With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Įveryone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago-except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. “I thought you might.” “I knew that too.” Fans of Brooks’s Martyn Pig, Kissing the Rain, Candy and Lucas, won’t be disappointed by this thrilling, gritty story and it’s memorable, heart-breaking characters. that’s what I’m thinking.” “I knew that,” I told him.

The brothers’ relationship develops through the action, in Brooks’s signature poetic prose and humorous banter: “I need to know what you’re thinking sometimes.” “You know what I’m thinking.” “I need to hear it.”.

What follows is suspenseful and ultimately violent-though filtered through Ruben’s nonviolent perspective. He and his older brother Cole travel to a desolate village in search of the killer, so that the coroner will release the body for burial. “When the Dead Man got Rachel I was sitting in the back of a wrecked Mercedes wondering if the rain was going to stop.” So it is that 14-year-old Ruben, who can read minds, vicariously witnesses his sister’s murder.

Kevin brooks the road of the dead