Sinkhole

In 1986, Michelle Miller, the narrator of Breier’s mesmerizing debut, was 18 when she fled a trailer park after causing her best friend’s death in the nowhere town of Larida, Fla. In 2001, a terse phone call from Michelle’s brother—their mother may be dying—forces Michelle to return home, the last place she wants to go. As the friendless Michelle, now calling herself Ann, drives the long miles from Atlanta, where she works in a hospital’s medical records department, toward Larida, memories of Sissy Davis, the girl who befriended her in high school, replay themselves. Flash back to the mid-1980s. Sissy, the indulged but neglected daughter of wealthy parents with her own car and credit card, is the center of Michelle’s world. Joined by Morrison Nuñez, another high school outsider, the three become an unbreakable clique with Sissy at its center until the worst happens. Michelle must now face the truth of those years and the consequences of allowing her best friend to die. A clever plot and astute characterizations help drive this coming-of-age tale with a malevolent twist. Readers will eagerly await Breier’s next. (May)