Rift. 2008. Beverly Birch

Published: May 2008
Publisher: Egmont UK
Paperback, 284 pages
Age 12 and up
Borrowed from public library

Four teenagers and a journalist disappear without a trace from a remote camp based in an unforgiving area in Africa. Joe, one of the missing teenagers, turns up a couple of days later in a barren, rocky area miles away from camp. It was physically impossible for him to travel as far as he did, and he can't remember what happened. The journalist has a younger sister, Ella, who travels to Africa determined to find her sister. Together Joe, Ella, and Inspector Murothi begin to unravel the mystery surrounding the missing people.

Rift is told from different viewpoints that includes emails, interviews, and newspaper articles. It starts slowly, and I had a hard time staying with the story. To be fair, I was distracted with other things that were going on, so it took me a while to be curious about the disappearances.

I had a hard believing some parts of the story. The ending of the book made Joe's faulty memory unbelievable. Why couldn't Joe remember what happened? It didn't make sense to me. I was disappointed with the ending. I guess I expected something more. (Fine, it would be BIG news if something like this really happened.)

The parts I enjoyed was the African setting, and the African Inspector Murothi. Murothi was calm, smart and the perfect inspector. I liked it when he showed up in the story. The author writes with a deep love and respect of Africa and her inhabitants. I didn't hate Rift, but didn't love it.