Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica

Don’t You Cry will be published and released on May 17, 2016. This book will surely be a hit summer read!

I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed all of Mary Kubica’s fast-paced suspense novels. She has a knack for hooking the reader into the story and then throwing a major plot twist in the mix, causing the reader to race to the end of the book with abandon. That is exactly how I read this book, all in one day because I couldn’t put it down. It’s like watching a scary movie; when you have to find out what will happen to the characters in the end.

Don’t You Cry is the story of roommates Quinn Gallo and Esther Vaughn. While Quinn spends free time socializing, bar hopping like most single women her age, Esther is more content to stay at home. Esther is quiet, always willing to help others, and even sings in the local church choir. Quinn comes home late one evening, thinking Esther is already asleep, but in the morning she finds that Esther is gone, her window open and her cell phone left behind. Quinn is worried, and as she begins to search for clues to where Esther could be, she starts to find out some very puzzling things about her roommate. Namely, a disturbing letter addressed to “My Dearest,” large ATM withdrawal receipts, and the truth surrounding the fate of Esther’s previous roommate. Though Quinn was sure that she knew Esther and they were pretty close, she begins to wonder if she ever really knew her at all.

Also intertwined within the story is that of Alex Gallo, a recent high school graduate who turns down a full ride scholarship to take care of his alcoholic father, the only family he has left. Any money he works busing tables at the local diner goes to paying the bills and feeding his father’s alcoholism. Alex just happens to be in the right place at the right time and catch a glimpse of an intriguing, mysterious girl. He becomes obsessed with getting to know her, helping her, and finding out why she turned up in his town. She refuses to tell him her name, so he refers to her as Pearl, because of the pearls on a bracelet around her wrist. Readers will really feel sorry for Alex, who is a genuine nice guy, the type that people like his father and Pearl will walk right over, when given the chance.

This story twists and turns like a roller-coaster, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat and racing to the finish. I loved the story, and the ending was a little bit crazy, but in a good way. Fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl, and The Luckiest Girl Alive will be sure to enjoy Don’t Your Cry, as well as Kubica’s other two previously published, psychological suspense novels.