Cover Image: Picture Unavailable

Picture Unavailable

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Member Reviews

In the newest title by Andrew J. Brandt, readers are taken on a thrilling adventure full of emotion and mystery.

On the night of Johnny Howardwick's disappearance, Charlie Greene suffers the greatest loss of his young life. When an unexpected blizzard hits the town of Westfield, Tennessee, Charlie's father does the heroic thing of going out into the night to look for the young boy before the storm hits. Sadly it ends up being the last choice he will make, and Charlie's world is turned upside.

A few months later when the school yearbook comes out, Charlie and his two best friend's discover that not only is Johnny Howardwick's photo missing, it is replaced with two ominous words "Picture Unavailable." After further investigation, they quickly come to realize that not only is he missing there, he has suddenly disappeared from other pictures that the boys knew for certain that he was present in.

What follows is a creepy tale of unknown horrors, and heartfelt emotions that make Picture Unavailable an absolute must read for fan's of Middle-grade horror.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Blue Handle Publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

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At first this book sounded good, but then I realized I prefer books with a picture on the cover. Thanks for the digital review copy.

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Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this middle grade novel.

This is a great novel for fans of true crime, and mysteries alike. I enjoyed this novel and think it will find a lot of readers at the middle school level.

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This was definitely a page-turner! I enjoyed how the author wove in multiple story lines from years past. There were a few spots where I wondered if it was MG or YA, but overall this was a good mystery that kept my interest throughout the novel.

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This gives me flashbacks to reading Fear Street and Goosebumps, in a good way. I was invested in solving the mystery with the characters. I enjoyed getting to know each character and go on this journey with them. It was a great suspenseful read. I hope the author writes more.

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I wanted to like this book because I thought it would be a great premise for my middle school students. “Hey, readers! it’s like Stranger Things!” I hoped that it was good. It was OK. I’m worried about the scene where the mother thinks about romantic encounters with the father in his office (unnecessary in a middle grade novel).
It was fine, I’m sure that it would be enjoyable to kids. they love to be scared.
It feels like a second draft - needing more detail or reworking to be complete. Perhaps more explanation of why the dad needed forgiveness? That came right out of nowhere. So strange.

Again, kids may really like it.

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I actually breezed through this one and ended up liking it quite abit. It's a simple story, no plot twists, no major epic moments but it was good. Simple yet it still gripped me enough to read this so fast, i finished it in a day. Akin to stories like It and Stranger Things, and all those other horror plots, helmed by children or young teens to fight monsters and supernatural stuff. If you like stories like those i mentioned above, you will like this one too. It did leave me with unanswered questions cause some parts felt under explained, but overall i would recommend this to YA horror fans. #netgalley

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Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc. I found this to be a really engaging story. I thought the mystery was intriguing all the way throughout the book. The characters were fleshed out and I loved how Ben was included in the story,

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Thank you to Netgalley, Blue Handle Publishing and Andrew J. Brandt for this arc.

I loved the creepy small town setting of the novel. It was very atmospheric and made the mystery feel real and palpable. This was a perfect read after just finishing watching the latest season of Stranger Things.

