ARC Review: Missing by Kelley Armstrong

Missing
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publication: Crown Books for Young Readers (April 18, 2017)

Description: The only thing Winter Crane likes about Reeve's End is that soon she'll leave it. Like her best friend did. Like her sister did. Like most of the teens born in town have done. There's nothing for them there but abandoned mines and empty futures. They're better off taking a chance elsewhere.

What Winter will miss is the woods. Her only refuge. At least it was. Until the day she found Lennon left for dead, bleeding in a tree.

But now Lennon is gone too. And he has Winter questioning what she once thought was true. What if nobody left at all? What if they're all missing?

My Thoughts: Winter Crane is just biding her time in the small, isolated town where she lives. She can't wait to graduate and go on to college where she is determined to become a doctor. Right now, she living with her drunken, abusive father on what would be the wrong side of the tracks if her town were big enough for trains to go through. She is hiding from her father in an old hunting shack she's found when a boy who has been badly beaten stumbles in.

Lennon says that he came looking for a girl named Edie that he met at a concert. Winter knows Edie; she's her best friend. She's also one of a number of kids who have left town as soon as they could and haven't been heard from since. Winter's sister Cady is another of those who left without a forwarding address.

When Lennon disappears again, he leaves Winter wondering what happened to him and what happened to all those other kids who disappeared. She begins an investigation which gets her involved in the town's secrets. She is pretty much on her own until Lennon's brother Jude comes looking for him and, very reluctantly, teams up with Winter.

Lennon and Jude come from a very different background than Winter. They were adopted into an "old money" family and their father is a Congressman. But their family is rife with secrets too.

This story was creepy, action-packed and had great characters. I liked Winter's determination and attitude. I liked Jude who wasn't easy for us or for Winter to get to know. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Favorite Quote:

Jude is a puzzle I have to solve. A puzzle I feel, uncomfortably, that I need to solve. I don't understand him, and I want to.

I received this one for review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.