School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Olivia Reinhart (born Ariel Benson) always believed her father murdered her mother, stabbing her 19 times before driving Olivia to a Walmart and vanishing. Fourteen years later, the cops come knocking, and it isn't the news she expects. Olivia's father hasn't been on the run; his body has been found only about a mile from where her mother's body had previously been discovered. They were both murdered that day, which leaves Olivia as the only survivor-the only witness to her parents' horrific ending. Olivia returns to the scene of the crime, the town she left long ago, to attend her father's funeral. Nobody recognizes the three-year-old girl all grown up, and Olivia uses this to her advantage. She sticks around Medford to see if she can finally understand what happened to her parents, and she uncovers more than she can fathom. With the help of some key players, Olivia is stunningly close to figuring out who killed her parents, but as the flash-forward that starts the novel suggests, it isn't likely she'll survive the truth. A fast-paced and engaging read, this is a strong choice for readers of mysteries and thrillers. The conclusion is reminiscent of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, as both protagonists learn chilling truths about themselves and those close to them. VERDICT A must-have for YA mystery-thriller collections.-Meghan Oppelt, Whitehall School District, WI © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
New evidence makes a teenager rethink everything she knows about her mother's murder in Henry's (Blood Will Tell) underwhelming thriller. At age three, Ariel Benson was the only witness to her mother's stabbing, a crime everyone believed Ariel's father committed, before he disappeared. Left in a Walmart hundreds of miles from the crime scene, Ariel bounced around the foster care system and, thanks to a failed adoption, became Olivia Reinhart, and an emancipated minor by 17. Olivia is working a dead-end job in Portland, Ore., when the cops arrive to tell her they have found her father's remains in the same woods where her mother died, leading them to believe the couple died at the same time. Olivia launches her own unofficial investigation and heads to the small Oregon town of Medford, where every old acquaintance of her parents could be a killer. Predictably, there's a cute and helpful boy, a slow unpacking of dormant memories, and a shoal of red herrings, but dry narration and underdeveloped characters do little to elevate this whodunit. Ages 12-up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
After murdering her mother, three-year-old Olivia's father dropped her off at a Walmart and drove to the airport, leaving scandal and anguish in his wake at least that's what Olivia always thought. Now 17, she learns some astonishing news. Bone evidence indicates that Olivia's father did not kill her mother but, rather, died at the same time. Intrigued, Olivia travels back to her childhood hometown to attend her father's memorial service. Moving into town and hoping to conceal her real identity, Olivia grows desperate for the truth as semifamiliar people and places reveal new details of her parents' past, including jealous exes and conniving schoolmates. Gradually, however, her own fragmented memories threaten to lead her to the killer, which puts Olivia in grave danger. With her straightforward thrillers, Henry has carved a welcome niche for herself in young adult literature, thanks to her great instinct for intriguing plots, likable characters, and fast-paced action. The short chapters with cliff-hanger endings, not to mention the juicy plot, will keep readers engaged to the end.--Colson, Diane Copyright 2016 Booklist
