced by those close to her and the scene of the crime. The mixture of roughly a dozen adult and teenage POVs make this title a natural crossover for the adult reading audience. Still, there is much for teens to enjoy, particularly when it comes to Thisbe's complicated relationship with Jerome, the boy who might have been her perfect match, if not for Clay's cunning ploy for her affection. An evocative tale of regret and redemption. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: McNeal was a National Book Award finalist, which alone will draw attention, but thanks to a hefty marketing plan, this one should get even more buzz.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)