Where There's Smoke

by E.B. Vickers

In this fast-paced thriller, eighteen-year-old Calli finds herself alone after the loss of her father—until a bruised and broken girl shows up on her property, forcing her to face the present, rethink her future, and unearth the skeletons of her own past.

Life has never been easy in the small desert town of Harmony, but even on the day Calli Christopher buries her father, she knows she is surrounded by people who care about her. But after the funeral, when everyone has finally gone home, Calli discovers a girl on her property. A girl who’s dirty and bruised and unable to speak. And petrified.

Calli keeps the girl secret—well, almost secret. She calls her Ash and begins to nurture her back to health. But word spreads in a small town, and soon a detective comes around asking questions about a missing girl from another town. But these only raise more questions--about Ash and about the people Calli knows well. Still, she must is Ash in danger…or is she the danger?

Genres: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, Audiobook, Abuse, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

336 pages, Hardcover

First published December 12, 2023

Reviews

[ᒪᗴᗩᕼ]

DNF at 6%. Too much religion for me...

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told in a mix of prose (Calli's first person narration) and verse (everyone else's third person narration), this is a book that takes its time to get off the ground. While that's clearly on purpose and in service of a major misdirect, it doesn't quite work, particularly the overtly religious elements, which don't always seem to fit with the rest of the story. I believe the author was trying to show how religion can hide hypocrisy and how it can be taken too far, but it really takes too long to get there.

3.5, and I really thought about rounding up, because at about the three-quarters mark, everything really comes together, and the ending is very powerful.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Maybe 3.5

This book was unexpected, in a good way and a bad way. I was surprised by the writing. I know we shouldn't judge books by their covers, but I really wasn't expecting much going into this. But the voice here is so good, surprisingly evocative. The narrative was interesting... until it wasn't. I don't know. Something in the last 1/3 (or maybe even 1/2, if I'm being honest) just didn't quite land for me. It all fell a little flat. I still enjoyed it, but I wasn't wowed by it. It's just okay.

Anyway, my full review will dive more into this. It will be available at Gateway Reviews on December 22, 2023. Do stop by when it goes live!

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent plot, twist, and character development
However, I didn't enjoy the switching between the 1st & 3rd person narratives. Honestly, the 3rd person narrative didn't add anything to the story and was very poetic sounding, which I didn't personally enjoy. Overall, a unique novel that keeps you on your toes to finding out the truth.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins with Calli returning home following her father's funeral. He recently died in a mysterious barn fire, while her mother died a few years before from Cancer. Calli lives in a small town, where neighbors know neighbors, and everyone looks out for one another. Her support system includes the three nurses/friends her mom worked with and her uncle, the Bishop of the Church. It's on the eve of her dad's funeral that Callie finds a young girl hiding under a blanket on her property. The girl is clearly frightened, bruised, "dirty and wild." At first the girl refuses to speak, but slowly Calli begins to coax bits and pieces of information out of her, and they agree to refer to her Ash.

Just as Calli starts tending to Ash's wounds, Maggie, one of her mom's friends shows up at the house. Calli feels very protective of Ash, and she and Maggie begin to argue. After a few minutes, Maggie agrees to give Calli 48 hours to convince Ash to let them take her to social services and the hospital as there are clear signs that Ash has been abused and neglected.

Calli continues to keep Ash hidden while many friends and neighbors stop by to check on her and offer their condolences. Soon news reaches the town that a girl from Ash Creek, a religious fundamentalist community about an hour away from town was reported missing. Could this girl be Ash? And what exactly has happened to her?

Where There's Smoke is a YA mystery/thriller. It includes the topics of religious fundamentalism, grief, and the harm of family secrets. There is a strong emphasis on who is a good versus bad person, ultimately leading to the question of who can you really trust? Each chapter of the book begins with a short poem that gives you the thoughts the other characters in the story are mulling over. The story alludes to a monster, and it is reflected in these poems. The story left me with a kind of disconcerting feeling that we never really know what people's intentions really are and that sometimes we might not really know someone as well as we thought that we did.

