Don’t Say A Word by Amber Lynn Natusch….ARC Review

Don’t Say a Word (Hometown Antihero #2)
by Amber Lynn Natusch
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: September 17th, 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller

Synopsis:

Kylene Danners’s ex-FBI agent father is in prison for murder and she’s hell-bent
on getting him out. But trying to investigate in the small town where a defensive
lineman is a hero no matter who he tries to kill and the girl who gets him locked up
is public enemy number one is dangerous. Dark secrets are everywhere in
Jasperville—the kind Ky can’t walk away from.
When rookie FBI agent Cedric Dawson returns to town to finish an open
investigation, he goes undercover at her high school—as her ex. Determined to
keep her from interfering, Dawson’s plan backfires after Ky gets an anonymous
call about missing girls officially labeled as runaways—runaways that didn’t really
run away at all.
Because dead girls can’t run.
And they don’t say a word.

BOOK LINKS:

ALN never ceases to amaze me with her ability to keep me stuck in the pages from start to finish.

This book MUST be read after Dare You to Lie as it starts off exactly where that book ended. Plus, there is an underlying plot that continues on through this series and while Natusch does a great job of rehashing that information quickly without too much backstory, it’s still best read in order.

Kylene and Garrett are both recovering from their almost deadly demise as the hands of Donovan. Kylene can’t escape the hatred her fellow classmates have for her, even if she was almost killed. If anything, they hate her even more for hurting their football team.

While Kylene is juggling the typical high school drama, she is trying to find who DA is and how he’s behind all the secrets and coverups in her hometown. She’s brought down the drug prescription ring but she’s fallen upon a new problem – prostitution. With this new development, Agent Dawson isn’t leaving town any time soon and now they really have to play the role of their lives to find any answers.

There is a lot going on in this story but ALN does a great job of blending and moving each piece smoothly into the overall plot line. Ky is a high school student and ALN reminds her readers of that with the typical high school banter amongst her peers. But she doesn’t get too cheesy with everything and interjects the perfect amount of humor and whit into the story line. Natusch truly knows how to provide the right amount of suspense, with a hint of romance and humor mixed in.

ALN delivers the twists and turns into this story as the right moments and keeps readers on their toes. The list of culprits is pretty large and while I saw a few things happen before they did, I had not expected the big twists and turns in this story. I was excitedly surprised by certain scenes and loved how this story line panned out.

I am anxious to know that there is possibly more to this series with that ending and cannot wait to see what ALN brings us next.

AMBER LYNN NATUSCH is the author of the bestselling Caged series for adults.
She was born and raised in Winnipeg, and is still deeply attached to her Canadian
roots. She loves to dance and practice Muay Thai―but spends most of her time
running a chiropractic practice with her husband, raising two young children, and
attempting to write when she can lock herself in the bathroom for ten minutes of
peace. Dare You to Lie is her debut YA novel with Tor Teen.