Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

The town of Cryer's Cross is not very big. There are less than 250 people. Most of the families are farmers, and the high school consists of 1 room - where all 4 years sit and have one teacher. Think of it as "Little House on the Prairie" if you will.

At the end of Kendall's junior year, a girl, Tiffany Quinn, went missing. They searched for her over the summer, but was unable to find her.

When coming back to school to start her senior year, the news about Tiffany started to die down. Now the buzz was about the new kids: Marlena and Jacian Obregon.

Kendall still did her usual routine at school: put the trash can the right way, put the markers in rainbow order, open the windows and straighten the desks. She has OCD and needs to have things in an exact way, or she starts to get jittery.

After a few weeks at school, Kendall's best friend Nico starts to act odd. He spaces off, doesn't have a conversation, and wanders away.

Then a few days after that, Nico disappears just like Tiffany did...

There was a search party, but just like Tiffany, no one was able to figure out where he went.

When Kendall started hearing voices coming from the desk Nico sat at, she thought she was going crazy. A desk can't talk to her. Later on, though, Kendall forgot about the weirdness of the talking desk and decided to listen to what it was saying.

She could help Nico. But at what price?

My Thoughts/Reflections
I think Lisa McMann is starting to be my new favorite mystery/suspense YA author! She did a fantastic job with this story, weaving mystery and supernatural together to create a great story.

I read another novel by her, (I reviewed Dead to You here) which was a little different than this novel, but just as suspenseful.

I've never met anyone who has OCD (not that I know of, anyway) so while I couldn't relate to Kendall, I thought she had a handle on her disease. She didn't announce it to everyone. In fact, Nico was the only one who really knew about it, so when he disappeared, it made hiding her OCD habits hard for Kendall at first.

Jacian was by far my favorite character. He was the silent, stay-away, moody new guy who was mad about moving during senior year to a town-but-really-country/town-area from a big city. When he found out about Kendall having OCD, he didn't make fun of her, but let her be herself.

The mystery and supernatural aspect of this story could have been stronger. The reader didn't really get answers until the end of the book and it seemed almost rushed.

Lisa McMann did leave this book open for a sequel to come out, with the "ghost" factor after the last few pages. It will be interesting if she writes another one and where she would go with it.

I really enjoyed this story. I read reviews that said they didn't like Kendall and thought this story gave them goosebumps, but I found it a quick read that kept my attention until the very end.

For anyone looking to read a suspense/mystery story with a little paranormal, I would definitely recommend this novel. With the above cover, it could appeal to guy readers, even though it's a female narrator, so I would say any audience could enjoy this novel.

I also think reluctant readers would like this novel as it's unique and dark in some areas. It's very easy to read and, once you get into the story, very fast paced.