The Jills A novel

Parkman debuts with a thrilling mystery that offers an immersive view into the lives of NFL cheerleaders. Ginny Barton is a Jill, as the Buffalo Bills' cheerleaders are called. One Sunday, her best friend and fellow squad member Jeanine Chanowitz fails to show up for a game. As the days pass and Jeanine remains a no-show, alarm bells go off in Ginny's head and she begins to investigate on her own, frustrated by the cops' lackadaisical response. She questions Bobby Paladino, the son of a local mobster with links to Ginny's family; Jason Morley, a drug dealer who once supplied Ginny's sister with heroin; and Ray, a cheerleader groupie who thinks of himself as the squad's guardian angel. After Ginny searches Jeanine's apartment and finds paperwork related to a wellness clinic in Ohio, she travels there. The deeper she looks into Jeanine's disappearance, the more she comes to suspect she never really knew her friend at all. Ginny narrates in an appealing voice that is both strong-willed and vulnerable. Her investigation leads into noirish territory that is as convincing as the cheerleader workout scenes, which take place under a cloud of hair spray and self-tanner. It's the best novel about cheerleaders since Megan Abbott's Dare Me. Agent: Dorian Karchmar, WME. (Jan.)

DEBUT Ginny is a member of the Jills squad, who cheerlead for the NFL's Buffalo Bills, and the coveted job is all she has ever wanted. Even as Ginny devotes nearly all her time to practicing, performing, or attending events for the Jills, she earns very little, though her friendships with other Jills perhaps make up for it. Her best friend is teammate Jeanine, who has helped unconfident Ginny find strength and courage. When Jeanine goes missing, Ginny is desperate to find her. Fearing that Jeanine is in terrible trouble, she ventures into drug-filled and seedy parts of Buffalo. Frustrated by the lack of police support for her search, she turns to her familial connections in the criminal underground. Frantically, Ginny looks for Jeanine, who is now presumed dead. And maybe Ginny doesn't know her friend as well as she thinks. When Ginny's obsession with finding Jeanine brings danger to her estranged sister, she starts to confront hard truths. The backstory of the Jills lends tenderness to the story and demonstrates the power of camaraderie. VERDICT Parkman delivers a solid mystery that also sheds light on the all-too-familiar plight of professional cheerleaders' degrading treatment and meager compensation.--Margie Ticknor