Twenty-Seven Minutes

Canadian journalist Tate starts out stronger than she finishes in her lackluster debut about the small-town ripples caused by a teenager’s suspicious death. In a poignant prologue, 17-year-old Phoebe Dean is introduced dying on a bridge in the tiny American town of West Wilmer after a horrific car accident. Ten years later, the community prepares to hold a decennial memorial service in Phoebe’s honor. The looming commemoration reawakens fraught memories for her older brother, Grant, who was driving the truck Phoebe was in before she died. The official story was that Grant hit a deer, and Phoebe, who wasn’t wearing her seat belt, died almost immediately after the vehicle spun out from the impact. A vocal group of locals, however, blame Grant for her death, since he delayed calling 911 for 27 minutes after the accident—possibly, they claim, because he was intoxicated. As the memorial approaches, Grant conspires with his friend, Becca, who was in the back seat of the truck, to keep the truth behind Phoebe’s death a secret, even as June, whose brother disappeared the same night Phoebe died, begins to wonder if the tragedies may be linked. Unfortunately, the truth Grant’s been hiding is not especially shocking, and Tate winds up delivering a drawn-out thriller with a disappointing payoff. Genre fans will feel they’ve read this one before. Agent: Hayley Steed, Madeline Milburn Agency. (Jan.)