As with many books like “The Road of the Dead,” for every answer Rube and Cole find, they uncover more questions. The climax of the book begins pretty early (about two-thirds of the way through) and Brooks has a difficult time sustaining the pace, but the solution to the mystery of Rachel’s death and the development of Rube and Cole’s characters along the way are worth the wait.

This is a book for teens and adults looking for a thrilling mystery who don’t mind vivid descriptions of violence.

The Missing Girl

By Norma Fox Mazer

The Herberts have five daughters — Beauty, Mim, Stevie, Fancy and Autumn — who are being quietly stalked by a man who crosses their path every morning on their way to school.

The girls have taken no real notice of the man because he is, in all ways, unremarkable. But he watches their every move, notices their every detail, and agonizes over which one is his favorite.

The Herbert family is in crisis. The girls’ parents have little money and are fast approaching desperation, so they decide to “lend out” Stevie to a distant aunt in order to save money. On the day Stevie is supposed to leave for the aunt’s house, Autumn goes for a walk and doesn’t come back.

Mazer uses the characters’ voices to tell this family’s story, which makes it all the more real and frightening for readers. We know from the very first chapter that the man stalking the Herbert girls is evil and, as the book progresses, we come to know and to love each of the girls.

Autumn’s capture and her “stay” at the man’s house are truly frightening in their realistic portrayal. This book is not for the faint of heart, but is appropriate for teens and adults interested in a frightening tale that is all too real. Though the pace builds slowly, this is not a book that is put down easily.

Cari Boatright is the teen librarian at Joplin Public Library.