review
Jana’s best friend, Ella, has gone missing. Jana won’t rest until she finds her, and when the police enquiries lead nowhere, Jana starts her own investigation. She keeps asking questions long after everyone else has given up. Her web campaign yields clues which enable Jana to piece together the details of Ella’s life over the last six months. Via a series of less than trustworthy friends and acquaintances, Ella is variously linked with drug-dealing, fraud and glamour photography.
The tension increases when a friend of Ella’s is found murdered. But the closer Jana comes to the truth, the more she risks her own safety.
Janet Clark’s suspenseful thriller keeps readers hooked from start to finish. Her thorough characterisation, lively dialogue and wellpaced storyline make Hush, Sweet Lips an assured portrayal of the lives of young people on the edge of the adult world. Through Jana’s eyes, teenagers will readily identify with the issues at the heart of the novel: the meaning of friendship, the ardency and disappointments of love, taking risks against adult advice, and the pros and cons of social networking.
All recommendations from Autumn 2012