Kala by Colin Walsh

 

The six of them were an entire world and they didn't need anyone else.  The girls were Kala, Helen and Aoife.  Kala and Aoife have been friends since kindergarten.  Helen moves to town as they are all fifteen and slowly the other girls take her into their tight friendship.  The guys are Joe, Mush and Aidan.  Joe is the golden boy, top of his class and sports teams, good-looking.  Aidan is the wise guy with relatives who are on the shady side.  Mush is everyone's best friend, a chill guy who likes everyone.  Together they are invincible and take on the world, adventuring every day.  Kala and Joe are a couple but the rest are just friends.

But teenage friendships tend to fall away when adult lives intervene.  Joe became a rock star and has been living abroad in Hollywood.  He is also an alcoholic but that's a secret.  Aoife grew up, married and moved away.  Helen is living in Canada working as a free-lance journalist.  Aidan is no longer alive.  Mush was injured in an accident that left his face disfigured and these days just runs the cafe with his mom.  And Kala.  Kala disappeared at the end of that magic summer when they were all fifteen and no one knows what happened.

But now the gang is back together.  Helen's father is marrying Mush's aunt and Joe is also back in town.  They tentatively reunite but there's news no one expected.  Human remains have been found and soon they are identified as Kala's.  She was murdered.  Who would have done that and is the killer now looking for one of them?

This is a debut novel and Colin Walsh gets it right.  His recreation of teenage years when one is just finding their way and friends are everything is spot on.  The tension builds until I had to put the book down periodically and walk around a bit before reading more.  This is a debut novel from an Irish author noted as one of the best rising authors of his country.  The revelation about what really happened is a page-turner and the reader will remember the characters long after the book is finished.  This book is recommended for thriller readers.