They'll Never Catch Us

"Razor-sharp and keenly precise. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn!" Tiffany D. Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of White Smoke

A fast-paced thriller about two sisters on their cross-country team and the new girl who threatens their success and then disappears, from the New York Times bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us.

The Steckler sisters are star runners, and as different as they are, they won't let anything or anyone get in their way. Then enter Mila, a talented and fast runner, whose times threaten the sisters dominance on the cross-country trails. With college scouts taking notice, the pressure is on.

But then Mila suddenly vanishes while out on a training run. No one knows what happened and no one can find her.

And all eyes turn towards the ones with most to gain from Mila s disappearance: the Steckler sisters.

"Just when you think you ve figured out the mystery, Goodman delivers a twist that will send you reeling. Diana Urban, bestselling author of Under the Surface**

Autorentext

Jessica Goodman is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Meadowbrook Murders, The Counselors, The Legacies, They’ll Never Catch Us, and They Wish They Were Us. She is the former op-ed editor at Cosmopolitan magazine. Her work has also been published in Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, The Cut, and Glamour.

Follow Jessica on Instagram @jessicagoodman.

Klappentext

From rising star Jessica Goodman, author of They Wish They Were Us, comes a new fast-paced thriller about two sisters vying for the top spot on their cross-country team-the only way out of their stiflingly small town. But their dreams are suddenly thrown into peril when a new girl threatens to take away everything they've worked for…until she disappears.

Stella and Ellie Steckler are only a year apart, but their different personalities make their relationship complicated. Stella is single-minded, driven, and she keeps to herself. Cross-country running is her life and she won't let anything get in the way of being the best. Her sister Ellie is a talented runner too, but she also lets herself have fun. She has friends. She goes to parties. She has a life off the course.

The sisters do have one thing in common, though: the new girl, Mila Keene. Both Stecklers' lives are upended when Mila comes to town. Mila was the top runner on her team back home, and at first, Ellie and Stella view her as a threat. But soon Ellie can't help but be drawn to her warm, charming personality. After her best friend moved away and her first boyfriend betrayed her, Ellie's been looking for a friend. In a moment of weakness, she even shares her darkest secret with Mila. For her part, Stella finds herself noticing the ways she and Mila are similar. Mila is smart and strong-she's someone Stella can finally connect with. As the two get closer, Stella becomes something she vowed she'd never be: distracted.

With regionals approaching and college scouts taking notice, the pressure is on. Each girl has their future on the line and they won't let friendships get in their way. But then, suddenly, Mila goes out on a training run and never returns. No one knows what happened, but all eyes are on the Steckler sisters.

Zusammenfassung
*"Razor-sharp and keenly precise. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn!" —Tiffany D. Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of White Smoke*

A fast-paced thriller about two sisters on their cross-country team and the new girl who threatens their success—and then disappears, from the New York Times bestselling author of They Wish They Were Us.**

The Steckler sisters are star runners, and as different as they are, they won't let anything – or anyone – get in their way. Then enter Mila, a talented – and fast – runner, whose times threaten the sisters’ dominance on the cross-country trails. With college scouts taking notice, the pressure is on.

But then Mila suddenly vanishes while out on a training run. No one knows what happened and no one can find her.

And all eyes turn towards the ones with most to gain from Mila’s disappearance: the Steckler sisters.

"Just when you think you’ve figured out the mystery, Goodman delivers a twist that will send you reeling.”—Diana Urban, bestselling author of Under the Surface

Leseprobe

Well, if it isn t the Steckler sisters. Coach Gary crosses his arms over his broad chest and widens his stance. He s wearing a blue Edgewater hat over his bald head and his legs are bronze, as if he s been outside every day for the past three months. When a breeze rustles his shorts, I glimpse his pearly white thighs where his tan line makes a hard stop.

Miss us, Coach? Ellie teases. But as soon as she says it, her face turns red, like she forgot she was greeting the dude who earned the nickname Coach Scary after he made a whole bunch of freshmen cry last year. But he gets results. And that s what everyone cares about. That s what I care about.

You two? Nah, he says, playing along. His dark eyes narrow and he tilts his head toward me. Breakbridge do you right?

I nod.

It better have, he says. You ve got a lot to prove this year.

I straighten my spine and don t look away. I know.

He snaps a piece of gum. Looking forward to seeing what you ve got. His eyes move over my shoulder and I turn to follow his gaze toward the bleachers. There, sitting in the front row, is a small white woman with gray hair and sunglasses, holding a clipboard. She s wearing a polo shirt and hiking shorts. I don t recognize her from the college recruiter lists.

What school is she from? I ask, fear building in my stomach. Scouts aren t supposed to come to practices. Hell, we re lucky when they show up to meets.

Ours, he says, his voice gruff and frustrated. School board oversight. They just wanted to keep an eye on things after last year.

Ellie lets out a groan.

Shut it, Baby Steckler, Coach snaps. I don t have time for this. You re my squad. My girls. Just have to show em I still have a handle on you lot.

Ellie clamps her mouth shut and looks to the ground. Before we can say anything else, we re interrupted by whooping and hollering. I turn to the parking lot to see Tamara Johnson, Raven Tannenbaum, and Julia Heller tumbling out of a rose-­gold SUV branded with a bumper sticker for the Ellacoya Mountain Resort. They pose for a selfie in their practice uniforms and break into a fit of laughter about some inside joke we ll never understand. They start to walk toward us and Tamara smiles, her box braids swinging behind her. Raven s pale, freckled arms hang by her sides like ropes and she glances at Tamara, hungry for approval. Julia s straight, dirty-­blonde hair is gathered into a tight high ponytail that looks like it s pulling at her scalp.

This goddamn threesome. Julia and Tamara have been best friends since kindergarten when the Hellers moved to Edgewater to open another location of their fancy sporting goods chain. They became tight with Raven a few years later, which was a good thing, considering that when her sister Shira pulled that ridiculous stunt, no one wanted to go anywhere near the Tannenbaums. Well, no one except Tamara and Julia. They stuck by her side. It was pretty nice, I guess. Doesn t make up for the fact that Julia still calls me Sterile and con­tinues to just be a straight-­up asshole. She and Tamara aren t that fast. Raven, though. She could be good but she chokes all the time.

Coach ignores them. Stella, stretching, he commands. You are co-­captain, after all. He flashes a menacing smile and raises his eyebrows. The school board almost took the title away from me last year, after I got suspended. But Coach got the administration to let me stay on as lon…