Simon Lelic’s THE SEARCH PARTY takes place in a small English town situated next to a raging river and a dense wood. The setting is perfect for this suspenseful, twisting tale of a missing girl, Sadie Saunders, and the five friends who try to find her. Everyone believes she has died, and one of the young men in the group is suspected of killing her. In addition to Sadie’s absence, a boy is found dead. They form their own search party, while each holds onto his or her secrets. They are ill-prepared for the daunting task that they have taken upon themselves.

"Written with elan, THE SEARCH PARTY is full of high suspense and well-rounded characters. Lelic's prose is straightforward and entertaining, while the surprise ending will make you gasp."

In the meantime, the police and the formal search party have found Sadie’s blood-stained jacket and rucksack. The weather is terrible, which makes both the police search and the impromptu one treacherous. Detective Inspector Robin Fleet heads the search with his assistant, DS Nicola Collins, and must face his own demons related to his connection to this place. It seems that he grew up and went to school here; with each new aspect of the case, memories rise to haunt him.

Fleet also must deal with his boss, Superintendent Roger Burton, who, along with the townsfolk, blame him for not finding Sadie in a timely fashion --- dead or alive. Burton does not want to spend any more time or money trying to locate her and tells Fleet that she will be found in the river. The formal search of the woods is over, which infuriates the young detective.

The search by the teens becomes more and more suspenseful as they think they see shadows and possibly hear voices. Nerves begin to flurry out of control, and they turn on one another with viciously intense words and actions. As the rain intensifies and the search party takes shelter in a pitch-dark cave that scares everyone, they try to come to some kind of an agreement as to whether they should continue or go home. One night, while they are sleeping, someone empties out their water bottles and steals their phones.

As the narrative continues to unfold, Fleet is confronted by a small group of bullies with whom he grew up. They beat him ferociously, and when he wakes up, he finds his estranged wife waiting for him. They chat and start to reminisce.

Later, one by one, the teens are called to the police station for questioning. Each gets several chapters in which to tell his or her story. The in-fighting and jealousies that foment between them is reminiscent of what we all have gone through at that age.

Written with elan, THE SEARCH PARTY is full of high suspense and well-rounded characters. Lelic's prose is straightforward and entertaining, while the surprise ending will make you gasp.