What Happened to Cass McBride? -- Gail Giles

Kyle: 

"She's dead, isn't she?  If she was alive, I wouldn't be handcuffed to a table in an interview room.  You'd take her statement before you'd come at me for a confession, right?"

Cass: 

David Kirby's funeral was this morning.  I didn't go.  It would look beyond strange if I did.

I wasn't sure he'd . . . done what he did because of that stupid note.  I wish I hadn't left it lying around.  Well, I wish I hadn't written it.

Ben:

At ten fifteen Saturday morning the lieutenant ripped a page out of his notebook and slapped it on Detective Ben Gray's desk.  "Possible missing kid in Sterling Meadows.  Roger Oakley's first on scene.  Says we need a look."

Kyle Kirby blames Cass McBride for his brother David's death. 

So he buries her alive.

With an air supply and a walkie-talkie. 

Because he doesn't just want her to die -- he wants her to suffer first.

But he doesn't realize that he's allowed Cass to bring her most powerful weapon with her:  Words.

I'm mildly claustrophobic, so I may have been hypersensitive -- but at times, this book made me feel like I wasn't getting enough oxygen.  I never connected emotionally with the characters*, but that didn't stop me from being fascinated by their situation.  So fascinated, in fact, that due to incessant yakking at the break table, I stomped outside to finish it in the (extremely cold) peace and quiet.

Short chapters, dialogue-heavy, high suspense...  I love giving Gail Giles' books to my reluctant readers.  More often than not, they eat them up in a matter of days -- these are kids that rarely even FINISH books -- and come back clamoring for more.  Cass McBride will be no exception.

It'll be an easy one to recommend.  As it's a story about power and manipulation and popularity AND it's a detective story, I'll feel comfortable recommending it to a broad range of teens -- from fans of Gossip Girl to fans of CSI.

*I don't usually, with characters in psychological thrillers.  Not sure why.