The Jills

In this propulsive, probing debut novel, a woman will stop at nothing to solve the disappearance of her best friend, a professional cheerleader, navigating the dark underbelly of the Rust Belt and her own demons.

Virginia is having so much fun she could cry. She's a Jill—a professional Buffalo Bills cheerleader—and she's reveling in the perks. Guilt-free flings with hot guys. Her own page in the iconic team calendar. The security of the other Jills at her back. All-night drinking and bonding with her best friend, Jeanine. It's Jeanine who helped transform Virginia from a neurotic wallflower into this new Best Self. Jeanine's friendship allowed Virginia to bury her troubled past with her sister, Laura. Jeanine's friendship makes anything possible. 

Then Jeanine stops answering texts or picking up calls. She misses practice; she misses a game. Even her shady boyfriend is freaking out. In Jeanine's disappearance, Virginia sees mirrors of Laura's history with addiction, and she's desperate to stop the past from repeating itself. And when Laura unexpectedly returns, trying to reconnect and make amends, Virginia's carefully curated life falls even more off balance. 

Aided by a whisper network of Jills, ex-boyfriends, and drug-dealers, Virginia embarks on an investigation into Jeanine's disappearance. But as the search takes her from Buffalo to Columbus, it grows increasingly dangerous and spirals into obsession, raising disturbing questions about who Jeanine really is. 

Soon, Virginia finds herself wondering how well she actually knows her dearest friend, whether she can trust the people and institutions she thought were protecting her, and whether—when trying to save the women she cares about most—she's capable of saving herself too.

Part binegable mystery, part character-driven tale of a woman losing and finding herself in systems built by and for men, The Jills is a sharply observed, witty, and poignant novel about the stories that constrain us and the healing power of sisterhood.