When I checked out the book Shift by Jennifer Bradbury, I was a little put-off by the fresh sticker on the back cover that lacked previous reader’s stamp. But after finishing the book over a course of three days, I had developed a fictitious crush on one of the main characters and gained insight from the novel.

            Shift opens with the main character Christopher (Chris) Collins describing in first person narration how he and best friend Winston (Win) Coggins went missing after they took a cross-country bike trip from their home state of West Virginia to the West Coast after graduating from high school. Win’s father is a very powerful CEO, and throughout the novel he goes to great lengths to find his son, including hiring a FBI agent to question and, essentially, stalk Chris through his first week as a freshman at Georgia Tech.

            Readers may speculate that the novel has a serious tone, but contrary to most missing-persons plots, Shift keeps the mood light with humorous and ironic situations and dialogue throughout the story.

            “But Win fed Principal Keller two ridiculous lies: He had a life-threatening chlorine allergy, and I was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder brought about by witnessing my cousin’s drowning at a waterslide park,” says Chris as he humorously reminisces to the day he and Win skipped the water park trip that was mandatory for all seniors.

            The twist is, even Chris doesn’t know where Win is. After Win abandoned Chris more than half-way through their trip, they lost contact with each other, until a few random and cryptic leads make their way to Chris. As Chris attempts to find Win, avoid the FBI agent constantly watching him and adjust to college-life, author Bradbury flashes back to different experiences that the boys had on their summer-long bike trip, giving insight as to what caused Win to disappear.

            Shift is Bradbury’s first book. Her inspiration from the novel came from a collection of various experiences on trips she and her husband have taken.

            “Shift grew out of a bike trip my husband and I took together, although it borrows heavily from a trip he did with his best friend when they graduated high school,” said Bradbury. “We had great stories from both trips, but it wasn't until years later when I realized how much my students liked hearing those stories that I wanted to try and weave them into a novel.”

            It’s not ironic that the cover of the book is yellow and black—the color of a Black Eyed Susan flower. Shift is one of ten books nominated to receive the Maryland Black-Eyed Susan book award, and I can see why. Shift is the perfect unconventional mystery. There are no crazed psychos, ransom notes, or even gunshots. The only thing that comes close to being classified as gore is the rash Chris gets after riding 2,000 miles on a bike.

            While some readers may feed off violence and mind-games in a novel, the bittersweet story of two friends in search of each other—and themselves is more than satisfying for me.

            Despite Shift’s low demand at the Linganore High School library, the 245-page read is worth every minute. Humor, friendship, and a little suspense are all things that make Shift an excellent read.