Complicit: A Novel

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From School Library Journal Gr 9 Up—Fifteen-year-old Jamie Henry is haunted by muddled memories of his childhood and by a tragic fire at a neighborhood horse barn. Everyone in their upscale suburban town, including Jamie, believes that the fire was started by his damaged and wild older sister, Cate, who has a reputation for drinking and stealing. But at the opening of Kuehn's intense novel, Cate returns from a juvenile detention center, and it becomes clear that the truth is far more complicated. From the first day of his sister's dramatic arrival, Jamie's life begins to spiral out of control. An excellent student and "good" boy, the teen has always considered Cate to be the troubled one. She causes heartache and worry for their well-meaning adoptive parents, and she is known for manipulating her friends. Cate is unreliable, but Jamie needs her. He needs to know what really happened the night of the fire. And he wants to learn about their young mother who died under mysterious circumstances. Following clues to an increasingly complex puzzle, the protagonist slowly begins to piece his past together. He has the support of several other characters, especially his therapist and his new girlfriend, both of whom give readers a more nuanced and sympathetic view of his struggle. Alternating between past and present, Kuehn sustains the tension through first-person narration and revealing flashbacks. Complicit ensnares readers from the first page with its surprising twists and revelations. Recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers.—Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA Read more From Booklist *Starred Review* Cate is out of juvie. For her little brother, 17-year-old Jamie, that’s bad. It’s been two years since Cate horribly injured a rival by setting a barn on fire. This was the last in a long series of tempestuous, violent acts Cate committed since she and Jamie were adopted following the murder of their mother. With Cate locked up, Jamie is almost a whole being: his periodic bouts of memory loss, yanking of his own hair, and idiopathic cataplexy (the total numbness of his hands) have receded, and he’s got those hands full, literally, with a lusty new girlfriend. But Cate’s return brings everything flooding back, not only the physical ailments but the memories, some of which have been buried—buried deep, and for good reason. Kuehn writes with the fleetness of a trained thriller author, blending past and present (not to mention psychology and action) with the same fluidity as in her Morris Award–winning debut, Charm & Strange (2013). Her confidence is what’s so invigorating: every page shows a firm, surprising choice, whether you like it or not. Cate, naturally, is the main event, the alternatingly irrational, gentle, explosive, and enigmatic center of this fast, black whirlpool of a novel. Grades 9-12. --Daniel Kraus Read more Review “Kuehn writes with the fleetness of a trained thriller author...Her confidence is what's so invigorating: every page makes a firm, surprising choice, whether you like it or not...Explosive.” ―Booklist (starred review)“Kuehn's second novel, after her Morris Award-winning Charm & Strange, powerfully examines how mental illness can turn into family tragedy that ripples far and wide beyond a single event. The prose is as hallucinatory as the madness Jamie seeks to uncover in a novel that's tense and ambiguous from start to finish.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Vivid...smart, gripping.” ―Kirkus Reviews“Alternating between past and present, Kuehn sustains the tension through first-person narration and revealing flashbacks. Complicit ensnares readers from the first page with its surprising twists and revelations. Recommend it to fans of psychological thrillers.” ―School Library Journal (starred review)“An enjoyable and cinematic suspense thriller…literarily delicious.” ―Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books review“Kuehn's latest is a quick, compelling read that takes a really fresh look at topics like mental illness and adoption. Complicit is a refreshing, different take on the YA norm.” ―RT Book Review (3 stars)“Complicit combines Kuehn's characteristically gorgeous prose with riveting plot twists and rich, complicated characters to create an unputdownable thriller with style and substance to spare.” ―Book Riot“A bright, conflicted hero struggles to free himself from the past's tightening bonds in this corkscrew of a thriller.” ―Huffington Post Read more About the Author STEPHANIE KUEHN is the William C. Morris award-winning author of CHARM & STRANGE, and holds degrees in linguistics and sport psychology, and is currently working toward a doctorate in clinical psychology. She lives in Northern California with her husband, their three children, and a joyful abundance of pets. When she's not writing, she's running. Or reading. Or dreaming. Read more