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What worked:
People in the town of Westfield have been disappearing over the years, and no trace of them has ever been found. No one notices a pattern except for a teacher, Mr. Cotter, who witnesses his friend’s disappearance when he was younger. Charlie feels sadness too when one of his classmates goes missing, but he’s devastated when his father dies while searching for the boy. Charlie has more information about the missing boy, but it’s unclear why he doesn’t share it with the police. Why won’t he tell them what he sees in the park?
The concepts of friendship and bullies are addressed, as Charlie and his buddies deal with life changes. Obviously, Charlie is struggling with the death of his father, and his mother is taking it especially hard. She’s considering moving back to Nashville even though they’ve lived in Westfield for less than a year. Charlie’s unaware of her thinking, and he’s fretting over how his best friend Ezra will be moving in a month or two. Ezra’s parents are recently divorced, so his mom is moving them to Oklahoma. Charlie will be losing his best friend, so they decide to help their friend Josey with his crime-solving-like podcast for one last summer adventure. The project comes with dangers, but the boys’ bond is a key to success, and survival.
The story is mostly a ghost story in addition to being a missing-person mystery. The rumored haunting at the site of the previous school introduces more possibilities as to what’s going on. The disappearances of twelve-year-old boys occur during severe storms, and witnesses say they feel cold and emptiness trying to engulf them. Mr. Cotter is the first to notice the six-year pattern has changed this time, and he fears the emptiness has targeted one specific person. The incidents become more personal to the characters, as the author cranks up the eeriness and tension. The plot builds to an emotionally suspenseful climax that will have readers unable to put the book down.
What didn’t work as well:
Stories that follow one main character are easier to follow, but this book follows several. In addition, the story contains flashbacks with different characters that affect the flow of the overall plot. The changes don’t happen at regular intervals, and the time changes vary from twenty years to five minutes. It temporarily distracts the focus and makes me recalibrate what’s happening and doesn’t work as well for me.
The Final Verdict:
Ending a curse through forgiveness. The author masterfully transforms the story from the boys’ summer adventure into a terrifying ghost story. The intensity of the threat gradually increases until it becomes a matter of survival. Overall, I highly recommend you give this book a shot.

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I am really torn reviewing this book. It was good enough that I was entertained and I finished it but I felt like things just didn't make sense so I was disappointed.
I struggled with the first few chapters because I couldn't keep the characters straight. Then it took a while for the story to make sense.
The whole middle of the book was interesting and exciting. I really enjoyed it and got sucked in by the characters.
The climax was just weird. It didn't make any sense, there was no wrapping it up and explaining things. I knew the same at the end as I did at the beginning.
Maybe this was the author's intent. Maybe the author wanted you to fill in the blanks. I don't know.

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While looking through their sixth grade yearbooks Charlie Green and his two friends notice that the yearbook is missing a photograph for a recently missing student from their school. Upon looking further they discover that not only is that picture missing, he is gone from every picture in the book. They decide that they are going to get to the bottom of this and potentially figure out why he went missing in the first place and what happened to them. In their search they turn to a history teacher who may know more about what’s going on then he’s willing to tell them. Unknown to them they are walking into a local town mystery. Will they all make it to the end of the book safe or will one of them be next to disappear?

I fully admit that I am not the target audience if this book. I picked it based in the description. I didn’t know that this is written for the very young end of the young adult audience. Or it at lease reads that way. The writing is very simple and basic. Scenes were extremely repetitive and basic. Descriptions were lackluster and wanting. And I was not a fan of the monster.

I liked the time jumps personally. I think they added to the story. That’s pretty much all I liked about the book though. Despite my reservations about the book, I think this would be good for younger readers. It’s horror without blood or gore. Very good for younger people looking for step into the horror genre for the first time.

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I really enjoyed this, it was a fun little read and no mistake. The concept was quite clever, an interesting story, and it was written in an easy flowing way. There was no patronising adult voice behind the author, and in a way you could imagine that the tory itself was written by a young man of thirteen. A good book to read if you need something lighter but still like a little horror when you do.

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Andrew J. Brandt’s Picture Unavailable was a fun, easy to read, Middle Grade horror mystery, I’ve seen it listed as YA, but as all the kids are in their final year of primary school I would pitch it age twelve and under, as it has little to scare older children. One quote noted “The best of R.L. Stine meets the first half of King's IT” and although that might be a little over the top, there is also some truth in it. While looking through their sixth-grade yearbooks, Charlie Greene and his two best friends notice that the portrait of their missing classmate has been left blank except for two words: “Picture Unavailable”. After which they begin to investigate what happened to this kid and why he is seemingly forgotten by most people, with their search taking in old microfiche readers in the local library and interviewing the teacher in charge of the yearbook. In the background the boys are aware of a dark presence which seems to be stalking them, or even targeting them in particular.

