We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

I'm a fan! I love discovering a new author - especially by chance. I needed a new book and picked this up at the airport and by page five I was all in. That's how you know when you've got a good one. It grabs you right from the start!

Emily, living in Milwaukee, and Kristen, living in Australia, are best friends who love to travel together. Ever since meeting at college in Chicago the young women have been taking backpacking trips in remote and exotic locales. We learn early in the novel that something awful happened during their last trip to Cambodia. Emily was sexually assaulted and when Kristen walked in on it, she defended Emily and the attacker ended up dead. With images of Amanda Knox and Natalie Halloway in their heads, a coverup ensued. Now on their next adventure in Chile as a way to have a "redo" the unthinkable happens: a repeat of the same situation. Except this time, Kristen is the one attacked and she defends herself. The dead bodies of two men are now in the women's wake.

Back in Milwaukee, Emily tries to get on with life and foster her new relationship with a young man named Aaron. But she's riddled with agonizing questions over the two men's deaths and even begins to wonder if she remembers everything right. She starts to be suspicious of Kristen's motives and looks back through their friendship's history and begins to notice the toxic relationship they have. When Kristen shows up unannounced in Milwaukee, Emily begins to fear for her and Aaron's safety. Remembering how Kristen had subtly gotten between Emily and past boyfriends by manipulating her into breaking up with them, Emily does everything she can to put distance between herself and Kristen. Emily also learns disturbing details of Kristen's past that make her see Kristen and her behaviors in a whole new grim light. With the discovery of the dead body in Chile, Emily is constantly looking over her shoulder for either the authorities or for Kristen to hijack the events to come.

Often there is an expectation of young women to be responsible for their own safety and a suggestion that they are tempting fate simply by wanting to go on adventures. This book flips that idea on its head and puts the female protagonists in a position of power in the form of a dangerous threat. This is a well-written and unputdownable novel of psychological suspense!