Tom and Abby Stuart were living the American Dream. They had a great marriage, a beautiful home and a lovely daughter named Caitlin. Everything was nearly perfect right up until the day that Caitlin, at 12 years old, disappeared from the cemetery on the outskirts of a local park. When Caitlin vanished, so did the dream. Abby got involved with a church and the pastor. Tom never wanted to give up on Caitlin returning. He never stopped believing that she would, one day, return even though Abby wanted to move on. With their marriage in tatters, Tom moves into the guest bedroom for a while until the day that Abby tells him that she's leaving and wants a divorce. She'll be moving into a shelter run by the church and let Tom continue to live in the house. He's angry but he doesn't do a lot to stop her because he understands what's really going on.

Abby is still in the process of moving out when Caitlin is suddenly found. She's now 16 years old, too thin, dirty and silent. Even as withdrawn as she is, Tom is ecstatic to have his daughter back. Abby can't decide how she feels about it all because Caitlin is so different.

Caitlin is taken to the hospital for a physical examination and a chat with a psychiatrist. She still won't say anything about where she's been or who took her. When she finally does speak, it's only to demand to be returned to her kidnapper.

Tom is obsessed with knowing who took his daughter and has been doing his own investigation for the last four years. He meets with a young exotic dancer that saw Caitlin while she was missing. Caitlin was with a man that came into the club the dancer was working at. Through this information, a sketch emerges of a very dangerous man.

Even after the man is caught and arrested, the police are forced to let him go because Caitlin refuses to testify. All she wants to do is return to this man. There's a long road to travel before any sort of healing can begin but Tom's just not patient enough to let things happen as they're meant to. He's GOT to have the details of what happened to Caitlin and why she only wants to leave him. The facts are there, but Tom's about to find out that some things just need to stay secret.

One sign of a great book is when it can evoke intense emotions in the reader. CEMETERY GIRL is one of those books. This is a tremendous book. I couldn't stand to put it down for any reason once I started reading it. The mystery is so compelling that I needed to know how it all was going to end. When I say that I HATED the characters in this book, that's actually a compliment. These were the most infuriating people and if they had been real, I would have slapped all of them. Tom, in his obsession to know EVERY TINY DETAIL of what happened to his own daughter made him seem almost as disturbed as the man that took her. I don't even know what to say about Abby as she was just one of those people that you would never be able to stand in real life. Caitlin needed to be locked up somewhere until she was able to come to terms with what actually happened to her. At any rate, please don't miss reading this book. You'll do yourself a huge disservice if you do.

Book Summary

Four years after Tom and Abby's 12-year-old daughter vanishes, she is found alive but strangely calm. When the teen refuses to testify against the man connected to her disappearance, Tom decides to investigate the traumatizing case on his own. Nothing can prepare him for what he is about to discover.