We Were Kings

by Court Stevens

Overview

Twenty years ago, eighteen-year-old Francis Quick was convicted of murdering her best friend, Cora King, and sentenced to death. Now the highly debated Accelerated Death Penalty Act has passed giving Frankie thirty final days to live. Surprising everyone, one of the King family members sets out to challenge the woefully inadequate evidence and potential innocence of Frankie Quick.

The at-first reluctant but soon-fiery Nyla and her unexpected ally—handsome country island boy Sam Stack—bring Frankie’s case to the international stage through her YouTube channel, Death Daze. They step into fame and a hometown battle that someone’s still willing to kill over. But who? The senator? The philanthropist? The pawn shop owner? Nyla’s own mother?

Best advice: Don’t go to family dinner at the Kings’ estate. More people will leave in body bags than on their own two feet. And as for Frankie Quick, she’s a gem . . . even if she’s guilty.

Praise for We Were Kings:

“We Were Kings is the best kind of mystery novel—intelligent and bursting with heart. As Nyla untangled her family’s secrets, the twists left me breathless.” —Brittany Cavallaro, New York Times bestselling author

“Bingeable. Atmospheric. A book that grabs hold and doesn’t let go. We Were Kings offers a delicious mystery perfect for fans of We Were Liars and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I savored every word from beginning to end.” —Caroline George, author of The Summer We Forgot

• Young Adult suspense with some romance
• Stand-alone novel
• Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780785238577
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	371,496
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Court Stevens grew up among rivers, cornfields, churches, and gossip in the small-town South. She is a former adjunct professor, youth minister, and Olympic torchbearer. These days she writes coming-of-truth fiction and is the director of Warren County Public Library in Kentucky. She has a pet whale named Herman, a bandsaw named Rex, and several novels with her name on the spine: The June Boys, Faking Normal, The Lies About Truth, the e-novella The Blue-Haired Boy, Dress Codes for Small Towns, and Four Three Two One. Find Court online at CourtneyCStevens.com; Instagram: @quartland; Facebook: @CourtneyCStevens; Twitter: @quartland.

Editorial Reviews

'Stevens deftly weaves multiple threads, including diamonds, meth, national politics, and human trafficking, into a riveting narrative of betrayed friendships and fraught family ties. Pairing old-fashioned amateur sleuthing with a decidedly on-trend, online true crime investigation, this taut mystery unspools with a chillingly calibrated pace, and the violent, stunning payoff is sure to surprise even the most genre-familiar reader . . . readers looking for their next addictive page-turner can mine this well-crafted whodunit for every worthy twist.'

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

03/01/2022

Gr 9 Up—Nyla Wagner's mother has spent 20 years arguing the innocence of Frankie Quick, who was convicted of murdering Cora King when the girls were teenagers. Now the passage of a new law gives Frankie only 30 days before she will be executed, which prompts reporters to show up at Nyla's door and expose her mother as Cora King's sister. Confused and determined to find answers, Nyla embarks on her own investigation of the murder and her tangled family web. As she's done in previous novels, Stevens explores small-town atmosphere and politics very well. The mystery and suspense build consistently as Nyla searches for answers through her affluent family's secrets and lies. While there are some reveals that seem a bit obvious, others are clever and twisty enough to pick up the slack. Nyla is a likable and relatable protagonist, as is her relationship to Sam Stack, the son of Cora King's former boyfriend. Easily consumable with a fast-paced plot, this is a quick and enticing read for fans of murder mysteries and family dramas. Characters' race and ethnicity weren't stated. VERDICT Stevens delivers a cunning tale that will appeal to existing fans and could attract some new readers. A solid addition to any YA collection.—Kaitlin Malixi

School Library Journal

McKenzie Fetters’s nearly breathless narration is a perfect match for this fast-moving can’t-put-it-down YA mystery. Fetters’s quick-paced performance intensifies the nonstop twists and turns. Early on, Nyla learns she is not who she believes herself to be. Her mother, a member of the monied King family, is up against the clock to save a lifelong friend from death row for a crime she claims she didn’t commit. Feisty Nyla teams up with Sam to discover the truth. Her YouTube broadcasts polarize the issue and further strengthen the tension. As Nyla wends her way through convoluted family drama, she learns the death row woman is her birth mother, and her efforts escalate. Fetters imbues her narration with Nyla’s emotions, adding even more tautness to the audio. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2022 - AudioFile

McKenzie Fetters’s nearly breathless narration is a perfect match for this fast-moving can’t-put-it-down YA mystery. Fetters’s quick-paced performance intensifies the nonstop twists and turns. Early on, Nyla learns she is not who she believes herself to be. Her mother, a member of the monied King family, is up against the clock to save a lifelong friend from death row for a crime she claims she didn’t commit. Feisty Nyla teams up with Sam to discover the truth. Her YouTube broadcasts polarize the issue and further strengthen the tension. As Nyla wends her way through convoluted family drama, she learns the death row woman is her birth mother, and her efforts escalate. Fetters imbues her narration with Nyla’s emotions, adding even more tautness to the audio. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2022 - AudioFile

2021-12-15
When a teen goes in search of a killer, she discovers that nothing is what it seems.

For as long as 18-year-old Nyla Wagner can recall, she’s had to share her mother’s attention with Frankie, a death row felon and her mother’s closest friend. She knows the story: Two decades ago, the body of Cora King, the 18-year-old daughter of a Kentucky senator, was found in a badly decomposed state in the lake surrounding Cora’s family’s island home. Frankie, who was Cora’s best friend, was charged with the murder based solely on her previous arrest record. Now Frankie’s out of appeals, and her execution date has been set. When a reporter comes looking for Cora’s sister, one Elizabeth King, Nyla discovers that is her mom. She starts with trying to understand why her mother fled from her wealthy family—the two of them have lived a hardscrabble, peripatetic life—then, becoming enmeshed in difficult family dynamics, seeks to prove Frankie’s innocence and find the real killer. Stevens’ sentence-level writing sizzles, effectively conveying both Nyla’s heart and the Kentucky setting. The pacing falters, however, and some of the characters feel one-note, to the point that the climactic scene doesn’t evoke the emotion that it should. Main characters read as White.

Sparkles like a diamond at first but does not fulfill its initial promise. (discussion questions) (Mystery. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews