The body in the woods

Review by Booklist Review

The first in Henry's Point Last Seen series follows three teen volunteers with Portland Search and Rescue after they discover the body of a homeless girl while looking for an autistic man lost in the woods. The girl was strangled, and true crime enthusiast Ruby believes she isn't the first; another homeless girl was found strangled a month earlier. When Detective Harriman rebuffs her eager theories, Ruby rallies Alexis and Nick to investigate. Blustering Nick wants to be as brave as his father, who died in combat. Empathetic Alexis, meanwhile, is haunted by the vulnerability of the homeless, especially since she is barely making ends meet with her mentally ill mother. And socially inept Ruby is so obsessed that she ignores the danger of catching the killer's eye. Henry uses rotating viewpoints, including the killer's, to develop both character and mystery. The fast-paced plot, mirroring familiar TV crime procedurals, makes this a good choice for reluctant readers, especially as it's possible to follow the clues and identify the killer before the final showdown. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With books like Girl, Stolen (2010), Henry has become a leading light in YA mystery. Readers whipping through her other books will move smoothly on to this one.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Three Oregon high school students help the local police by volunteering with Portland Search and Rescue in this fast-paced kickoff to Henry's Point Last Seen series. Alexis is sweet and suffering (her mentally ill mother requires lots of care). Ruby is smart, socially awkward, and obsessed with true crime. Nick has a hero complex; he wants to impress girls with his police work. While searching for an autistic man in the woods, they find the body of girl their age. Ruby is sure it's the work of a serial killer, and she enlists Alexis and Nick to help find the culprit. Henry (The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die) is well within her wheelhouse with this tense mystery, which can read a bit like a throwback to "teen detective" novels from decades past. The author's expertise at plotting a murder mystery and knowledge of police procedure are evident as the novel moves through all the expected moments of a TV crime drama, building to a violent confrontation. Ages 12-up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-On their first mission for the Portland County Search and Rescue team, Alexis, Nick, and Ruby don't find the missing man with autism they were looking for; instead they find the dead body of a young girl. Now these three teens from very different backgrounds must work together to find the killer. Complicating the issue is Alexis's mentally ill mother, who disappears after a paranoid episode, Nick's crushing feelings of inadequacy, and Ruby's struggles to find a place she belongs. Will they be able to find common ground with one another before the killer strikes again, maybe even at one of their own? Henry realistically portrays these three kids thrust into a real-life horror. Their doubts and fears, as well as their strengths, all ring true and teens will be able to identify with one of the protagonists. The adult characters, especially Alexis's mother, are also fully developed, albeit a bit slow on the uptake in the case of Ruby's parents. The actual mystery is not that intriguing, but a pervading sense of threat and danger is present throughout. Give this series opener to fans of character-driven mysteries.-Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Horn Book Review

Alex, Nick, and Ruby, teens from widely different walks of life, are the newest additions to Portland County's Search and Rescue volunteers. They set out to find an autistic man who has been lost in the woods, but instead they find a murdered girl. A fresh, vivid setting and believably flawed characters are highlights of this accessible mystery, the first in a planned series. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

In a fast-moving and well-constructed mystery, three teen volunteer members of a search-and-rescue team track a serial killer targeting homeless teen girls in Portland, Oregon.An experienced SAR member is supposed to accompany every search party, but an error lands new volunteers Ruby, Nick and Alexis alone together on their first call. Other team members quickly locate the man who is the target of their search, but the three teens find something else: the body of a recently dead girl. Each teen comes from a unique and compellingly drawn background, expressed with impressive effectiveness given how quickly the plot moves. Nick, whose father died in the Iraq War, has joined SAR in hopes of both living up to his father's legacy and impressing girls. Timid but capable Alexis pushes others away to stop them from discovering that she spends most of her time and energy managing her mother's mental illness. Ruby in particular stands out. Her socially unacceptable but genuinely felt exuberance at participating in a murder investigation is frowned upon by parents and police but lovingly conveyed through enthusiastic dialogue and narrative asides. Short, obsessive chapters from the unidentified killer's point of view add to the suspense, and enough clues are dropped as to the killer's identity that astute readers will be able to solve the puzzle before the final, high-stakes climax.A quick, thrilling read that doesn't skimp on characterization. (Mystery. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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CHAPTER 1 TUESDAY BLOOD For Alexis Frost, Nick Walker, and Ruby McClure, it all started with a phone call and two texts. It ended with fear and courage, love and loathing, screaming and blood. Lots of blood. * * * When the classroom phone rang in American history, Alexis Frost straightened up and blinked, trying to will herself awake as the teacher answered it. She managed to yawn without opening her mouth, the cords stretching tight in her neck. Last night had been another hard one. "Alexis?" Mrs. Fairchild turned toward her. "Yes?" Her heart sped up. What was it this time? The possibilities were endless. None of them good. "Could you come up here, please?" Mrs. Fairchild was looking at Alexis as if she was seeing her in a new light. Had it finally happened, then, the thing she both feared and longed for? Had something happened to her mother? * * * Nick Walker's thumbs were poised over the virtual keyboard of the phone he held on his lap. He was pretending to listen to Mr. Dill, his English teacher, while he was really texting Sasha Madigan, trying this angle and that to persuade her to study with him tonight. Which he hoped would mean lots of copying (on his part) and lots of kissing (on both their parts). The phone vibrated in his hand. Mr. Dill was busy writing on the board, so Nick lifted it a little closer to his face. It wasn't a reply from Sasha but a message from his Portland Search and Rescue team leader. Search in Forest Park. Missing man. Meet time 1500. His first SAR call-out! He jumped to his feet. "Nick?" Mr. Dill turned and looked at him over the top of his glasses. "What is it?" Mr. Dill had a lot of rules. He had already complained about Nick's habit of drawing--only Mr. Dill called it doodling--in class. Nick held up his phone while pointing at it with his other hand as if he had been hired to demonstrate it. "I'm with Portland Search and Rescue, and we've been mobilized to find a man missing in Forest Park. I have to leave now." "Um, okay," Mr. Dill said uncertainly. Someone in Wilson High's administration had had to sign off on Nick being allowed to join searches during the school day, but maybe the information hadn't filtered down to his teachers. No matter. Nick was already out the door. He just hoped someone from class would tell Sasha. A text wouldn't do it justice. Nick Walker, called out on a lifesaving mission. * * * Ruby McClure felt her phone buzz in her jeans pocket. She waited until the end of chemistry to check it. Fifteen hundred made so much more sense than three P.M. Ruby preferred military time. No questions about whether "nine" meant morning or night. No having to rely on context. No one getting hung up on whether 1200 had an A.M. or a P.M. after it, which was a ridiculous idea because A.M. meant "ante meridiem" and P.M. meant "post meridiem" and meridiem was Latin for "midday," and twelve noon was midday itself. It was 1357 now. Which meant she had an hour to get home, change into hiking clothes, pick up her SAR backpack, and meet the rest of the team at the Portland sheriff's office. Piece of cake. Ruby pulled out the keys to her car as she walked to the office to sign herself out. On the way, her phone buzzed again. It was Nick, asking for a ride. Copyright © 2014 by April Henry Excerpted from The Body in the Woods by April Henry All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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