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Overview
A tiny pistol, passed from friend to friend at a party on an abandoned pier, suddenly fires, and Casey Carmody falls into the water below. Kurt, Casey's older brother, endures a seemingly endless night at the police station while the coast guard searches for his sister and his friends are questioned, one by one. Who was foolish enough to pull the trigger? Was the gunfire accidental or deliberate? Or was the whole drama one of Casey's practical jokes? And where is Casey--or her body--now? Dark secrets are revealed and petty jealousies rear their ugly heads as each eyewitness comes to the questioning room with his or her own version of "the truth."Synopsis
A riveting contemporary mystery from Printz Honor–winner Carol Plum-Ucci combines edge-of-your-seat suspense with a touch of the supernatural for which she is so well known
VOYA
Fifteen-year-old Casey Carmody is shot while partying on the pier. Disappearing over the edge, she is lost from sight in the dark tides. Rescue services are unable to locate her, and Casey's brother Kurt spends the remainder of the night alone in the police station, waiting for his out-of-town parents. In the police station, forbidden to join the search for his sister, Kurt is joined by his best friend. Sent to a hallway outside the station's new interrogation room, the boys discover that the speakers in the room have been left on, and they are able to listen to the statements of everyone on the pier that night. The boys spend the night eavesdropping on one interview after another and are never discovered. Casey's disappearance and Kurt's agony draw the reader into the story from page one, but clunky dialogue and an improbable plot device will put off some readers. They will be bothered by the unlikelihood of this occurrence; others may simply accept it and move on with the story. Plum-Ucci's previous works, The Body of Christopher Creed (Harcourt, 2000/VOYA August 2000) and What Happened to Lani Garver (2002/VOYA December 2002), make her a must-read for fans of young adult mysteries. Unfortunately many will be disappointed in this latest novel. The premise is intriguing, and in fact, the story is engrossing, but readers will find that Plum-Ucci revisits many of the same themes she has better explored in previous works. Not this author's strongest effort, this one will have teen appeal, but those looking for good, quality mysteries should stick to her earlier works.
Editorials
VOYA -
Fifteen-year-old Casey Carmody is shot while partying on the pier. Disappearing over the edge, she is lost from sight in the dark tides. Rescue services are unable to locate her, and Casey's brother Kurt spends the remainder of the night alone in the police station, waiting for his out-of-town parents. In the police station, forbidden to join the search for his sister, Kurt is joined by his best friend. Sent to a hallway outside the station's new interrogation room, the boys discover that the speakers in the room have been left on, and they are able to listen to the statements of everyone on the pier that night. The boys spend the night eavesdropping on one interview after another and are never discovered. Casey's disappearance and Kurt's agony draw the reader into the story from page one, but clunky dialogue and an improbable plot device will put off some readers. They will be bothered by the unlikelihood of this occurrence; others may simply accept it and move on with the story. Plum-Ucci's previous works, The Body of Christopher Creed (Harcourt, 2000/VOYA August 2000) and What Happened to Lani Garver (2002/VOYA December 2002), make her a must-read for fans of young adult mysteries. Unfortunately many will be disappointed in this latest novel. The premise is intriguing, and in fact, the story is engrossing, but readers will find that Plum-Ucci revisits many of the same themes she has better explored in previous works. Not this author's strongest effort, this one will have teen appeal, but those looking for good, quality mysteries should stick to her earlier works.Children's Literature
The Mystic Marvels, a group of teens living in a small, quiet beach town, are hanging out at an abandoned pier when suddenly a gunshot is heard. Fifteen-year-old Casey falls into the water…and disappears. Her 17-year-old brother, Kurt, follows the goings-on while a frantic search for Casey takes place. Since Kurt's best friend is a policeman's son, they are able to watch, unnoticed, as other teens (and several adults) give their accounts (and theories) of what happened, and why. The numerous players include Stacy, the mysterious girl with a rich, checkered family who harbors feelings for Kurt; Mark, a high school grad who's been involved with both Stacy and Casey (despite Kurt's dislike and distrust of him); Stacy's ill-reputed, estranged dad; Stacy's wealthy grandpa who funds many of the island's folks (including Kurt's writer-dad); and a fortune-teller named Crazy Addie. As events and testimonies unfold, Kurt discovers that Stacy is pregnant and that she bought the gun, begging the questions: who's the father, and why did she buy a weapon? Other mysteries abound: Was Casey, in fact, shot? And if so, why and by whom? Why was no splash heard when she fell, and no blood found? Suffice it to say, the answers involve jealousy, mistaken identities, and even incest. A complicated, intricate puzzle of a page-turner, this book is an intriguing guessing game. Nevertheless since it is peppered with bad language and includes incest, teen pregnancy, and suicide, it is recommended solely for mature readers. 2006, Harcourt, Ages 14 to 17.—Naomi Milliner