THE TRUTH BENEATH THE LIES

Two seemingly unrelated girls struggle to survive in different, dire circumstances.

White teen Betsy has been living in a small town near El Paso for five months, hiding from the black burner phone under her bed that haunts her. If it rings and she doesn’t call back within 24 hours, the caller on the other end will send someone to kill her. Traumatized by the mysterious life she left behind, Betsy hesitantly makes friends with pregnant, Mexican teen Mirasol, nicknamed Happy. Betsy becomes close to Happy’s family, but she can’t quite trust anyone, not yet. Meanwhile, white teen Kayla lives in a small town in Washington and struggles to support herself and her mother, who is recovering from drug addiction, by working in a supermarket and living in government housing. All she wants is to work her way out of there; she can’t afford distractions like the cute boy who starts showing up during her shifts. But a killer has started targeting girls in her neighborhood, and she can’t shake the feeling she’s next. As the frequency of the burner calls accelerates for Betsy, Kayla falls in love, blinding herself to danger as it closes in. Told in alternating first-person chapters, the girls’ stories converge seamlessly in an enthralling tailspin. Readers will be left breathless, the hair on the backs of their necks standing up.

An intricately plotted thriller that’s both gritty and engrossing.