This was excellent, didn't think I would enjoy so much but this book was so on the nail with the story line, jumps from then to now but not so that you can't keep track, kept me guessing till the end, what a surprise it was too, would recommend to anyone who loves a good crime and mystery, thank you netgalley for letting me read it in advance.

Thank you to HQ, NetGalley and Heather Gudenkauf for the chance to read and review this novel.

"Three twelve-year-old girls walk into a train yard and two come out unscathed."

Having your child attacked and almost killed is every parents worst nightmare. Or is it? What if your child was suspected of attempting to murder their friend before they had even reached their teens? What kind of horror would this be and how far would you go to protect them even if deep down you believed in their guilt? All these questions, and more, are explored in this twisty, readable thriller.

There are multiple narrators, different timelines and various forms of telling the story such as transcripts of police interviews and text messages alongside the usual storytelling in both past and present tense. This sounds confusing, yet it never was.

"No one was supposed to get hurt, Grandpa. It was all just a stupid game."

This book starts with an opening chapter that is undeniable chilling, but instantly I thought it was going to be a re-telling of the Slenderman stabbing. While some parallels could be drawn, I’m glad to say that I was surprised by the path this story took and was totally wrong in both my initial concern and a number of the things I thought I’d figured out about what happened that night in the train yard, who hurt Cora Landry, and why. While not gripping, there was enough mystery about the attacker’s identity and what exactly happened to keep me interested until the end.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Another addictive and completely thrilling read by one of my favourite authors. This is a book about friendship and betrayal. Would highly recommend.

This is a really good read and possibly ever parent’s worse nightmare! How far would you go to protect your child? And at what cost?! Loved this and the moral questions it raised. Well worth a read.

This book tells the story of three friends who are having a sleepover and they sneak out to go to the train tracks. One of them ends up dead.

I have read all of Heather’s previous work and loved them. All. This one did not disappoint.

The novel is told through several viewpoints through different literature ie journals, text messages etc.

This is a great novel which explores betrayal and family and how far parents will go to protect their children.

Loved this novel.

An excellent read, kept me gripped throughout with good characters and well written.

Overall it was a good story which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This is the chilling tale of a shocking crime involving three twelve year old girls,how their loved ones cope in the aftermath and the police investigation into what happened on the fateful night Cora was attacked. It also raises the moral question,if you are a parent,how far would you be prepared to go to protect your child if they were suspended of being involved in a terrible crime.

Cora Landry and her two friends Violet and Jordyn where supposed to be having a fun sleepover at Cora's house but instead they decided to sneak out at midnight and go to the abandoned rail yard on the outskirts of town.

Later that night, Cora is discovered on the tracks,covered in blood and clinging to life. Violet is discovered staggering across a nearby field,clearly in shock and also covered in blood but there is no sign of Jordyn. As the police launch an investigation into the shocking crime everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted. But who would want to hurt a young girl like Cora - and why?

This intricately plotted story is told from multiple viewpoints including Jordyn's grandfather, Cora's mother and Violet's mother. It flips back at forth between before the night of Cora's attack and afterwards and is driven forward by interviews,case file notes,extracts from journals and internet social media activity. The characters were vivid and diverse and the vast majority of them were not very likeable for various reasons. Many of them were untrustworthy,deceitful and had hidden secrets,one was just a outright creep and more than one of them were nasty bullies. Why did the girls sneak out? What happened on that fateful night? What is the sad truth that is hidden behind all the lies?

Before She Was Found is a exceedingly,well written,creepy thriller that was inspired by the Slenderman case that shocked the world in 2014. It is a enthralling story that had me hooked in and frantically turning the pages from the first page right through to the heart breaking ending. It's a tale of friendships,betrayal,families,young love,obsession,cyber manipulation,peer pressure, mental frailty and the lengths parents are prepared to go to protect their children for both the right and the wrong reasons. I think this book would raise some interesting discussions if it was read by a book group. I couldn't put this book down and its definitely going to be one of my favourite books of this year. Very highly recommended by little old me.

I really enjoyed this book. It has great main characters and a really good story line. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Three twelve year old girls are having a sleepover. They sneak out down to the local train yard, a place known to be a bit dodgy.
One of the girls, Cora, is viciously attacked. But who did it.
The story explores all the perspectives and we experience the shock, trauma and disbelief the community goes through.
A couple of times I thought I had figured it out- I hadn’t.....
The writer weaves in an urban myth, a diary from one of the girls and a parents perspective

Chilling....

A captivating thrilller. I loved the relationship between the girls and the real pressures of adolescence. The beginning of the book was amazing and really set the scene. A really realistic read. Great book xx

This story mainly centres on one lonely, frail and vulnerable twelve-year-old girl Cora Landry, her family and her peer relationships. It is told from many different viewpoints and also driven forward by extracts from journals, historical artefacts, internet social activity and interviews. It is a story of duplicity, cyber manipulation, peer pressure, love, betrayal and mental frailty. The timeline is amazing, the action fast, furious and quite complex, but the outcome is totally heart breaking.
The three ‘friends’ and their families are a major factor in the story and how it is developed by this talented and compassionate author. Her characters are cleverly created and very diverse, from the professionals investigating what happened leading up to that fateful dark, creepy night and thereafter, to those who are directly involved: The three families are made up of Cora’s protective mother, father and older sister, her friend Violet’s family – a single parent mother and older brother and finally Jordan’s family her elderly grandfather (her grandmother is unwell and absent from the family home throughout this novel). The cast of characters are as diverse as can be, but suffice it to say there are some hateful characters in the mix: troublemakers, the fickle, the self-serving, the cruel and the manipulative. It’s a good job that there are some appealing characters otherwise this dark novel would be even darker, but they are very much in the minority.
That fateful, dark, creepy night is the night the three school friends went out on a secret and much planned midnight adventure, the consequences of which changed everything as they knew it forever. There were very far reaching and tragic reverberations as the ripples of outcomes spread wide and fast. But the bare facts are that one girl almost died, another one was soaked in her best friends blood and lay severely traumatised in a hospital bed and the last of the friends was burdened with secrets she could not divulge BUT only one person knew what actually happened. You must read the novel yourself to unravel the tangled web of lies, secrecy, fear, guilt and deceit.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher HQ through my membership of NetGalley and I would like to thank them for my copy, sent out to me in return for an honest and unbiased review. I enjoyed reading the novel and recommend it as a solid, enjoyable read.

Before She Was Found was terrifying! It’s been a while since I’ve had a thriller scare me like this one did and I had to finish it before bedtime just so I could get some sleep! A scary look at the horrors of the modern world, how we protect those we love and the horror of teenage girls.

Would be a solid five out of five but the last 20% of the story could be cut out for a much better ending.

Suspenseful, thrilling and packed full of action. This was a terrific read and can see this becoming a best seller.