The End of Everything

Starred review from May 30, 2011
Fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson will welcome Abbott's haunting psychological thriller set in what appears to be pre-cellphone suburban America. Lizzie Hood and Evie Verver are two 13-year-old girls who have been best friends for years. A few weeks before their eighth-grade graduation, Evie disappears after school. As the last person to see Evie, Lizzie suddenly becomes the star witness, attention she both covets and dreads. When Lizzie remembers seeing a maroon car cruising in front of their school, the police focus on Harold Shaw, an insurance agent whose car matches her description. Yet Shaw is nowhere to be found, and neither is Evie. As the investigation reaches a fever pitch and Lizzie pursues her own leads, she wonders how well she really knew her friend. Evie's boisterous, joke-cracking father lends emotional support. Abbott (Bury Me Deep) expertly captures the nuances of lost innocence and childhood friendships, without ever losing an undercurrent of menace.