17 year old Charlie Hudson has one goal - to finish high school and get out of Sawyer, the oppressive small town she has grown up in. That goal might be in jeopardy when Clay Cooper, the owner of multiple businesses with Sawyer, is discovered dead each of his employees is a suspect in his death - including Charlie. Determined to protect herself, and her friends, Charlie tries to track down the potential murderer before they find their way to Charlie, as they believe she has what they are after.

This was my first Wendy Walker book, and it definitely won’t be my last. I really enjoyed her writing style. This was a great psychological thriller that had me intrigued from the first chapter. I really liked Charlie as a character. Her autism adding a layer of complexity to her personality, but not feeling like it was included to be a novelty. There were multiple twists throughout which kept me guessing as to who the murderer was, and what their motives might have been. I thought this was well paced and enjoyed watching the mystery unfold. While I feel like the ending could have had a bit more closure, I still enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good whodunnit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for my digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another thriller from Wendy Walker but sadly without the same punch as some of her earlier novels.
The synopsis tells the story - there is some character development but I struggled to keep up with the writing about the main character.
Overall an easy read.

What it’s about: Charlie is a 17 year old autistic girl living in small town Pennsylvania. Passing time working as many hours as she can at the Triple S sandwich shop until she graduates high school. She is just itching to move on with life outside this small town. One day, the owner of the shop, Clay Cooper, ends up murdered and one of the workers is the prime suspect. Charlie is determined to keep her friends safe from suspicion as she herself has worked out all the details and just knows what is possible and what is not.

Thoughts: Wow, this was such a fun one by Wendy Walker! I absolutely love that this was written from the perspective of an autistic character. It made the story so much better to understand the thought process behind Charlie’s decision making and how she came up with her logic! It was so endearing to hear Charlie’s loyalty and dedication to her friends and loved ones. Wendy did such a wonderful job making it easy for us to love and root for her! This book was fast paced with many twists which made the book fly by! This was my third book by Wendy and she delivers every single time! I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Thanks to Blackstone & NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've been hearing good things about Wendy Walker for the past year or so, and this was the year that I had an opportunity to read some of her stuff. First up was What Remains, her book about a LEO who ends up being stalked by a man she encountered during a store shooting. I liked it OK, but I wasn't blown away or anything. Likewise with this novel, which is about a 17 year old high functioning autistic girl who finds herself embroiled in a murder and its fallout.

Charlie comes off as mostly OCD rather than autistic, what with her ASD behaviors that conveniently come and go depending on what propels the plot, but she's an OK character and you do root for her a bit. She's fiercely loyal when it comes to her found family, but wrt her mom or her half-brothers, she's mostly indifferent, which I didn't get the sense the author wanted to convey. In any case, Charlie sort of inserts herself into a situation which unexpectedly becomes volatile - unexpectedly to her, bc any fool could see that the situation is ... not good from a mile off.

The book is kind of repetitive, but it kept my attention. There's a lot of stuff about Charlie being in love with her friend, Ian, but because her mom had her at 16 and was subsequently kicked out of the house for being a "whore" as per her parents (which seems to have taken a few years, given that Charlie remembers it?), Mom has put the fear of God into Charlie regarding "inner stirrings" which could only get her into trouble.

The story is interesting, but incredibly over-complicated, and the ending feels a bit rushed. 2.5 stars rounded up

This book was fine… I guess. I loved Walker’s first few books because they really dove into the psychology of it all. Her last few have felt very generic. All authors are entitled to change genre I suppose, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed and underwhelmed. As for this story itself, there were way too many names to keep track of - I didn’t really feel invested in any of the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

American Girl by Wendy Walker was originally published as an Audible Original but has not been written as a freestanding novel.

"Charlie is an autistic seventeen-year-old and just wants to make sandwiches and earn enough money to get out of Sawyer, PA. When the owner of the sandwich shop, Clay Cooper, is found dead, a member of his staff becomes a suspect. Charlie must protect herself and her friends by uncovering the danger in their depressed community."

