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Quinn Perkins, a 17-year old American exchange student, stumbles out of the woods near St Roch, France, bloodied and barefoot, dazed and confused. Struck by a passing auto, she's soon in a coma in the local hospital. Enter next, not her father or host family, but a reporter Molly Swift, who claims to be the girl's aunt. Thus begins the mystery of AN AMERICAN GIRL.
What happened to Quinn? Where are her missing host family? The small medieval town in the south of France soon gives way to a media circus in the wake of this tragedy. Of course, there's more than meets the eye. Unsavory rumblings beneath the surface indicate more sinister forces at work and even more unaswered questions. Who has been sending threatening videos to Quinn? Why has her host mother been so unkind? Why can't the police get anywhere in this investigation?
What Kate Horsley does well in this mystery is create an underlying sense of unease in Quinn's life, heightening tension for the reader. There are many events that border on the sinister as she interacts with her host family and other locals, even before the ultimate crisis -- her emergence from the woods.
What Horsley is less adept at is keeping the teenaged Quinn just that. Often, incongruent details emerge that disrupt the narrative plot and leave the reader wondering, for example, what 17-year old listens to jazz great Howlin' Wolf? Also, the author requires readers to suspend their natural inclination to question details that hold the story together, such as why no one at the hospital required proof that Molly Swift was the injured girl's aunt, especially considering that the media were already swarming the place, trying to get an inside scoop?
As for the ending, the tidy wrapping up of the storyline, that too may challenge believability. Even given these flaws, however, the book offers enough tension and development to push the plot along to the end. Its uneven nature may disappoint some, but those with modest expectations will likely enjoy the overall effort.
§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.
Reviewed by Christine Zibas, June 2016
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