This electric cross-country thriller follows the game of cat and mouse between a girl on the run from a murder she witnessed—or committed? —and the boy who's sent to kill her.
Nicolette Holland is the girl everyone likes. Up for adventure. Loyal to a fault. And she's pretty sure she can get away with anything...until a young woman is brutally murdered in the woods near Nicolette's house. Which is why she has to disappear.
Jack Manx has always been the stand-up guy with the killer last name. But straight A's and athletic trophies can't make people forget that his father was a hit man and his brother is doing time for armed assault. Just when Jack is about to graduate from his Las Vegas high school and head east for college, his brother pulls him into the family business with inescapable instructions: find this ruthless Nicolette Holland and get rid of her. Or else Jack and everyone he loves will pay the price.
Nicolette Holland is the girl everyone likes. Up for adventure. Loyal to a fault. And she's pretty sure she can get away with anything...until a young woman is brutally murdered in the woods near Nicolette's house. Which is why she has to disappear.
Jack Manx has always been the stand-up guy with the killer last name. But straight A's and athletic trophies can't make people forget that his father was a hit man and his brother is doing time for armed assault. Just when Jack is about to graduate from his Las Vegas high school and head east for college, his brother pulls him into the family business with inescapable instructions: find this ruthless Nicolette Holland and get rid of her. Or else Jack and everyone he loves will pay the price.
As Nicolette and Jack race to outsmart each other, tensions—and attractions—run high. Told in alternating voices, this tightly plotted mystery and tense love story challenges our assumptions about right and wrong, guilt and innocence, truth and lies.
ARC graciously provided by the publisher (and the author, because I'm nothing if not a professional beggar) in exchange for an honest review.
As Cait and I have recently
found out, this year Simon and Schuster has set out to fill
all our disappearing needs - or the lack thereof. For those who find themselves
growing translucent against their will, S&S are publishing Clare Furniss's How Not To Disappear - a practical guide to regaining a corporeal form.
(Or possibly it's a YA contemporary about teen pregnancy and familial
ties. One of the two.) For those who have accidentally stumbled upon
a crime scene and have to fashion themselves a new identity, Ann Reidich Stampler's How To Disappear offers the alternative.
Protagonist #1 - Nicolette Holland
- a beloved, bubbly, popular girl - has stumbled upon a grizzly murder and
promptly disappeared.
Protagonist #2 - Jack Manx - a son of a notorious criminal - has been sent to find at kill her.
Protagonist #2 - Jack Manx - a son of a notorious criminal - has been sent to find at kill her.
Protagonist #1, as it turns out,
isn't well-versed in disappearing. Which is just as well, because...
Protagonist #2 isn't well-versed
in murder.
And this battle of
need-versus-want in a life-versus-death situation is exactly six kinds of
wonderful (all of which are hard facts, too - wait and see).
Fact #1: The world needs
more YA mystery/thrillers. For those yet on the fence about it -
How To Disappear is sure to gently, lovingly... push you off
said fence right onto the mystery side. It's spooky and ominous there, and there are guns and devious schemes, but it has action and
mindblowing plot twists and all the best parts of the fast-paced genres we all
know and love.
Fact #2: Morally dubious
gray-area protagonists are the best protagonists. Nicolette is the
universally-beloved stepdaughter of a rumored crime lord. She loves nail
polish, carbs, her best friend and chaotic pranks. Jack is the
universally-feared son of a confirmed criminal. He loves the academics, books,
pretty girls and his mother. Then Nicolette is forced to run for
her life. And Jack is ordered to end it. If ever there was a situation to bring
out the anti-hero in us all, it's the life-and-death, fight-or-flight one. And
if ever there was a book chockfull of just that situation - it's How
To Disappear.
Fact #3: Dual narrative
can be all kinds of perfect. Many an author has yet to master dual
narration. Ann Redisch Stampler is way ahead of the curve. Nicolette
and Jack read exactly like what two teenagers on the wrong side of the law
would read like. Their banter is clever, occasionally dramatic and more than
occasionally hilarious. Each has their own voice. Each has their own
values. And as all good duos do - they very often clash. Which is the best
part, really.
Fact #4: Nicolette
Holland wins the day. Through all their ingenious decisions and
ridiculously bad moves, both Nicolette and Jack are lovable. But Nicolette. Ah,
Nicolette is the special kind of lovable. The kind who doesn't see the world in
cliques, but as people. The kind who never forgets to eat and joneses for a chocolate bar. The kind who stays in touch with a best friend even when
it's the least safe option she has before her. The kind who loves her thin body
just as well as her heavier one. The self-sufficient kind who believes in
self-defense. The kind who sets things in motion. And the kind who always has a
plan. And we all need to be a little bit more Nicolette when push comes to
shove.
Fact #5: forbidden
romance is perfection. Not that this needed to be said.
Fact #6: there's
dynamite in the climax and it will blow your mind. You have been
warned.
How To Disappear comes out June 14th 2016.
Talk to me, mystery champions! What's your favorite YA thriller/mystery? Do you feel like the YA market is finally giving more prominence to this subgenre, or is there still room for improvement? Leave us a comment below, or find us on social media, where we take over the world one subliminal message at a time.
Talk to me, mystery champions! What's your favorite YA thriller/mystery? Do you feel like the YA market is finally giving more prominence to this subgenre, or is there still room for improvement? Leave us a comment below, or find us on social media, where we take over the world one subliminal message at a time.
6 Comments
I'm gonna say it. You've sold me. I want to red this book so bad it hurts. Morally ambiguous characters you say? I'm so here for this. Forbidden romance? Yes pls. So many things that has me just want to go out and get the damn thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you know this, Alexa, but NOTHING MAKES A REVIEWER (and probably the author) HAPPIER TO HEAR! My three biggest 'hooks' when it comes to fiction in general are (1) morally dubious anti-heroes, (2) plot twist, and (3)... well, #3 I'll keep to myself so as not to spoil you. But this book hit all 3 very precisely, and I just wanted to hug it forever.
DeleteReally, YA mystery needs to be more of a thing! Questionable morals all around! (And How To Disappear is a major step in that direction.)
- Lexie
DUDE I NEED THIS LIKE I NEED AIR. Plus I need it because I need to know how to disappear AND how to not disappear. Just, ya know, in case the need arises? For either option? Anyway YAY FOR READING IT ALREADY. XD Mine is still buried under 5 other ARCs *whistles innocently*
ReplyDeleteDUDE, YOU REALLY, REALLY DO! And I need to work out how NOT to disappear. Thomas has taught me a thing or two about the downsides of being invisible, so y'know. (I'M OBSESSED WITH THE DEAD BOY AND THE PAPER CUT, IN CASE I'M NOT MAKING THAT APPARENT ENOUGH.)
DeleteI DEVOURED How To Disappear in like 4 hours. At the expense of SLEEP and NORMAL FUNCTIONING the following day, but y'know. Inconsequential details. But on the whole, you've read like TWICE as many books as me, so, hey - the innocent whistling and the darty-eyes are totally understandable.
- Lexie
Fun post, the book seems so interesting!!! I also tagged you for this tag: http://www.arvenig.it/blog/intergalactic-tag/
ReplyDeleteThis book is all kinds of interesting, ESPECIALLY if you like stories featuring characters on the run. Or anti-heroes. Or mystery. Or any good plot ever, really.
DeleteThank you very much for the tag! We'll get on it in the upcoming days and we'll make sure to check yours out. Honored. <3
- Lexie
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