Ash gives Calli a purpose after a very trying day. She pours her energy into trying to keep her safe and to hear her story. Throughout the book, Calli "hears" her father's voice, as she reflects on biblical verses from his teachings. She has this inner dialogue that is trying to help her reason out the situation. Mistrust is thrown at you from many different directions, is it the people who she knows best that harmed Ash, her ex-boyfriend, the police or is it someone from Ash Creek? The tension is done very well, and you can feel it escalating toward an ending that will keep some guessing. While the story doesn't end entirely on a happy note, it's satisfying and ties everything up by revealing all of the dark secrets. ** A huge thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers for the review copy in exchange for an honest review**

[Meg Quinn · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - The religious overtones were a distraction to the plot

"He said, "You look like you need a stiff drink" as he handed me a Dr. Pepper" is the most BYU-core sentence I've ever read

[Ev Stev · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twist OH MY GOD! Everything tied together so perfectly with no loose ends. The whole concept was mysteries and suspenseful, and the ending was perfectly genius. I highly recommend this book because it combines so many of the wonderful things about the mystery genre, as well as the suspense and thriller genre, while also making the reader feel so connected to each character.

[Kyra Carmack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very quick read that our teen book club chose for their July discussion. I found the story very enjoyable and I was impressed with how the mystery came together. I listened to the audiobook and there were parts of it that felt a little choppy because it was read to mimic the feel of the poetry sections of the book. Other than that I found the story fun and I do recommend it!

[Jennifer Bertman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful, thought-provoking story about secrets, trust, and grief. Calli and Ash have stayed with me long after I finished reading the book. Highly recommend for any reader who likes a suspenseful story that digs into difficult topics.

[Raquel Comden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent thriller ish story and a good plot twist. A couple minor characters were gay, but other than that I enjoyed it.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a quick YA read with thriller elements. It followed a fairly predictable path and had a few twists.

[Taylor Puckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book. So good and so fun to read! I loved reading every chapter and following the journey as they uncover the past and learn about themselves!

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

*audio* Just wasn’t my jam. So much unnecessary side story explanations that didn’t play any significance in the story. Lots of parts seemed to drag on.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually, I start reviews with a tagline, but I'm going to skip over that with this one, since I have a package of thoughts. Calli's dad has passed away, and she's surrounded by people, who are there for her in every way. He was well-liked and up to the point where her mother passed away a few years before, the Bishop of their congregation. When she discovers an injured girl, who's been horribly traumatized on the edge of her property, she does her best to take care of her despite pressure from those around her to turn to the authorities. The girl thrives under Calli's care, which helps with Calli's own mourning process...until strange things begin to occur. The girl is afraid, and it appears that there's much more behind everything then Calli believed.

I picked this one up without any expectations of any kind (extremely neutral) and was surprised to find myself caught up to the point that I read this in one go. The author does tension very well, and masterfully weaves Calli's personality and thoughts. It grabs and draws in with wonderful pacing and glimpses of dark secrets and moments to come. The other characters add a variety of personalities and intentions, mixing in humor, care, and even uncertainty and enough mistrust to wonder what is truly going on. For the most part, this is written from Calli's point-of-view and it works very well. I say 'for the most part' because the author adds poetry in at the beginning of each chapter (and at other times as the story continues), which wasn't quite my thing but adds a nice touch of mystery. About two-thirds of the way through, threads started to loosen, and while I did finish this in one sitting, it felt as if something was a little off.

The writing is grabbing, but the plot weave loosened as the tale went on. Calli often draws her support from Bible verses or memories from her father's sayings (which was carefully and well done, too). His voice in her head was very prominent, which made me wonder if this was going to take a paranormal twist, but it works considering Calli's circumstances. There's a cult on the edge of the desert (which introduces more verses along the way), but while this grabbed attention, it missed the mark for me. There were several other plot/character paths, which had the same effect...and were built up and could have been so much more. Several moments/events fell into the same trap, where they 'worked' but seemed a bit tailored and not completely logical. But only a bit, so that the read still remained interesting. The conclusion ties up all the knots nicely and left with satisfaction.

As said, I did read this in one sitting and was hooked by the writing and tension enough to keep me drawn to the pages until the end. I do recommend this for especially Christian fiction fans, who are ready to dive into a more thrilling novel, which also spends times on issues such as grief, abuse, and discovering others flaws.

I received a DRC and am tending between 3 and 3.5 stars.

