They Never Came Back

They Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney, 2010; 208 pages. Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers. Source: Bought

IN A BUSY school cafeteria, a teenage girl is confronted by a classmate who questions her identity. He explains to the students who have crowded around that the girl bears an uncanny resemblance to his cousin, who was taken away by social services five years ago. Her parents abandoned her, fleeing the country after being accused of embezzling millions of dollars.
The students are intrigued, but the girl shrugs off the attention as a case of mistaken identity. As the days pass, however, the boy refuses to relent and even brings his parents in to back him up. But they are not the only adults involved. An FBI agent who has been working the case these past five years believes that whoever this girl is, she can serve as bait to help the FBI capture the fugitives.

First Sentence:

It was the second week of summer school.

I'll start off by saying that They Never Came Back just completely blew me away. It was such a thrilling read that I devoured it in just a couple of hours (I so should not have started it at 12 am, but at least it was on a night where I couldn't sleep).

There are just so many reasons that I loved They Never Came Back, they story was and writing was just so unbelievably amazing that it was hard to put down (hence why I finished it at 3 am), the characters and how the tension in the book just seemed to climb with each page till you were left wondering how it would all play out, and last but not least, that it was written by the amazing Caroline B. Cooney who just so happens to be one of my absolute favorite authors ever.

What made They Never Came Back such an believable read was how you just kept wondering how on earth Murielle's parents could just leave her and if they'd ever return for her. I have rarely in a book disliked a characters parents as much as hers, mainly because they seemed so shallow and self-serving. Do they redeem themselves or not, well I could tell you, but I won't because that would just giveaway the whole book. *zips lips*

I loved how the main events of the story are set off by chance and how the story unfolds as you learn more about Murielle and what exactly her parents did that made them go on the lam. I also loved the range of emotions that Murielle went through, from loving them and believing the best of them to when she realizes what really happened (and how her feelings for them keeps changing).

While They Never Came Back isn't an action packed read, it is chock full of suspense that left made me forgo sleep in order to finish reading it...and then left me awake long after finishing it because I just couldn't stop thinking about the characters and what happened to them.

As for what I liked best about They Never came Back well that would have to be Cathy, I felt that she was one of the characters that, unless you read the book about her, you would most likely overlook and think nothing much of her. So what really made her a great characters for me was the inner strength she showed, especially at the end of the book with the tough decision she ended up making.

I can find no faults with this book...well other than that it was highly addictive and kept me up till the wee hours of the morning, but I have nothing bad to say about.

Final Verdict: They Never Came Back is to put it simply...Brilliant, and will leave you on the edge of your seat. Why are you still here! Go, read this book! :)

They Never Came Back earns 5 put of 5 pineapples.