The boys initially set out to uncover the mystery to jump-start their Serial-style podcast. Their first stop is the yearbook teacher, Mr. Cotter, who knows much more than he claims. Interestingly, the book is also seen by a couple of adults points of view, including Cotter and Charlie’s mum. This was slightly odd and child readers might find it a tad strange. But the more they investigate, the more the boys learn that Johnny's disappearance is far from an isolated incident and like Stephen King’s IT the story flicks back to when Mr Cotter was a kid and a previous disappearance. Set in Tennessee, this was a nice little page-turner which sets a great small-town atmosphere, has some cute scenes with the local girls and ramps things up nicely for a great ending. Charlie was a great lead character, who was overcoming personal tragedy of his own. AGE RANGE 10+

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I would classify this as middle grade more than YA. It was a short creepy read that is sure to hold the interest of a kid.

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I enjoy Andrew J. Brandt's writing. He does a good job of fleshing out characters and engaging readers. Picture Unavailable is an interesting and absorbing story about three boys trying to save their town and the kids in it from a shadow monster. Along with this primary premise, the reader also follows Charlie as he just wants to assure himself that his father's death wasn't a waste, and Ben, who stills feels guilt over his best friend's disappearance 24 years ago.
Though there are a couple of aspects of the story that I don't fully understand, they didn't detract from my enjoyment. I will continue reading whatever Mr. Brandt chooses to write.

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This was a quick, twisty, trilling read from start to finish. It switches back and fourth between past and present to tell the story of a town where boys go missing every 6 years. It really kept me hooked.

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While I did enjoy this book and found the storyline intriguing, when I requested it, it was listed as YA. I am a high school librarian. The characters in the book were 6th graders, so I feel like it would be better listed for middle grades. The story is an intriguing one with a darkness that comes from time to time and takes a child from the town. They simply disappear without a trace. The three young men decide to investigate and ultimately solve this mystery. With the help of a teacher and other classmates, they come up with a plan to defeat the darkness. Things don't go exactly according to plan, and new steps must be taken. As I said, I did enjoy it, but I am reading to look for books for a high school library, and I feel that this would be better for middle school.

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I would categorize this book as "horror-lite". It had creepy elements, but it also focused on grief, relationships between family and friends, and had many emotional/heartwarming moments, so that made for a more unsettling than truly scary read. Don't get me wrong, there were definitely some moments that creeped me out, but I wouldn't recommend this book to someone looking for a "horror story". However, I would recommend this book in general.

Things I liked:
I really enjoyed the alternating perspectives throughout the book (both between characters and time periods). I think this element helped really rounded out the story and gave it some depth, as well as added a feeling of suspense. The descriptions of the weather, time of day, and setting created a creepy, unsettling atmosphere that fit the story well and helped me, as the reader, connect with the characters' feelings of unease. This book kept me guessing up until the end of the story and I liked how it kept me on my toes, and the incorporation of real-life issues helped me connect more with the characters and their emotions. I've seen comparisons between this book and Stranger Things and I agree with that; both the show and this book focus on a group of average young kids who come up against something scary and how they grow and mature while figuring out how to fight the evil force.

Things I would change:
I would have liked a scarier story because that's what I went in expecting, mainly because of the book cover and title, but overall, I enjoyed this book as a whole.

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This book is a creepy supernatural thriller. In the town of Westfield, middle school kids are disappearing every six years. Three young boys discover the picture of a schoolmate, who recently disappeared is missing from the yearbook. It is strange because the boy's photo was taken for the school year book. I am not into supernatural books, but this book was good and it held my attention. It was told by different points of views so we as the reader can piece together the events that took place to find out what happened. I did not like the ending because it didnt answer all the questions on what happened. I like an ending in a book so I feel satisfied.

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