It feels like Walker did her research and is authentic with the voice of Charlie. There are lots of interesting observations from her about people and what she wants to do. The twists and red herrings that you expect from Walker are there. You wonder for most of the book about what Charlie knows. And the reveal is a big surprise. The ending is not what I expected which is always nice in a thriller. I like how this one resolved.

Great to get two books from Walker this year. Another great story from her.

American Girl by Wendy Walker is a very highly recommended psychological thriller with an unforgettable teenage narrator.

Charlie Hudson, an autistic seventeen-year-old, has a list of rules and a plan for her life. Her goal is to leave Sawyer, PA. Charlie has already been accepted at MIT, she is the top student at her high school and should be a shoe-in for the town's scholarship. As her stepfather won't give her any money to attend school, she has been working every hour she can at the Triple S sandwich shop since she was fourteen . She has a spreadsheet and a plan, saving everything for school.

When Clay (Coop) Cooper the loathsome shop owner and small town mogul, is found dead outside his house, the police investigation determines he was killed elsewhere. The problem is that Charlie is caught on the store camera after closing hiding under the counter on the night the murder occurred. Charlie refuses to say what she saw or heard because several people close to her have motives and she is going to protect those she loves. Charlie's silence, however, may be putting her in danger.

Charlie is a wonderful, fully realized, unforgettable character. The plot unfolds through her first-person narrative so readers can follow her thoughts, rules, and deductions as the sense of urgency and danger increase. She is a very sympathetic character. Clearly she is protecting those she loves while putting herself into harms way and a suspect herself.

American Girl is an admirably written, un-put-downable thriller that held my complete attention throughout the entire novel. There are facts Charlie is not divulging and twists along the way as more information is carefully released. What seems a simple case is much more complex and the character of Charlie makes it a remarkable, memorable psychological thriller.
Disclosure: My digital review copy was courtesy of Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley.
The review will be also be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: October 17, 2023
Charlie Hudson has one dream- to leave the small town of Sawyer and go to college. In order to do this, Charlie works at a local sandwich shop, the Triple S, while achieving top marks in math and science and hoping for a scholarship. One night, however, the owner of the Triple S, Clay Cooper, is killed and Charlie was the only witness. Clay was not a nice person and everyone Charlie knows had a motive for killing him, so, to protect her friends, Charlie goes to great lengths, including risking her own life, to keep the truth from coming out.
I have had the honour of reading many of Wendy Walker’s novels, many of them earning five-star reviews, so it wasn’t even a question that I’d read her newest work, “American Girl”. When I found out the protagonist was neurodivergent, I was even more on board.
This novel is non-stop action and suspense. Charlie, the protagonist, is a seventeen-year-old girl who is living with her mother, her mother’s new husband, Dusty, and their three sons. An outsider in every way, Charlie finds escape in math and science, and in her friends at the Triple S. Following her “rules” of human interaction that she created with help from those around her, she aims to live a normal life, one far outside the boundaries of Sawyer. I loved each and every aspect of Charlie, and I admired her bravery, her innocence and her perseverance.
As “Girl” unfolds, there are many possible suspects for the murder of Clay, and Walker makes sure to leave the reader guessing until the final pages. The tension builds on each page, and slowly releases until the ending reveals the final, unexpected twist.
I can always expect Walker’s novels to be creative, tense, engaging and brilliant, and “American Girl” checked all the boxes. Anywhere Walker goes, I will follow, and I look forward to more of her novels in the future.

I've enjoyed Wendy Walker's other books so I decided to give this one a try. I just really didn't enjoy it. It was described as "pulse-pounding" and it just really wasn't very thrilling for me. I didn't like the setting & atmosphere and I also didn't like the characters. The story was kind of annoying and the reveal wasn't quite as connected to the rest of the book as I had hoped, so it was just a series of misses for me.

While this seemed like more of a Young Adult book, I loved every minute of it. Wendy Walker has a way with words that is visceral: "They left so their son could live his dreams after he'd stolen my mom's."

