What Happened to Cass McBride? by Gail Giles

I call this a 50-50 book. On one hand, the psychological underpinnings really work and the style helps drive the story forward in a rather breakneck pace. The book is told through three perspectives: Cass McBride, a popular girl who has been kidnapped; Kyle, her kidnapper; and Ben, the lead detective trying to find her. The story is strongest in the voice of Cass, trying to understand and gain the upper hand in her fate. The title of the book says much. It’s not just what happens to Cass in this event, but what ~has~ happened to her, and those around her, that brings her to this place. Kyle’s story is disjointed and sad, but works well to create dramatic tension with Cass. The negative part of this book comes with the police search and the ending. Ben’s story is necessary to move the plot forward, but seems to only be there as that device. The characters are so flat in his narrations that they become interchangeable. The dialog is so “bad TV cop show” that it is actually laughable. The editing needs work, too. “Party Hardy” is spelled “Hearty” and there are hanging quote marks throughout the book. What really bugged me about the story, however, was the ending. I strongly felt that Ms. Giles betrayed the “truth” of one of her characters to force her rather trademark creepy/twisting end. Given the voice that she had created for some 200 pages, I just didn’t believe where it ended up going. Like I said, this one rated five on a scale of ten for me.