Don't You Cry is Mary Kubica's third novel, and having read them all it was definitely my favorite. The story is told from two seemingly unrelated points of view: a young twenty-something Quinn, whose roommate Esther has gone missing, and eighteen year old Alex, who is stuck in his small hometown outside of Chicago, taking care of his alcoholic father and working a dead end job even though he's bright and could have gone to college. Quinn perfectly exemplifies the young person who knows something is wrong when her roommate doesn't show up back at home one day, but is not really sure what to do about it. She doesn't know much of anything about Esther, and starts to think she was just trying to get rid of her as a roommate anyway. Alex's world gets upended when a mysterious girl comes to town and takes up residence in an abandoned house next door. The obvious thought is that this is Esther, but you'd be foolish to think Kubica would make things so simple.Instead, you're in for a an intriguing ride, where everything and everyone is not as they seem. Lake Michigan provides an eerie and sinister backdrop to many of the scenes, and I liked the fact that the main characters were younger. So often it seems that thrillers have older protagonists, and it was nice to have a younger and believable point of view for the story (I will not use the M word...). While this novel has a slow-build to it, it is engaging enough to keep you turning the pages and stay up way past your bedtime to see what really happened (ahem), with a final climax that will get your heart beating and ensure that you won't be falling asleep anytime soon.