This is about a teen, Charlie, on the spectrum, living in her snow globe world, a town where the ones who get out are the lucky ones. She's got many rules for living, and several more that she has to add once she's been connected to the murder of her boss at the Triple S. A rule that's even firmer than "Rule Number Thirty-One: Trust but verify, because everybody lies sometimes".

Charlie has one goal in life outside of protecting her friends and that is getting out of Sawyer and going to college at MIT. Despite her stepfather. Despite her history. And despite this stupid town.

Read American Girl, and meet the smartest teen in Sawyer.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advance reader's copy.

American Girl is a fast-paced mystery told from the perspective of Charlie, a hard-working 17 year old girl on the autism spectrum. She lives in a small town, working at a diner owned by Clay Cooper, a powerful man with lecherous intentions. He is murdered and she is the only witness, but she didn't actually see his murderer. Charlie is concerned it is someone she loves as he has so many enemies. The story is filled with twists and turns, imperfect characters, and a vivid backdrop. I loved how clever Charlie was. I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by a full cast. The ebook and audiobook are so cinematic.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This is my 4th book by Wendy Walker and it’s about a girl on the spectrum who could be a witness to a murder. This kept me engaged from the very first page with action packed scenes and I had a hard time putting it down. I do think this is my fave book by Wendy so far. Lots of lies, secrets, and who done its throughout. Lots of nice twists throughout too! I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for this advance copy that comes out October 17, 2023.

American Girl was an interesting and fast-paced thriller from Blackstone Publishing and Wendy Walker. It is about Charlie, an autistic 17 year old who wants to get out of her small town as soon as she graduates. She is saving money for MIT by working at The Triple S, a sandwich shop owned by the most powerful man in town. When that same man is found dead, Charlie is the only witness to what may have happened. There are many people with motive, and there are also many people that Charlie wants to protect. As things get messier, Charlie has to try to decide who to trust and who has bad intentions.

Thoughts: I loved Charlie as a main character. She was fun to read about and I could empathize with her a lot. I felt like this was a quick read that had lots of layers and everyone wanted Clay dead. It was almost like a locked room style mystery, with the reader narrowing down the suspects. It didn’t have that big twist I was hoping for, but was more straightforward. I didn’t think there was a huge reveal, and the small twists were all pretty obvious.

Regardless, I really enjoyed Charlie’s perspective and the way that Walker did a wonderful job of portraying an autistic person. It was easy to get inside her head and thought process, and even though she didn’t get everything in the end, it was a good ending. 4-stars for this book!

First, thank you to Wendy Walker and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC of this book.

Overall, I thought this was a solid mystery that kept me interested in the storyline until the very end. I liked how Charlie was different than characters Walker typically writes. In the beginning of the book we find out that Charlie is autistic, and it was truly an interesting point of view to read from. I also enjoy Walker’s writing style and love how the ending to each chapter made me want to continue reading.

What I didn’t like was that the book was a bit predictable. I wasn’t quite shocked at the big reveal and that was a bit of a bummer. I also had to keep reminding myself that Charlie was a seventeen year old and it would make sense for her to be naive. But there were some events that just made me yell at my book, “seriously?!”.

Overall, a solid mystery for Walker! If you love looking for clues as you’re reading, this would be a great book for you!

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I have deep sadness to only give Wendy Walker’s newest thriller two stars. I have been a fan for several years but this one just didn’t resonate with me. Charlie Hudson is an autistic 17year old living in a small town with her mother, stepfather and two half brothers. Her dream is to escape the confines of the0town and go to college. Charlie works for mean and crooked Clay Cooper at his restaurant and her life is thrust into extreme danger when harm has come to Clay. I appreciated the representation of an autistic character but I found it difficult to connect with Charlie or her friends and family. A dark thriller with some twists I didn’t see coming.

Book Title: American Girl
Author: Wendy Walker
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Pub Date: October 17, 2023
My Rating: 4.6 rounded up!
Pages: 359

I went into this knowing nothing about it only that I like author Wendy Walker!
This is my sixth and I loved the other five books I read.
She did not disappoint. In fact, This is One of her best!!

