Heather Gudenkauf is one of my favorite author’s for good reason and Before She Was Found definitely added to my love of her.

Three girls in rural Iowa have a sleepover one night and sneak off to the abandoned railway to try to find the elusive Joseph Wither, a product of local urban legend. When one of the girls ends up in the hospital badly beaten and stabbed, the police search to discover what really happened that night.

This had excellent character development and lots of twists and turns, with a completely unexpected ending. The only negative I have is that the transitions between alternating narrators and the back and forth between time periods was a little clunky at times. Otherwise, this was a flawlessly executed psychological thriller that I highly recommend to all.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Park Row and Heather Gudenkauf for my complimentary e-copy ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A pre-teen sleepover turns tragic when one girl is found bruised and bloody on the tracks of an abandoned rail line while the other girls have vanished. Who could hate a twelve year old girl so much that she’s now all but dead? Most assume that a drifter, someone from away attacked Cora. No one from their town would ever hurt a child….would they? This book is not for those with a weak heart (or a pre-teen daughter). Gudenkauf demonstrates just how far people will go to protect their children, even at the cost of another child’s life