Cryer's Cross

When a teenage girl goes missing in the small farm town of Cryer's Cross the whole town is rocked to its core. Especially affected is Kendall Fletcher. Kendall wasn't that friendly with her missing school mate but the angst of her disappearance is causing havoc on her OCD-addled brain. When another teen goes missing, this time Kendall's boyfriend Nico - she fears that she may not survive the event. With her mind on hyper-awareness she starts comparing the two disappearances and makes the connection that both of the missing kids sat at the same school desk. But when she begins receiving graffiti messages and even hears a voice, that can only be Nico's, coming from the desk she'll find herself doubting her sanity.

I love Lisa McMann's show more simplistic writing. She tells so much using so few words... I'm really impressed. By telling the story in the third-person present tense narrative it gives the story a fast-paced feeling which makes Cryer's Cross quite the page-turner.

I could not help sympathizing with Kendall. She was a very likeable girl. I'm no expert on OCD so I can't say how true to form it is, but I think Ms. McMann captured it perfectly. The rituals and routines, the counting to calm herself - I would say made Kendall even more endearing - it gave her character. Aside from these quirks, she was a normal girl. She loved to dance and sing, she loved soccer and made friends quite easily. Nico her BFF and more recently boyfriend was her life and she is obviously thrown off track at his disappearance.

Aside from the major ripples the disappearance of Nico is causing on Kendall's life, there is also Jacian. The new boy in school who is angry to have left his old school, girlfriend and soccer team behind to now live on his grandfather's farm and attend a school that has so few students that a soccer team can't even be put together. The friendship that they form was one of the lighter aspects of the novel.

But what truly made this novel was the chill factor. Ms. McMann had me with goosebumps for more than half the time I was reading it. It starts off very slowly... with a few words at the beginning of each chapter, a scrape and a bump in the night... and it slowly escalates throughout the story. By the last couple of chapters I was literally at the edge of my seat.

All in all, I found Cryer's Cross to be a riveting and deliciously creepy read. The suspense, the mystery, the romance (le sigh) were all there... along with many chill inducing moments. This is another solid book for Lisa McMann (and a stand alone to boot). I can't wait to see what she comes up with next. show less

Wow, this is a little book!

I'm always wary of books that take place in small towns because most of the time the authors live in larger towns or big cities and have no idea how creepy small towns really are--and they write small towns like "how could this happen in our lovely little small town??"

But anyway, Cryer's Cross is a book with so much potential. So much. Its protagonist, Kendall, has OCD and isn't treated poorly by the author! In fact, her OCD is what saves her in the end! Talk about a happy ending. The diversity isn't done there, because several other main characters are latin@, and written well, besides.

However, it's just so . . . short. And written so poorly. Now I'm not trying to make a personal stab at Lisa McMann (this is show more the first book of hers I've read), but her writing is extremely juvenile and purely functional. I wish everything in this book was expanded upon and made more vibrant!

I did end up getting involved in the story, and I ended up loving the characters, but there's nothing particularly stand-out about this book and nothing really scary about it, either. show less

Cryer's Cross can be summed up in two words: deliciously creepy. On the surface, it is a missing-persons story, focusing on the damage done on the family members and loved ones left behind when someone goes missing. This in and of itself is tragic, and Ms. McMann handles the struggles to maintain a semblance of normalcy with aplomb. Yet, as one begins to make sense of certain sections, told as asides, a growing sense of horror emerges, and the reader quickly realizes that there is more happening in Cryer's Cross than initially realized.

While the story revolves around Kendall and her reaction to her missing friends, it is really Kendall's OCD that becomes a major player in its own right. Much has been made in the media of those with show more obsessive-compulsive disorder. Often, they are ridiculed for their compulsions, with the insinuation that a person with OCD chooses to act like that. Ms. McMann does none of those things. Kendall is neither embarrassed or apologetic for her compulsions but has learned to fight them when possible and accept them when not. She has seen doctors about her disorder, and her parents and friends know it is something she struggles to control. For those of us with OCD, either undiagnosed or diagnosed, Kendall's struggles will strike home, making her an incredibly sympathetic character. We can relate to the need to straighten a room, a brain that never shuts off, and the desire to find something to make it shut off for a bit. In addition to showing just what it is like to have this disorder, her compulsions become vitally important for the plot, marking a major leap in how OCD is portrayed.

Cryer's Cross has a little bit of everything to entice the reader: romance, horror, action, suspense, and Gothic elements. At 242 pages, it is a very quick read, but it unfolds in such a way that it demands to be read in one sitting. Ms. McMann draws on the reader's sympathy, or even empathy, for Kendall to keep the reader engrossed, and this is in no way a hardship. Cryer's Cross is an engaging stand-alone novel, a rarity these days in the world of young adult fiction, that highlights Ms. McMann's ability to weave a story. It is definitely not one to be missed! show less

A girl disappears into what seems thin air. No one knows why. The news stations are in this small town Cryer’s Cross, with a whopping total of 212 residents. A girl disappearing in this small town is unheard of, there has to be a logical reason for her disappearance. Could she have been secretly depressed, lonely, or just needed to get away from everyone? Or could something creepy be happening in Cryer’s Cross?This disappearance doesn’t sit well with seniors, Kendall and Nico. Could their experiments and curiosity be too much that their own lives could be endangered?
The novel, Cryer’s Cross is a book with twists and turns galore. You may truly believe that this is going to happen and then the masterful work of Lisa McMann will show more make you think something completely different. This book has you from the first page and continues to be a page turner throughout the whole novel. Main character Kendall goes on an emotional rollercoaster and you go along for the ride feeling sympathetic for her as well as screaming at the book for her to let go of her sadness and try to be happy with what she has. When you start reading be prepared for a allnighter reading this book because once you start you won’t be able to stop reading until this five star mystery comes to a dramatic conclusion. Beware! show less

Surprisingly good spooky writing for such a strange premise, but the notion that objects can become haunted or "evil" is ancient, after all. Kendall has OCD, which goes absolutely nuts when her best friend disappears in the small remote town of Cryer's Creek, MT -- the second high school student to go missing in the space of a few months. What is happening to these students, and why can Kendall "hear" voices in her classroom? Set against a story of growing romantic interest, this is a small town mystery with a sickly twist.

“Haunting, and just plain scary, McMann gives you chills as her story unfolds.”

I am a fan of Lisa McMann’s previous series and I was wondering how Cryer’s Cross would compare. Holy Ass-kicking Batman! Lisa’s story of Cryer’s Cross is creepy, it’s haunting, and most of all it is superbly addicting. The tension builds with every page and only in the last quarter of the book does McMann begin to even give you a hint of what is going down in this sleepy little town. It’s a race to the finish, a disturbing race haunting you to continue, to find out what is going on, what is going to happen next. The book haunts you to be read the way the desk haunts Kendell to do unthinkable, and unspeakable things.

Kendall has OCD (obsessive show more compulsive disorder). She counts, she checks things six times, she makes deals with herself, I will count to 100 and then I will stop if I see a red bird kind of deals, she gets to school early every morning to make sure the curtains are right, the desks are arranged and the dent in the trashcan is just so. I could relate to Kendall so much, having to hide her OCD from the others in the small town because I had to go through the same thing growing up. No one could ever know I touched my pencil to the page four times before I could begin to write, or I unfolded and then refolded my lunch bag six times before I could eat. If I started a book I had to finish it even if I disliked it. Kendall hides these same compulsions and it is these compulsions that makes her the one to see that the grafitti on the desk is changing. That something sinister is going on, that Nico and Tiffany are missing and she can only hear numbers in her heard. 35, 100, 35, 100…

I had Lisa sign an ARC for me at ALA and now I understand the “Help Me” she wrote inside. Another cool thing is :drumroll: cue Angelic voices singing Hallelujah: this book is a stand alone!
Why Teens Will Love It:

A different kind of hero. It was so super refreshing to see a girl who wasn’t accomplished in everything, who didn’t care about Prada or play the Violin at competition level. Someone with real life problems and disorders and it is those flaws guiding her through the novel. Plus it is down right creepy!
Why Adults Will Love It:

This is a mystery for any age. Small clues are dropped through-out the novel and adults will love the subtlety that McMann uses to weave her story web. The plot is tight, the social issues are relate-able and this is one you will enjoy talking with others about. show less

An elegant, chilling little ghost story, CRYER'S CROSS wrapped me up in Kendall's small town. McMann's decision to write a heroine with OCD was not an affectation, but rather the metronome by which a reader is hypnotized into Kendall's emotions. Who would be more terrified by the supernatural than someone who battles for normalcy everyday? A wonderful story, very well done.

Full review to follow.