The first thing I did was Google Tom Petty’s song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhb-kNvL6M

Our protagonist Charlie Hudson lives in the small town of Sawyer, PA; she is seventeen on the autism spectrum, and is excited about been accepted to MIT.
(No surprise to me as a HS guidance counselor I know many autistic students are brilliant – typically lack
social skills but are very intelligent.)
Charlie has been working at “The Triple S” (The Sawyer Sandwich Shop’) since she was fourteen. She never gets an order wrong – one might hear her chant an order "lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles”.
She works as many hours as she can to save money for college. Additionally, she enjoys her job and her co-workers are like family giving her total acceptance.
However, when shop owner Clay Cooper is found dead, all the employees are possible suspects.-but Charlie seems to be a person of interest.

As this story nears the end I found myself racing through the pages as fast as my eyes could focus. I had to stop and remind myself to breathe!

SO many things I love about Charlie ~🤗
Her rules are great!
.
Here are a few that I like
Rule Zero- Trust No One
Rule #33 – People can be smart and stupid all at once.
Rule #26- If someone seems too good to be true- they are.
Rule #37 –There are no rules when it comes to love

Then there is her theory on love
``Love is like cement that fries slowly over time until you are bound by that cement in one giant block of
love.

The taping with her thumb and forefinger made me laugh plus I had to try it
~3 together- then right-left-right-left; 3 more together then – left-right-left-right.
It does take concentration to get it correct!!!
Charlie is meticulous and careful; states it makes order in a world where there seems isn’t any order.

Want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for granted me the pleasure of reading this great eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 17, 2023

I flew through the pages of this one! Stayed up til 1:30 because I had to know how it ended. And I can say that Wendy Walker has done it again. Heart racing, unpredictable, and fast paced. I enjoyed this until the very end.
When he owner of most of the local businesses, including the Triple S cafe, where Charlie, an autistic 17 year old works, is found dead, she becomes a potential witness and being desperate to get out of the little town after the tales her mother has told her over the years, Charlie will go to any lengths to protect the people she loves. And after struggling to fit in with her stepfather and stepbrothers, her family at the sandwich shop mean the world to her. But is she actually responsible? It all slowly uncovers as we go through the story. Everyone wants Charlie to trust them and for her to tell them what she knows, but who can she really trust?
I loved Charlie as a character. It was cool to see her adapt her uniqueness into each situation and use it to her advantage. And make her own rules to live by as she learned from what people did to her. Seeing how Charlie sees the world through the eyes of someone on the spectrum, which is long and wide, was really eye opening for me.
Small town mystery from the perspective of a 17 year old with autism-a unique experience and one I’ll be recommending.
Thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Charlie Hudson is an autistic 17 year old working very hard to gain scholarships and enough money to go to MIT and leave Sawyer, PA behind. She does not have much family support aside from her mother. But she does have a good network of friends and coping mechanisms for her autism. When the owner of the Deli where she works is killed, things start going off the rails for Charlie and her friends as she tries to figure out what happened.

I love Wendy Walker books so I was very excited to receive this ARC. However, this one missed the mark for me. I don't know if this should be more targeted to a YA audience, or if it just was not a good read for me. I would still recommend this if you are a fan of Wendy's as maybe it will hit home with you better than me.

This book I was excited to get as I enjoyed her last one. I didn’t love it, I found I never wanted to pick it up. I found the characters unlikeable.

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for my e arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

Out October 17, 2023

This book is an entertaining fast-paced novel that follows Charlie our wonderful neuro-diverse lovable narrator as she navigates a murder that she supposedly witnessed at a sandwich shop where she works. Then the book takes us on a wild journey as she figures out and slowly reveals what actually happened on the evening that her detestable supervisor was murdered. There are twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It’s pretty fun, but I craved something a little more substantial and I felt that overall it was a little too straight-forward.