Author Karen Parkman

Publisher: Ballantine Books

ISBN: 978-0593982921

An NFL cheerleader learns one of her teammates has gone missing and might be in danger. Despite police involvement, the cheerleader is convinced no one is dedicating enough time to looking for her friend and decides to do her own investigation. What she discovers along the way will lead her straight back to her own past and the parts of it she would rather forget. Debut author Karen Parkman builds a mostly compelling thriller with the backdrop of professional cheerleading in her new book The Jills.

Buffalo resident Virginia Barton has an incredibly glamorous job: she’s a Jill, a cheerleader and dancer for the Buffalo Bills football team. Despite the crummy pay and needing to hold down a second job, Virginia loves being a Jill. When she’s in the stadium and 70,000 fans are cheering for her and the rest of the squad, Virginia feels at home with the other girls. 

This is especially true of Jeanine who joined the Jills around the same time as Virginia did. They’re best friends, performing by day, bar hopping at night. When Virginia is with Jeanine, she feels more confident and happier. She doesn’t have to think about her little sister who has been in and out of rehab too many times to count or her mother who became a functioning alcoholic after her dad died.

Virginia also doesn’t have to worry about money like the other Jills do. Her dad worked with local mob boss, Stanley Palladino, and since her dad died Stanley has taken Virginia under his wing. She knows Stanley has some shady practices, but she also knows he wouldn’t hurt anyone. She can trust him, because he’s always proven to be trustworthy. Stanley also has a major financial stake in the Jills, which means he really cares about helping people.

Yet even Stanley’s connections make Virginia pause when the unthinkable happens: on a Sunday when she’s supposed to show up for a game, Jeanine goes missing. No matter how many times Virginia and the other Jills and their director, Suzanna, call or text, Jeanine doesn’t answer. Virginia imagines all the worst scenarios. She knows that Jeanine uses drugs occasionally, and her experiences with her younger sister, Laura, have taught Virginia to expect the worst.

Nothing about Jeanine’s disappearance makes sense. She was dating Bobby Paladino, Stanley’s son, who’s known to be a possessive boyfriend, but Jeanine has never had trouble standing up to him. Because of the self-defense tactics that are drilled into the Jills from Day One, Virginia knows Jeanine would reach out if she could. No one with any authority seems as panicked about the situation as Virginia is, though, which makes her even more suspicious.

Despite several warnings from Suzanna to stay on track with her practices and contracted appearances, Virginia starts to get reckless as she launches her own investigation into Jeanine’s disappearance. As she follows the breadcrumbs of Jeanine’s life, Virginia starts to realize that she and Jeanine may have been more closely tied than she first knew and that the small-time trouble she was imagining is nowhere near the truth.

Author Karen Parkman shares in her author’s note at the end of the book the newspaper article that sparked the idea for the novel and the extensive research she did to write it, and Parkman’s efforts at authenticity ring true. Virginia is the pure embodiment of a cheerleader in the 21st century, a woman who wants to own her individuality while also stepping into the identical lines and uniform of a professional dancer. Even as she’s struggling with each piece of revelatory information about Jeanine, Virginia grapples with a patriarchal system that empowers women and entraps them all at the same time.

Parkman finds a balance between moving the plot along and Virginia’s observations about her own life. At times the fond recollections about her times with her sister can slow the book down, and the novel, while an admirable debut, suffers from a middle section that tends to slump. What will keep readers engaged is the book’s protagonist, her audacity at going after the truth, and the realistic portrayals of a world that many don’t even realize exists.

The novel could have used some tightening in those portions, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Readers who like to see the typical domestic thriller set against unusual backdrops will definitely want to check this one out. I recommend readers Bookmark The Jills by Karen Parkman.