The Outliers

In this creepy conspiracy thriller, first in a trilogy, a young woman embarks on a hazardous road trip to rescue her missing best friend, following a trail of increasingly desperate text messages. To find Cassie, whose wild child ways often get her in trouble, Wylie has to work with Cassie’s boyfriend, Jasper, whom she blames for her friend’s most recent fall from grace. As they journey into the dark depths of Maine, they discover the unsettling truth that all of this trouble is connected to Wylie’s father’s research into heightened emotional perception, and now multiple groups are after them. McCreight (Where They Found Her) crafts a tense, atmospheric narrative that sends the teens reeling from one surprise after another, but the plot threatens to collapse under the weight of so many twists and turns, which stretch credulity a little too much. There are some nice emotional moments, especially when Wylie tries to faces her deep-seated anxiety, but the central premise doesn’t quite hold up its side of the bargain. Ages 14–up. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary Agency. (May)