Synopsis:
Three young girlfriends, a dark obsession, and a chilling crime shake up a quiet Iowa town.
For twelve-year-old Cora Landry and her friends, Violet and Jordyn, it was supposed to be an ordinary sleepover with movies, a Ouija board, talking about boys. But when they decide to sneak out and go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town, little do they know that their innocent games will have dangerous consequences.
Later that night, Cora Landry is discovered on the tracks, bloody and clinging to life. Her friends are nowhere to be found.
Soon the small rural town is thrust into a maelstrom. Who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora? And why? In an investigation that leaves no stone unturned, everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted . . . Not even those closest to Cora.
Review:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf was born in Wagner, South Dakota, but when she was just a month old her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation where her father worked as a guidance counselor and her mother served as a school nurse. Three years later, they relocated to Iowa, where she continues residing with her family. Gudenkauf was born with profound unilateral hearing loss which caused her to retreat to books, sometimes curled up in a toy box with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight. It’s not surprising that her love of reading blossomed into a love of writing.
Her seventh novel, Before She Was Found, it aptly described as a timely exploration of friendship and betrayal, the power of social pressure, and the cost of doing what it take to fit in. Gudenkauf also explores the lengths to which a parent will go in order to protect their child and keep them safe. That might even require burying the truth.
Before She Was Found focuses on Cora Landry, who desperately wants to fit in with her friends, Violet and Jordyn. The three twelve-year-olds plan a sleepover including typically innocent activities — discussions of boys, movies, junk food, and a Ouija board.
But an urban myth — is it? — has taken hold of one of the girls, causing her to obsess about it. She daydreams and journals about it, convinced that it is true. She manages to find other people online who also want to talk about it. One of the individuals she encounters in an online forum claims to be the person around whom the myth persists. Could it really be him?
When the girls sneak out from their slumber party to an abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town there are tragic consequences. Cora Landry is found alone on the tracks with catastrophic, disfiguring injuries. But who would do such a thing? Why would anyone want to attack Cora? Did they meet someone at the rail yard that night?
Before She Was Found is a gripping thriller that serves as a cautionary tale deals with both the aforementioned traditional themes — pre-teen and teen friendships, the quest for popularity, and extreme pressure to gain acceptance among one’s peers — as well as the heightened dangers that technology poses. The little town in which everyone knows everyone else and socioeconomic delineations are clearly defined is rocked by the fear-inducing mystery.
Gudenkauf convincingly makes every one of her characters — each of whom is fully developed and multi-dimensional — a suspect as the grim investigation into the horrifying crime proceeds. In the process, she deftly navigates small-town allegiances, prepubescent angst, and familial loyalty. And does so with sensitivity and compassion, but also gritty realism.
In Gudenkauf’s skilled telling, Before She Was Found is a compelling and emotionally moving thriller . . . that might prove illuminating to parents and young people alike.
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