The Confessions of Jonathan Flite by Matthew J. Beier

By Carrie Anne

Jonathan Flite claims to have memories he can't explain.  Seven layers of them, to be exact, all belonging to a group of teenagers who disappeared from a place called Idle County in 2010-ten years before his birth.  Seventeen years of anxiety, violent outbursts, and refusal to admit he is lying have landed him at Crescent Rehabilitation Center, a seaside juvenile center for rich kids, and nobody has ever dared to believe his memories might be real.

Until now.  On a blustery November day just three months after a nuclear terrorist attack in Geneva, Switzerland, ex-CIA psychiatrist Thomas Lumen arrives at Crescent to interview Jonathan for a book about Idle county.  Fueled by his personal connection to the disappearances three decades earlier, he asks Jonathan to share what he knows-anything and everything.

By reigniting this thirty-year-old mystery, however, Jonathan inadvertently becomes a target of the very same religious terrorists who attacked Geneva, and they'll stop at nothing to keep the secrets of Idle County under wraps.  Jonathan must then make a choice:  to continue telling his story, or risk the safety of everyone he loves.  (taken from Amazon description)

I have to say, the synopsis doesn't do this book justice.  Yes, there is political intrigue, but I found it was only at the back of my mind, seemingly not important to what I was reading.  Instead, it's a great mystery/thriller/ghost story.

Why does Jonathan have these memories that aren't his own?  What really happened that day in the woods?  Why are there so many other strange evens in Idle County?  What does any of it have to do with the bombing in Geneva?

This book tells about Molly Butler's last summer before she disappeared.  How did she end up with the other kids in the woods, kids she didn't apparently know?  Molly strikes up a new friendship with the local librarian.  What's her story?  Molly goes on ghost hunts with her friend that summer.  What did they really see?

I couldn't read this fast enough.  The chapters alternated between Jonathan's time and Molly's constantly propelling the story forward.  Unfortunately, when it was all said and done, I still had more questions than answers.  That's when I looked up the author and found there are six more books.  I can hardly wait!!