Nocturnal Meetings of the Misplaced
R.J. Garcia
Publication date: May 1st 2018
Genres: Suspense, Young Adult
Mystery surrounds the town of Summertime, Indiana, where fifteen-year-old Tommy Walker and his little sister are sent to live with relatives they’ve never met. Tommy soon makes friends with Finn Wilds, a rebellious local who lives with his volatile and abusive stepfather, who also happens to be the town’s sheriff.
Finn invites Tommy to late night meetings in the woods, where Tommy gets to know two girls. He forms a special and unique connection with both girls. The meetings become a place where the kids, who don’t fit in at school, or home can finally belong. As the group of friends begin to unravel clues to a cold case murder and kidnapping— they learn the truth is darker and closer than they ever imagined. Even if they live to tell, will anyone believe them?
This was an amazing YA suspense novel. It showed the “Misplaced” or “Misfits” who get together to solve a mystery. Tommy and his sister are the children of an addicted mother and are sent to Summertime to live with relatives. Finn has an abusive stepfather who is also the town sheriff. Annie and Silence are the girls of their four-person group, and they each have their own backstories that aren’t revealed until later in the novel. The character development in this novel is impeccable as each teen deals with his or her own personal trauma in different ways. None of them have conventional backgrounds, and they lean on each other for support.
The plot of this story has a medium pace. Most of the story is spent building on the characters rather than solving the mystery, but their lives are so mysterious that the suspense still counts. There were no editing errors even though I had an advanced copy of the novel, and the storyline definitely drew me in.
The only complaint that I had about the story was the fact that the POVs changed. It was a bit confusing at the beginning before I really started to know the characters and be able to tell the difference between their voices. I think that it could have been in one POV for a little bit longer before it started switching. However, as you all know I am not the biggest fan of POV changes in the first place.
Other than that, this book was perfect! I would recommend this book to lovers of suspense and mystery novels, or YA novels with characters that aren’t typical.
I received an advanced copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Author Bio:
R.J. Garcia is a wife and proud mom. She earned her MSW and worked with foster children and as a school social worker. Writing has been her other great love. She has published several non-fiction pieces. She has been writing short-stories for as long as she can remember. To her amazement, those short stories became novels!
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