[Paula Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

How well do we know those around us and even more so the ones we love and care about? After a rocky start this morning after the first book I tried was a DNF, I moved on to Where There's Smoke by EB Vickers and as soon as I started reading it - I didn't want to put it down as I was caught into a fast-paced read. This book starts with the funeral of Calli's father who recently died in a barn fire, he is now buried next to her mum who died 5 years earlier of Cancer. Now 18-year-old Calli has no family left but the three nurses who were her mum's best friends and her uncle - the local Bishop of the Church. When Calli arrives home from the funeral, she finds a young girl suffering from burns. Calli takes her in and soon starts to care for her with the help of her mum's friends. A missing girl has been reported from the local Ash Creek Cult, is this the girl or someone entirely different? Calli has no idea but knows she has to help her no matter what as it looks like they only have each other left in the world. What will happen though when she learns that this little girl known only as 'Ash" has more in common with her than Calli ever knew? She's also the only one who knows the truth about what happened to her Dad. But will she want to know as Ash tells Calli her story about a mean man named Silas? This book also contains at the start of each chapter a poem that talks about the monster inside of us and sometimes the monster inside of some people escapes and consumes them, making them evil on the inside and outside. It also talked metaphorically about the facades and masks that some of us hide behind when we try to lead double lives and that even though we think we know someone well enough, there will still be little dark secrets hidden that no one knows. If you are looking to finish 2023 on a thrilling note, then check out this YA/NA thriller "Where There's Smoke" by EB Vickers.

[Mandy Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a solid 4 star for me for the majority of the book. I loved the suspense and intensity of the writing. The character and plot development was engrossing and kept me turning pages. I even liked the poetry, and I'm not a huge poetry fan. The slowly unfolding mysteries were beautifully executed without belaboring or rushing. Where it sort of lost me was at the climax. The use of what I feel is over-the-top drama felt less than true to the first 80% of the book. The reliance on an act of God to push the plot forward lessened everything the story had been to that point. The resolution of the story was solid and felt like a return to the delightful read much of the book had been. I appreciate knowing how loose ends were tied up, and I was very pleased with the conclusion.

Coming from a strict religious background, I thought the religion throughout the book was handled appropriately and with care, as were the harder topics of abuse, addiction, grief, etc.

I realize this book was intended for teens, but they are savvy readers. There are many books within this genre that readers would be just as (if not more) satisfied with. My actual rating would be a 3.5, but I've rounded it up to 4.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this book lost the plot. It could've had a great statement about predatory church behavior or fundamentalist sects behavior, but it didn't. It could've talked about how it feels to be a girl where the world is full of potential predators that you have to act like they're all great until they're not, but it didn't. It could've talked about realizing that your father is a horrible person after death - but it didn't leave enough time for that. It could've talked about small towns and how they can become twisted, but it didn't. I wanted more of a thriller, more fast pacing, more eeriness - I was promised that - but it never developed into anything and fell flat of actually making a point.
Also the Mormon vibes were so weird? I had to look up this author because I was confused by a lack of explanation - she is Mormon and it just soured the book even more knowing how dark Mormon churches and women can get and how she didn't take the time to flesh that out more.
Plus one star because it was written well in terms of creating suspense and mystery and is a relatively "clean" mystery/suspense novel for teens.
contains abuse of children and women, death of a child, arson

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a DRC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

This was a solid shoulder shrugging "meh" for me. I had high hopes for this one, and the premise sounded promising. But the story suffered from uneven writing, trying too hard, and ultimately failed. With a majority of the book written in traditional 1st person prose chapters, the interspersed (unevenly) poetry chapters told from an unknown and unreliable omniscient narrator were distracting and confusing. I think Vickers hoped these chapters/vignettes would add an air of mystery and suspense to the writing, but they fell short of that.

Overall, this is a skip for me. I would only recommend it for incredibly large collections where kids are looking for something that is kind of a mystery, but also kind of a study in grief. But, if you have students looking for those things, go ahead and just give them a Mindy McGinnis book or a Karen McManus and save yourself the trouble.

[Mindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You never truly know anyone else.”

I’m a big fan of Vickers’ middle grade books so I was eager to read this YA thriller offering of hers. And I listened in one day. I didn’t want to stop. The way this book is written is so well done. It weaves through different perspectives and gives hints of explanations, until the thrilling climax and the surprising reveal.

I loved Calli. She has just buried her dad and takes a walk ion her property and finds a hurt little girl who she immediately takes in, as Calli tries to help her, while figuring out the past. Not only of Ash’s, but her own. The way Vickers writes the book, you suspect everyone and don’t know who to trust.

Good luck putting this book down! I stayed up late to finish and I rarely do that.

The audio narrator is excellent. Keylor Leigh gives an excellent performance to Vickers’ words with the great variation of tones and voices for the many characters.

I borrowed the audio from Libby. All views are my own. Mentions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints religion. Some language.

