I guess this is the time of year for really well-written thrillers, because I feel like that's about all I've gotten to talk about lately. So here is another: Mindy Mejia's Everything You Want Me To Be.
Hattie Hoffman is a high school senior with a seemingly perfect life in her small Minnesota town. She has good friends, a football star boyfriend, a part-time job, a very special relationship with her dad, and the lead in Macbeth. She's smart and gets good grades, stays out of trouble, and has a luminous future ahead of her. Except that she's dead. Stabbed and left in a deserted barn, Hattie and her bright future come to a sudden ending, and it's up to sheriff Del Goodman, who had known her since she was a baby, to figure out what happened and bring a killer to justice before his town falls apart.
The novel is told through the eyes of several characters, going through Hattie's senior year, so that you get to piece together what is really happening as the story unfolds. Interesting and compelling, this story moves you forward as it draws you in.
I freely admit I am newer to the thriller genre, but I'm getting in deeper every week. And I'm telling you, this one is a reader. There are some you can miss, but I wouldn't skip this one. Smart, sassy, sad, but elegant. Highly recommended! I will not be surprised to see this one on top 10 lists at the end of the year.
Galleys for Everything You Want Me To Be provided by the publisher through NetGalley.com.