Before She Was Found

In Heather Gudenkauf's Before She Was Found, this thriller will give you goosebumps on every page. It all started when they found 12-year-old Cora Landry's body at the tracks at the train yard in Pitch, Iowa. At the start of the investigation, everyone told their story from their POV and how life treated Cora Landry. It also told on how she tried to fit in with others and befriended Violet Crow, a new girl in town, and Jordan Petit, one of the mean girls. But when they were assigned an urban legend project together in a social studies class, they chose on the legend of Joseph Wither,  who raped and kidnapped girls back in the olden days. From there, it all started like a fine idea when Cora went to find out the truth about Wither for the project. But that's when things get personal and scary for her when he had known personal stuff about her. She had planned to meet him there and run away since she's been teased and bullied in school and no one wants to be her friend. But as events led up to the discovery of her massive injuries, everyone remained a suspect and hit close to home for them in small-town Iowa.  In the end, it leads to a shocking discovery that lead to the night of the attack with   a mind-numbing conclusion.

This was a spine-tingling and intense thriller that delves in to the subject of bullying, friendship, and the possible hidden dangers of chat room discussions. I did feel bad for Cora who's having trouble making friends in school and trying to fit in with others. I  also did feel bad for Violet who was the new girl and got caught in the middle of this. With hearing heart-wrenching headlines about adolescent and juvenile suicide with young kids ending their lives due to endless teasing from others in school, this hits close to home with that harrowing message. I did like the trainyard settings and the fascinating locations in and around Pitch, Iowa, that depicted this story well. This would make you want to shake your head and think twice with non-stop action, compelling drama, plenty of intrigue and lots of mystery that would keep you guessing to the end.

Will you be intrigued to read Before She Was Found tonight?