Cryer's Cross

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace.

Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad.

Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history.

Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

"In this ghost story, McCann (the Wake trilogy) delivers an atmospheric but unsatisfying tale of smalltown horror. Kendall Fletcher, a soccer player with obsessive-compulsive disorder who dreams of performing on Broadway, is determined to escape her tiny hometown of Cryer's Cross, Mont., by getting into Juilliard. When her best friend, Nico, is the second student to vanish mysteriously in recent months, it throws Kendall's ordered life into disarray. Soon, enigmatic daydreams and clues lead her to believe that Nico is the latest victim of a supernatural mystery, and she may be the next target. A handsome but surly newcomer, Jacián, may be the key to surviving whatever is preying on the teens of Cryer's Cross. While the remote, rural setting is laden with potential (the one-room high school has only 24 students) and the constant whirring of Kendall's OCD-afflicted mind adds an interesting dimension, the elements never completely gel. McMann handles the buildup of the story's tension well, but her resolution feels quick and easy, and even bloody final revelations can't mitigate a premise that's far more silly than spooky. Ages 14 — up. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)

From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of the Wake trilogy comes a riveting new paranormal thriller, set in the small, rural community of Cryer's Cross, Montana, where two high school students have mysteriously vanished.

Kendall loves her life in small town Cryer¹s Cross, Montana, but she also longs for something more. She knows the chances of going to school in New York are small, but she's not the type to give up easily. Even though it will mean leaving Nico, the world's sweetest boyfriend, behind.

But when Cryer's Cross is rocked by unspeakable tragedy, Kendall shoves her dreams aside and focuses on just one goal: help find her missing friends. Even if it means spending time with the one boy she shouldn't get close to... the one boy who makes her question everything she feels for Nico.

Determined to help and to stay true to the boy she's always loved, Kendall keeps up the search--and stumbles upon some frightening local history. She knows she can't stop digging, but Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....

The community of Cryer's Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when Tiffany, a high-school freshman, disappears without a trace. Plagued by OCD, sixteen-year-old Kendall is freaked out by the empty desk in the one-room schoolhouse, and is relieved when her boyfriend Nico takes the seat. And then he goes missing too. An increasingly anxious Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk. If she sits there, will she also vanish? But instead of vanishing, something appears: eerie graffiti messages on the desk's surface that could only be from Nico. Desperate to help him, Kendall stumbles upon some ugly--and deadly--local history. And she's about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried....

Lisa McMann is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy; Cryer’s Cross; Dead to You; and the middle-grade dystopian fantasy trilogy The Unwanteds. She lives with her family in the Phoenix area. Read more about Lisa and find her blog at LisaMcMann.com. Or better yet, be her friend on Facebook (McMannFan) or follow her on Twitter (@Lisa_McMann).