Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

Author: Elle Cosimano
Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books
Date of publication: March 2014

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next.

I went into Nearly Gone knowing nothing about it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this YA mystery.  The main character Nearly Boswell lives in a trailer park, has a mother who strips for a living and an absent father.  She is smart and just wants to break free from her life.  She also has the ability to feel other people's emotions by touching them.  Her weekly obsession with the "Missed Connections" section of the paper ends up pulling her into a series of murders.  The problem is that it's her tutoring students that are being targeted.

What I enjoyed about this book was Nearly.  She is intelligent and not afraid to go after what she wants. She is kind of a loner, but seems to be OK with that aspect of her life. The clues that are left for her in the paper were interesting.  I liked how science and math was used to solve each one.  That was a neat twist.  I also liked that I ended up solving the whole mystery along with Nearly.  I couldn't figure out who was behind everything ahead of time.  There is a little romance in the book, but it wasn't insta-love.  Reece may be a "bad boy", but I think he and Nearly are good for each other.  

I had thought this was a stand alone and I was satisfied with the way it ended.  But, it seems to be a series.  The next book, Nearly Found is out now and on my TBR pile.  I am hoping the next book will explore her gift a bit more than this one did.  I look forward to reading it.