I could have died on that bridge and no one would have known. Along one side of it was a small ledge meant for pedestrians, and this was where I lay down so that I wouldn’t get run over, and closed my eyes. The bridge was almost useless, but very picturesque. A narrow, slow-moving body of water ran beneath it, and clumps of oak trees rose up near its banks. The bridge was a small, overgrown stone arch, a mimicry of ancient Roman architecture that was more about form than function and could only accommodate one car at a time going one direction on its carefully placed cobblestones. Instead, I went to Empire Creek Bridge, where I thought I could clear my head. My mother wanted to take me to a doctor for the insomnia, so the night before school started I didn’t go home. I hadn’t slept very much since Wednesday night my palms were sweating, and everything ached with the ache that comes after a long hike and a couple of rough falls.

But before the days got shorter and the rain came, there was the heat and the dust and the sun, conspiring to drive the whole town crazy. On the bright side, the hills would turn a green so lustrous they would look as if they had been spray painted, and in the morning the fog would transform the valley into an Arthurian landscape.

Once winter came, Empire Valley would be compensated for five months of hot misery with three months of torrential rain, the kind of downpours that make the freeways slick and send cars sliding into one another on ribbons of oil. It was the end of summer, when the hills were bone dry and brown the sun beating down and shimmering up off the pavement was enough to give you heatstroke. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title. But figuring out how Carly and her killer fit into the twisted drama will force Audrey and Neily to face hard truths about themselves and the girl they couldn’t save. Audrey thinks the murderer is someone at Brighton, and she wants Neily to help her find out who it is.Īs reluctant allies Neily and Audrey dig into their shared past with Carly, her involvement with Brighton’s dark goings-on comes to light.

Now he can’t get the image of her lifeless body out of his mind.Īudrey: She’s the reason Carly got tangled up with Brighton’s fast crowd in the first place, and now she regrets it-especially since she’s convinced the police have put the wrong person in jail. If he had, maybe he could have helped her. Neily: Dumped by Carly for a notorious bad boy, Neily didn’t answer the phone call she made before she died. She knew the secrets of Brighton Day School’s most privileged students. A riveting thriller set at a California prep school!Ĭarly: She was sweet.

All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab