Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: June 20th 2016
Edge of 22 Publishing
If You’re Gone traces a trying summer for rising high school senior
Lillian White as she struggles to cope with the sudden disappearance of her
boyfriend, Brad Lee - reported missing the morning after his graduation
ceremony. When law enforcement dismisses the case and classifies Brad as voluntarily
missing, Lillian becomes desperate to prove that he couldn’t have just walked
away. Not from his friends. Not from his family. Not from her.
Launching her own investigation into the darker side of her
small North Carolina town, Lillian begins to uncover secrets from Brad’s past
that force her to question everything she thought she knew about him and their
relationship.
"Soul-stirring... Truly one of the most innovative voices
to come along in a while. Goodwin has weaved an engaging web of deceit and
intrigue that embodies not only her storytelling prowess but highlights her
visionary filmmaking abilities in novel form." (Justin Price, creator of
'Future' SVOD channel)
If You're Gone will be available June 20th, 2016 from Edge of 22
Publishing.
Buy Links:
Amazon│Edge of 22 Publishing
He didn’t come home last
night.
My heart pounded as I replayed
the message a second time. After waking up to my buzzing phone signaling four
missed calls and a voicemail marked urgent, I expected to hear juicy gossip
from Jason Hamilton’s graduation party. Instead, I learned that my boyfriend
was nowhere to be found.
“Brad said the two of you
had plans after the ceremony, was he headed somewhere after he dropped you
off at home? I know it’s early, but call me back as soon as you get this.”
“He isn’t with me,” I assured
Brad’s mom when I returned her calls. “But please let me know when you
hear from him.”
“I will,” Mrs. Lee promised
before hanging up. “And you do the same.”
She wasn’t as frantic as her
message had let on, but there was an unsettling tone in her voice. We both knew
it wasn’t typical of Brad to stay out all night without telling anyone. Not
anymore, anyway.
My mind wandered back to the
Lions Port High graduation ceremony the night before- squished next to my best
friend, Anna Redmond, in the packed football stadium watching Brad accept his
diploma. It had been a
perfect North Carolina evening; complete with a romantic, lakeside picnic that
Brad and I shared once he was able to shed his cap and gown.
I snatched my cell phone off
my lap and dialed the number that had lived at the top of my ‘favorite
contacts’ list for the past six months. Please Lord, I prayed silently, let him answer.
“Hi.” I heard the deep
voice on the other end and opened my mouth to speak. “You’ve reached Brad Lee.
Leave a message.”
His outbound greeting
sounded cold and unfriendly, which made me realize I had never gotten his
voicemail; he always answered the phone when I called.
“Hey babe, it’s Lillian,” I
said after the tone, clutching his silver class ring that hung on a chain
around my neck. “Your mom has been
calling me trying to find you. Is everything all right? Let me know where you
are, okay?”
Suddenly, I remembered a detail from the night before
and felt a rush of panic. I pictured Brad tapping on my bedroom window and
saying those three little words for the first time. The words I had been
dying to hear. Does he regret his decision to profess his love to me? Could
that explain the radio silence?
I unlocked the screen of my
phone again, this time dialing Anna. My thumb drummed anxiously against the
back of the plastic case as it rang.
“Hello?” Anna’s usually
chipper voice sounded muffled over the line, assumedly lying in her bed with
the phone sandwiched between her head and her leopard-print pillow.
“Sorry, were you asleep?”
“It’s the first day of summer
and it’s only nine am,” she groaned. “Do I need to remind you how to send a
text?”
“I’m sorry,” I lied. “But
you’re the one who sleeps with your cell.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she spoke
clearer this time, although her tone dripped with sarcasm. “I didn't
need my beauty sleep anyway.”
I scoffed, but I knew she had
expected me to laugh. Anna, arguably the most beautiful girl in our junior
class, could look runway ready after cramming all night for a test and skipping
a shower.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
Anna was a true best friend-
she could read my emotions even through a subtle grunt.
“Maybe…” I sighed. “Can you
come over?”
“Will there be coffee?”
“I’m sure I can scrounge
something up.”
“You owe me,” she laughed.
“I know. Bye.” I pressed end
and clutched the warm phone in my hand as I attempted to sort through my
thoughts, reliving every detail from the previous night. The ceremony. The
picnic. The lake. The window.
Brittany lives outside Nashville, TN with her husband and every
growing number of rescue pets. She enjoys traveling with her husband and dogs,
DIY projects, quoting John Hughes films, playing (and winning!) movie trivia
games, and binge-watching Investigation Discovery Channel. A self-proclaimed
armchair detective, Brittany is an active member of many Missing Persons blogs
and Facebook pages, which inspired the topic of her debut YA novel, If
You're Gone.
Film Site: http://www.everynewdaypictures.com/
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