Synopsis:
From a bright new talent comes a riveting psychological thriller about an American exchange student in France involved in a suspicious accident, and the journalist determined to break the story and uncover the dark secrets a small town is hiding.
On a quiet summer morning, seventeen-year-old American exchange student Quinn Perkins stumbles out of the woods near the small French town of St. Roch. Barefoot, bloodied, and unable to say what has happened to her, Quinn’s appearance creates quite a stir, especially since the Blavettes—the French family with whom she’s been staying—have mysteriously disappeared. Now the media, and everyone in the idyllic village, are wondering if the American girl had anything to do with her host family’s disappearance.
Though she is cynical about the media circus that suddenly forms around the girl, Boston journalist Molly Swift cannot deny she is also drawn to the mystery and travels to St. Roch. She is prepared to do anything to learn the truth, including lying so she can get close to Quinn. But when a shocking discovery turns the town against Quinn and she is arrested for the murders of the Blavette family, she finds an unlikely ally in Molly.
As a trial by media ensues, Molly must unravel the disturbing secrets of the town’s past in an effort to clear Quinn’s name, but even she is forced to admit that the American Girl makes a very compelling murder suspect. Is Quinn truly innocent and as much a victim as the Blavettes—or is she a cunning, diabolical killer intent on getting away with murder…?
Told from the alternating perspectives of Molly, as she’s drawn inexorably closer to the truth, and Quinn’s blog entries tracing the events that led to her accident, The American Girl is a deliciously creepy, contemporary, twisting mystery leading to a shocking conclusion.
Rating: 5 stars
Review:
Can you imagine being a young teenager girl and a foreign exchange student who is staying with a family…next thing you realize is that you’re in the hospital. They way you were found causes a stir among everyone. So many questions and no answers. Your memory is blank…all except for the memory of running away from something dangerous. Everything else is gone. An American teenager like Quinn Perkins becomes a victim and even played a bit in being a non-victim…she has been given a camera to help jog her memory by recording all that she does know as she remembers it. The media and public are after her for the disappearance of the family she stayed with…a journalist, Molly Swift soon becomes Quinn’s only ally throughout the danger and helps solve the mystery. Quinn being accused, for murder, of each family member, leads Molly into digging deeper into the case to search for answers. But can she find them before it’s too late and is she protecting a real victim or perpetrator? The American Girl by Kate Horsley is mysterious, thrilling, and highly entertaining.
The American Girl is so much like Gone Girl. I am not just saying that…the suspense and deep plot speak volumes. Instantly, I was pulled into the story and taken in by Quinn Perkins, the American girl. The story is fast-paced. Readers will find it being told by each of the characters perspectives. This just adds to the drama and intensity of the danger looming ahead. The truth is there yet so hard to reach…and once it’s found everything fell together unleashed the devasting news on what really happened. The how and why of it all kept me on the edge of my seat. I was deeply entranced with this magnificent tale and I highly recommend it to readers everywhere. Kate Horsley is indeed a talented writer.
Urban Book Reviews 