Friday, April 8, 2011

Cryer's Cross


from The Bookologist 

The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.
When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions. Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

McMann’s Cryer’s Cross is hauntingly creepy and scary, but yet, original and refreshing. It’s dark and mysterious with its unique concept; mysterious disappearances happening in a small town.

Constantly, McMann throws mind baffling twists and turns that are totally unexpected. Cryer’s Cross is plot-driven, it was the one that drove the whole story to flow and work. Also, McMann’s writing is so distinctive and dominant writing, that it is easy for readers to feel the emotions of the characters. The only lowlight to the way McMann brought this story together is that she could have thrown in more hints or a little more knowledge on what happened to the people who were missing.

Refreshing and interesting, Kendall’s OCD added so much to the story. It was easier to get her personality through. The fact that she had to deal with so many compulsions, but yet was able to stay calm on the outside was pretty fascinating. Jacien, at the start, was a jerk. He shined his angriness that he had moved to the town.

The relationship between Kendall and Jacien was, not surprisingly, startling. McMann’s way of building up romance in a story has never ceased to amaze me. When Kendall and Jacien immediately start to connect, Jacien unfolds and starts to change.

Cryer’s Cross is a haunting thriller that psychological horror enthusiasts are sure to enjoy. A great stand-alone from McMann!