Where Echoes Die

A mysterious letter impels two sisters to investigate the circumstances behind their mother’s death in this supernatural thrill ride by Gould (The Dead and the Dark). A few weeks after their mother’s death, 17-year-old Beck Birsching and her 15-year-old sister Riley travel from Everett, Wash., to the unincorporated community of Backravel, Ariz., the scene of the unfinished investigation that consumed their reporter mother’s final years. The siblings find that Backravel is an idyllic yet unnaturally empty town filled with a mishmash of gleaming new construction and rusting old military structures. Hoping to complete her mother’s life’s work, Beck obsessively delves into the mystery surrounding charismatic town leader Ricky Carnes, his daughter Avery, and the enigmatic treatment center looming over the streets. Beck is a smart and tough-as-nails heroine whose personal journal entries and careful observations drive the central mystery. Touching explorations of her relationships with her mother, Riley, and Avery bring the emotional core to the fore as Gould, via a close third-person perspective, carefully weaves together a powerful portrait of grief and healing that’s equal parts unnerving and heartbreaking. Most characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. (June)