The Edge of Nowhere

Prolific mystery author Elizabeth George's foray into young adult fiction finds telepathic high schooler Becca King running for her life. Accidently stranded in a small town on Washington State's Whidbey Island, the suddenly homeless Becca struggles both to survive and hide her true identity. Forced to trust the kindness of strangers, she finds herself embroiled in a police-investigation, but in this town everyone has something to hide and she isn't sure she can trust anyone.

For an author who seems to enjoy moderate success in the adult mystery market, I found this book surprisingly weak. The plotting, structure, and writing disappointed. Little of the story was engaging; the inner tension that is essential to a mystery novel was almost show more nonexistent. Despite George's attempt to give her characters satisfying backstories, they nonetheless felt flat and were largely uninteresting. Two impressions I got reading the book: 1) the author was "dumbing down" her writing for a younger audience (there are no words for how much this bothers me), and 2) this story, which is the first in a series, was less about solving a crime than simply introducing characters that, hopefully, in future installments will be better fleshed out. Overall, this was a disappointing read and I can't recommend it. Just because someone is an accomplished author for adults doesn't mean they should write for the red-hot YA market. Publishers take note. show less

This book was good. I got really caught up in the intrigue, the characters, the personal histories and the secrets. And yet, it had its problems.Did George think that for it to be YA appropriate, it also had to be safe? And as a result, the ending is a bit of an anticlimax and a cop out. I also found it to be bordering on pedantic at moments. How many times did she mention the theme of jumping to conclusions and making assumptions? But still it was good. Its strength lies in the characters and their interaction. I was engrossed through the last half of the book in particular, and I find the way George handles the whispers to be intriguing.

"The Edge of Nowhere" is the first of a YA trilogy by Elizabeth George, best known for her Detective Lynley series. Here, we meet Becca, a 14-year-old girl who can hear the internal thoughts (she calls them “whispers”) of the people around her. When she “hears” her stepfather’s thoughts about murder, she and her mother flee San Diego, heading north. Becca’s mother intends to establish a new identity in British Columbia, but she sends Becca to a friend living on Whidbey Island in Washington State for safe-keeping while she sets up their new lives. That plan doesn’t work out, however, and soon Becca must fend for herself in a strange land, where she makes new friends - and enemies. And her stepfather is on the hunt for show more her…. I like Elizabeth George’s writing a lot, and as I like many YA books, I figured I’d give this a try, and I’m glad I did. Becca and her friends (and enemies) are interesting people, the setting is wildly beautiful and the coming-of-age aspect of the story isn’t overwhelmed by the paranormal gifts that Becca and others have. As this came out in 2012, the other two books in the trilogy are already published, and I’ve already got them so I can continue reading about Becca - recommended! show less

Thank you to the early bird reviewers for a copy of this book!

So Edge of Nowhere. I had hopes but also misgivings before starting this book. I was somewhat glad I read it.
What I liked:
The cast of characters (well most of them anyway.) I liked that they were so diverse and interconnected in the smallest ways.
the plot- I liked how nothing was super happy or perfect (like the fact that Hannah/ Becca could only hear snatches of thoughts instead of reading peoples minds completely.) Also, that nothing wraped up perfectly. (it is refreshing.)
I also liked the fact that our protagonist was not perfect. She wasn't secretly this amazingly beautiful person that everyone was falling all over for. I liked that she was friends with a guy but that show more they were just friends.

What I did not like:
the big reveal of "what happened." It seemed very anticlimatic. like, Seriously? That was the truth? (Though I am talking about an event not the information that is revealed about certain characters.)
Anyway, I also didn't like the absense of good parents. I mean her mom tried, but wasn't she just conveniently totally out of the picture during the entire book?
Also, i didn't see much development and honestly, I could not connect with Becca really at all.
I thought this book was good, even though it is not the usual stuff I read and i have some problems with it. I recommend it. show less

Tot de helft van het boek waren het voor mij drie sterren,zeker omdat ik moest wennen aan de schrijfstijl van de gefluisterde woorden.
Maar dit wende en al gauw werd het verhaal steeds interessanter en zat ik mee te puzzelen wie nou toch de dader was.
Zelf houd ik wel van boeken waar het paranormale aan bod komt en geloofwaardig overkomt.
Het einde van het boek sluit erg spannend af maar ik zal echt even moeten wachten op het volgende deel dat ik zeker wil lezen.

I won this book via LibraryThing. When I requested it, I didn't fully grasp how much I was going to enjoy it. I'd never heard of Elizabeth George, so I didn't know she if she was good.

There were many interesting things about this book I want to point out.

For one, the setting. I like places that are surrounded by woods and nature. I also like the Pacific Northwest area. The combo of both was really appealing to me. Setting, to me, is much more than a physical place. It's atmosphere, tone, etc. The feeling the one gets when reading about Whidbey Island is almost dazing. Whidbey Island seems to have an alluring pull. It just felt like it contained secrets.

The characters. The story goes through different P.O.V.'s. It's very hard for a show more writer to maintain multiple point of views. For one, you have to keep in mind that these are different people with different experiences, thoughts, motivations, personalities. One HAS to be thorough when writing in different point of views. With each person's side of things, the story came together artfully. And I enjoyed reading each character's point of view. I could definitely see each of their motivations clearly. It was so interesting to see how Elizabeth George developed the story through different eyes. Each character has a lot of depth. (I'm a huge fan of authors have know how to give depth to their characters.)

The plot. As a writer and a reader, I'm aware of the many cliches that authors use when story-telling. There are so many patterns with books, so it's refreshing when you a read a new story that's different plot-wise from the general consensus of books. The Edge of Nowhere's main character, Becca, has an ability to hear whispers, the thoughts of people. She doesn't know why she has this power, only that she does.

Recently, I read an essay by an author who pointed out that it's better to start a story at the beginning of a character's journey rather than in the middle or near the end. If you start at the beginning, there are so many places the story could go, so much the author can do with it. And I think this holds true. Becca is at the start of her journey. And I look forward to see what happens with her step-father, where & how her mother is, and to learn more about her mysterious gift. It'll definitely be interesting.

All in all, I extremely enjoyed The Edge of Nowhere and I can't wait for book number two. I definitely recommend it to any and every one. show less

I have not read Elizabeth George's adult mysteries but if they are half as suspenseful as The Edge of Nowhere then I will in the future. She starts off with a bang when the main character Hannah must be on the run from her criminal stepfather, be separated from her mother (also on the run) and reinvent herself in unfamiliar surroundings in the Pugent Sound area far away from home. Right from the beginning there are problems with the plan and she becomes Becca King trying to do the right thing, trying to lay low, and trying to block the many whispers in her head. When a boy that she begins to like is hurt and her secret is exposed she must learn who to trust and how to stay away from her stepfather. There are so many sub plots going on show more in this book and you begin to love the characters , all of whom are dealing with past hurts and present drama. The only criticism is that I wish she would have made Becca seem more worried about her mother not getting back to her or looking for her. She had so much going on and it should have been more evident that she was in serious trouble. show less