A teen girl whose father is a serial killer must figure out where he buried the bodies in the hair-raising and suspenseful first YA novel, Thornbird, from E. Kennedy, pen name of Off-Campus series author Elle Kennedy.
Gabriel Thorn, the Starling Slayer, killed his last victim 10 years ago. His daughter, Gabrielle, went to live with her grandmother in Allentown, Pa. Now Gran has died and the 17-year-old has been forced to take on an alias and move in with her aunt in the small town where her father committed his murders. The families of her dad's victims in Starling, Tenn., still hungry for justice, promise a new reward for information about the undiscovered remains of their loved ones. Gabrielle's alias works and she is invited to join the "body hunt" led by true-crime junkies and obsessed podcasters, though she'd rather spend time with the school's "happy-go-lucky" quarterback or "brooding loner." Then come the threatening texts: "Stop looking or you'll regret it"; "I know who you are." Determined to help her town, Gabrielle starts questioning if the disturbing things her father once said might actually be clues to where the bodies are hidden.
Kennedy presents a whiplashing narrative of terrifying and touching moments. Gabriella battles with the love she still feels for her father and seeks a way to escape his shadow. Her attraction to two very different young men--"the golden boy and the delinquent"--highlights how her father's mental instability shook her understanding of what it means to be cared for. Confession transcripts, screencaps of online forums, and prison letters are compelling incorporations in this twist-filled guessing game. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer