Charlie, Presumed Dead

Charlie Price’s double lives collide after the debris of his parents’ Cessna is discovered off the coast of the North Sea, and the police surmise that he was killed in the wreck. At a memorial service in Paris, Charlie’s girlfriend of three years, Lena, meets his long-distance fling, Aubrey, who knew a calculatedly different version of the 20-year-old. Eager to discover what else Charlie was hiding and unable to shake the feeling that he could be alive, Lena persuades her new frenemy to embark on a globe-trotting journey following the clues before them. Ricocheting between Lena and Aubrey’s first-person narratives, Heltzel (Circle Nine) initially relies too heavily on frequent reminders that spoiled, rich Lena and seemingly sheltered Aubrey have their own devious secrets, in addition to the lies behind Charlie’s personas. But as the layers of each character’s duplicity are carefully revealed, the unearthing of blackmail, revenge, red herrings, and more makes for a thrilling and immersive tale of manipulation as wily as Charlie himself. Ages 14–up. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (June)