Book Log: What Happened to Cass McBride?, by Gail Giles

[grammargirl]

Words are teeth.
And they eat me alive.
Feed on my corpse instead.

This is the suicide note left by David Kirby after his advances are rejected by Cass McBride, the most popular girl in school. David's brother Kyle, driven over the edge by David's death, decides to make Cass pay for her part in David's suicide: he kidnaps her and buries her alive. The story alternates between the points of view of Cass, Kyle, and the police detective trying to find Cass before it's too late.

This is a fast read that grabs the reader and doesn't let go until the last page. Through Kyle's and Cass's points of view, we learn about the history that drew each character inexorably to this horrifying end, and we sympathize with each character's predicament even while deploring their actions. Cass's struggle to outwit her captor and stay alive is particularly harrowing and rife with truly scary moments. Because this is such a fast read, I'd recommend taking this one out of the library or waiting until it comes out in paperback in September.

Comments

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Dude, you find the coolest books. This looks like a good airplane read! Which is what I need in a couple weeks. I need to finally get an Oakland Public Library card.

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

Heh. If by "find" you mean "get shelf copies of every book my imprint publishes" and/or "take friends' advice when they recommend stuff," then yes. Yes I do.

And yeah, Cass McBride would definitely be good airplane reading--but I'd take at least one additional book if your plane ride is longer than an hour or two; it really is a fast read.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Oh, that short, huh? I forget that these are probably YA books, right?

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Most of what I read these days is YA, mostly because I can get them for free. I should start labeling my logs by genre, though, so people don't get confused. Thanks for the idea!

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Have you read The Hole? It's vaguely similar to Cass McBride, and very, very interesting and horrifying. I think you'd like it.

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

Oooh, no I haven't. Looks like an interesting read.

Note to self: pay off obscene late fee at NYPL so I can start taking books out again, kthx.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Hey, wait....you? How do you know frannyzooey?

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Originally through livejournal. But we've hung out (once, memorably with a gnome), and we're going to be kidlit publishing buddies.

How do YOU know frannyzooey?

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I found my way to her LiveJournal because she posted in cleolinda with a hot icon and then discovered that she was in Ann Arbor and loved Lorrie Moore, so friending occurred. This was right when I joined LJ, pretty much. We met before she left Ann Arbor.

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

The internet is a tiny, tiny place.

How do you know penmage?

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I don't, really! But she knows me. Through VM fandom. Which is how everyone knows me.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

And is it so shocking that we're friends? ;)

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

Yes! My VM fandom friends aren't supposed to randomly appear in my non-fandom friend's LJs. That's just WEIRD. What are the odds??

[beingblueagain.livejournal.com]

I never thought I'd love commercial fiction, but I do love Gail Giles. This was the first of our books that I read when I started.

[grammargirl.livejournal.com]

I just read second pass pages for Right Behind You, which I actually liked even better. Less suspense, more psychology, I guess? I don't know. Either way, I'm definitely a Gail Giles fan now.