Cat's Aunt Tildy drags her to church, where the local ladies are mostly self-righteous and gossipy, and where Patrick's "lifestyle" is condemned. I also really liked the layered portrayal of religion here. Ok, I will fess up fully: I actually had to stop reading! The town itself, with its bigots, dropouts, and lost, broken people, is so clearly presented that it almost serves as an additional character in the book. When a brave Cat rides her bike out to a forest-shrouded meth lab, I truly felt afraid for her. which is exactly what you're looking for in a mystery. Add to this the fact that Cat has been harboring a secret pain of her own, and you get this constant, creepy tingle of foreboding. This strong undercurrent of violence and drugs, of a sweltering town in a hot summer just waiting to explode, informs everything Cat does.
Myracle does a superb job of depicting a secretive, oppressive town with unspoken rules, enforced silence - she finds a severed cow's tongue in her bed - and a toxic subculture of drug and alcohol abuse. I loved the sense of danger surrounding Cat's investigation. She also befriends Jason, a local college student who knew and respected Patrick, and learns that Patrick had a secret boyfriend, who may have played a vital role in his attack. During her investigation, Cat confronts older brother Christian's friends - obnoxious Tommy, goodhearted Beef, and drug addled Dupree - as well as Wally, the local meth dealer, and some of his clientele. As the town's only known gay resident, Cat believes that Patrick was the victim of a hate crime the local sheriff, however, wants to blame the attack on outsiders and make the whole mess disappear.
While Patrick lies in a coma, Cat begins searching to discover what really happened. Patrick, a charming, easy going teen, was closing up the local gas station / quickie mart when he was pummeled with a baseball bat and left unconscious with a gas nozzle taped inside his mouth. In "Shine," she gives us a powerful, evocative novel of a small southern town's secrets.Īs the book begins, we're in a rural North Carolina town shortly after the brutal beating of Cat's former best friend, Patrick. Thank you Net Galley and the good people at Abrams / Amulet Books for the electronic galley of Lauren Myracle's forthcoming teen novel "Shine." Author Myracle is probably most well known for her bestselling IM-speak "Internet Girls" series.
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