Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong

Three years ago Skye Gilchrist got the devastating news that her older brother Luka was killed during a school shooting, and that he was one of the shooters and not one of the victims.  That simple fact shattered Skye's world and sent her family scrambling from the small town they lived in, hoping to escape the stigma and the pain.  They should have known better, no matter where they moved to people eventually figured it out - and once they did Skye usually bore the brunt of their disgust and anger.  Now Skye is about to face her worst nightmare - she has to return home because her mother and grandmother are no longer able to look after her.  

Moving in with her Aunt Mae has it's challenges, the least of which is that she never seems to be home because of her long work schedule.  Moving back to her home town means seeing people she hasn't seen in three years, people who look at her and see what her brother did.  The one silver lining is that her former bestfriend Jesse doesn't go to her new high school, he goes to another school which means she shouldn't have to face the fact her brother killed his brother and he hates her for it.  She plans to just fly under the radar, but that changes when she discovers that Jesse is at her new school - something that seems to be a shock for both of them.  To make matters worse little things keep happening that make Skye look like she is a liar, or worse, crazy.  If she can't get to the bottom of the mystery she may have no future.

Aftermath is one of those books that you connect with straight away because of the characters and how well they are written.  Straight away you feel what Skye went through, the bright bursts of happiness and the gut wrenching lose.  The flipside of the coin in Jesse, and it is just as easy to connect with him, even though at first you may not want to because of how strongly your view is painted by how Skye feels about him.  The strength of the characters is supported by a mystery that slowly unravels, keeping you hooked from the first line to the last.  At first you think that Skye might be crazy (and who would blame her for going crazy), but over time you come to realise there might actually be more to the story.

I loved Missing by Kelley Armstrong and was hoping that Aftermath would be equally good and I was not disappointed.  This is a solidly written thriller that may be aimed at teenagers but was equally good being read as an adult thriller - there is a lot to like and nothing to hate.  Hopefully Armstrong continues to write teen thrillers as she does them very very well.

If you like this book then try:

• Missing by Kelley Armstrong
• I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
• What waits in the woods by Kieran Scott
• Dead to you by Lisa McMann
• Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
• Killer instinct by S.E. Green
• The naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• Time bomb by Joelle Charbonneau
• NEED by Joelle Charbonneau
• Holding smoke by Elle Cosimano
• The Christopher killer by Alane Ferguson
• The stranger game by Cylin Busby
• Missing Judy by Anne Cassidy
• Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy
• Hate list by Jennifer Brown
• I swear by Lane Davis
• The mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
• Burning blue by Paul Griffin
• Thousand words by Jennifer Brown

Reviewed by Brilla