He is drawn into the story and shares it with us, his audience, in a series of podcasts. McCray is producing a podcast about nothing in particular until he goes to the rural town of Cold Creek and learns of a girl’s grisly death and her runaway sister. Sadie’s matter-of-fact narrative alternates with, and stands in counterpoint to, chapters narrated by West McCray, a journalist. The switchblade she stole from one of her mother’s past boyfriends becomes a talisman she often considers using as the solution to an immediate problem. She practically ignores her lack of resources. It is the courage of a girl who feels she has no choice but to continue, to move forward, until she has done what she has committed to do. Her courage and determination are real, but not the kind we see in action-adventure tales. We are inside this young girl’s head and can feel her fears and occasional joys. For part of the book, Sadie tells her own story in first person. We come to admire her even as we fear for her ultimate fate.Īs much as I enjoyed the plot, it was the narrative approach that made this book shine. As the story unfolds, we watch this freckle-faced girl cursed with a serious stutter mature and evolve, like the lead character in any classic quest tale. Her journey takes her to Big City America, even darker and uglier than her small-town roots. The small town from which she escapes is vividly drawn, and we feel the sense of being trapped in a place everyone seems to want to leave but can’t. The title character begins the book in “a place that’s only good for leaving,” and she is a roiling bundle of emotions with the simplified view of the world any teenager might have. Sadie also reads as a touching coming-of-age tale. As in the best of thrillers, this is the story of an ordinary person faced with extraordinary circumstances. Sadie is not a detective in any way, nor is she a hard-trained action heroine. Her search for revenge blossoms into a much bigger mystery than anyone could predict in the deceptively simple beginning of the book. While the plot does not lead to planet-threatening danger, Sadie’s road-trip-cum-investigation takes her into the worst neighborhoods in America and brings her face-to-face with a variety of dangerous characters intent on keeping their own secrets.

As in any good mystery, she meets surprises and twists along the way. We also follow the clues Sadie finds trying to chase down a killer. As one journalist tries to track her down, we follow the clues Sadie leaves behind. Our heroine, Sadie Hunter, is a runaway herself. First, it is a fascinating mystery rooted in the protagonist’s search for her sister’s killer. Beyond its riveting plot, Sadie is a triumph of innovative storytelling.Īs a story, Sadie is many things. With Sadie, Courtney Summers has served up a deep and satisfying read.

Sadie courtney