You can't judge a book by its title. I was a little hesitant, as a 40-something reader, to pick up "Best Friends Forever," a title that seemed marketed more for the texting genration than for, let's say, a mature reader like me.

I was not disappointed. Best-selling author Jennifer Weiner, one of the most talented and entertaining writers in the chick lit genre, did not abandon me for the young-adult market with her latest novel.

The story is centered on two women who rekindle their childhood friendship under the most unlikely of circumstances: running from a revenge crime that one of them may -- or may not -- have committed.

When a confrontation at her 15-year high school reunion leaves a classmate naked and bloody, Valerie Adler, an ambitious and impetuous television weather forecaster, returns to her former suburban Chicago neighborhood and the home of Addie Downs, the only real friend she ever had.

Addie, a painfully shy 33-year-old greeting card illustrator, is not thrilled to see her former friend, to whom she has not spoken since high school. Valerie's betrayal helped to turn Addie's senior year into nothing less than a nightmare, leading at least in part to her emotional fragility as an adult and a lifetime battle with loneliness and obesity.

The book's chapters alternate between past and present, recounting the growth and eventual demise of Valerie and Addie's friendship, building suspense to the pivotal events that set the women on their disparate courses.

The storyline is more than a little far-fetched at times. Would a television personality really think she could get away with robbing a bank? Would a small town send its police chief on a cross-country pursuit when there is barely evidence a crime has even been committed?

Putting those little details aside, the novel is engaging, fast-paced and funny with enough of Weiner's gently snarky humor to make the characters likable and relatable, even if the situations in which they find themselves test the bounds of reality.