[Kimberly Mace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where There’s Smoke
By: E.B Vickers

Genre:
Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, religious

Summary/ Review:
Call’s is struggling after the loss of not only her mom, but now her dad too, when Calli notices a young girl. The young girl looks to be injured and Calli takes to supporting this young girl, a responsibility which becomes therapeutic for Calli until she begins to question so many things…This is a work of fiction which fell short for me. It had so many good aspects of talent in the writing, but quickly began to unravel the further I read, falling short in the plotline and character development.

Thank you to E.B. Vickers, Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for the Advanced Readers Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#reluctantreaderreads
#Ebvickers #netgalley
#wheretheressmoke
#advancedreaderreads

[John Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intriguing and complex plot that unravels each layer perfectly. Calli is tough, but hurting after her veterinarian father is killed in a barn explosion. When she goes along the edge of her property, she discovers a skinny, frightened, and filthy girl hiding under a piece of burlap. The girl, who she comes to call Ash, needs someone to care for her. That's the role Calli assumes and in the process of healing Ash, she finds herself having strong sisterly feelings toward the younger girl. Those are sorely tested as revelations about her father's death and his secrets come to light. All of the action is nicely paced and I found myself completely immersed in this book.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting story. I liked the way the author used different narratives from many character's viewpoints for some chapters. The primary story was full of twists and turns, mystery and love. When you add the narrative chapters you see the hidden parts of the characters that aren't show to the world. It was very well done.
The numerous relationships and personal histories really helped to drive the story in numerous ways. I loved how it was all woven together to make a mystery as well as a reflection on ourselves.
Enjoy!

[Lacey Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

How does an author take such heavy topics and write about them in such an accessible way?? I thoroughly enjoyed this novel journeying into the depths of grief, family secrets, friendship, and caring for our fellow humans. I would recommend this to high schoolers and young adults, and would even consider it for a book club.

The story of Calli and Ash is heartbreaking and heartwarming, both at the same time.

[Jenni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this one slow to get into. The preview for it sounded good, but the book wasn't as exciting as I'd expected.

After each chapter, there is a poem that tries to pull everything together. But they seemed a bit out of place. The main character is supposed to be 18 or 19, but acts like she's 11. She's also terribly naive. How she doesn't figure things out until the bitter end is beyond me, because I had this one figured out in the first 20 pages.

I had to force myself to finish this one. It was pretty dull.

[Ann Braden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that grapples with deep, nuanced topics AND keeps you in the edge of your seat is a very special thing -- and E. B. Vickers has proved to be a full-on master of this. First in FADEAWAY and now with WHERE THERE'S SMOKE she delivers such such suspense and such psychological realness (in so many layers!) that you'll be thinking about this book long after you finish it. And the writing is even exquisite, too! Such a powerful book about the ways reality is not always what it seems.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A worthy follow-up to the excellent FADEAWAY! In WHERE THERE'S SMOKE, Vickers spins a can't-put-it-down suspenseful tale full of questions about who we are and how well we can ever really know another person. With unforgettable characters, the twistiest of plots, beautiful prose AND verse, and a wonderfully evocative small-desert-town setting, this book is so rewarding to read. Highly recommended.

[Jenna hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I feel like Christian lit should come with a warning—you know like those “explicit lyrics” sticker that the right decided had to be on music back in the day.

Okay the plot is okay, not amazing, and there are a few lil plot holes in there. The writing is okay. The main problem is that the message here is we don’t out predators—we protect them. Particularly if they lean on the word of god. That’s a real problem.

[Elizabeth P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is more about abuse (both physical, emotional/mental, and religious) than a mystery, though there is a mystery element. It reflected on how those who are abused can become abusers.
It can sometimes be hard to transition from first person narrative to third person poetry in between chapters, but I did get into the rhythm of the book more as it went on.
I can't quite rate this 4 stars, but it might be 3.5.

[Rosalyn Eves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read an early copy of this novel, and it is fantastic. Part family secrets/thriller, part sister-story, part an exploration of how well we can ever really know someone, this book has my whole heart. Vickers does an excellent job building up the characters and tension, but she also writes with so much tenderness and sensitivity about difficult topics. Definitely a must-read.

[Book Geek Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written with interwoven secrets, strong characters. The main character faces evil in a very upsetting way. Lots of red herrings, some of which I couldn't rule out until the ending. It's a little violent and unnerving for YA, but it's handled well. This may be one a parent should read first. 4.5 stars. Recommended for older teens and adult readers.