Pretty Girls

Pretty Girls
by Karin Slaughter
William Morrow, 2015. 396 pages
Fiction Mystery

Teenage Julia disappeared 20 years ago, and her family has never been the same. Julia’s body was never found, preventing her parents and sisters from coming to terms with their loss. Lydia, a single mother struggling to support herself, has long been estranged from her sister, Claire, due to the accusations Lydia leveled against Claire’s wealthy husband, Paul. But now Paul has been murdered, the victim of an armed robbery, and Claire has found some very disturbing files on his computer, including snuff films featuring the torture and murder of young girls.

There are books that you consumer quietly, gently turning the pages and silently synthesizing their story and then there are books like this: books that make you fill the room with audible gasps, groans, cheers, and ferocious yells that disturb your entire household (at least in my experience). Though the subject matter is dark, and the writing can be borderline gory at times, I was listening to this story from the moment I woke up to moments before bed. The mystery in this book is revealed pretty early on, but it is a mystery so juicy that the reader is on the hook till the story concludes and all of the conflicts are resolved. Besides the tantalizing mystery, a big draw of Slaughter's work is the impeccable character creation. This story in particular revolves around poignant family trauma, and the reader is able to sympathize and relate to each of the characters so deeply. I mentioned this before, but this is one of Slaughter's more graphic works so faint of heart should avoid and thrill seekers should pick this up, like, yesterday. 

If you enjoy Pretty Girls, then you may also like....

The Good Girl
by Mary Kubica
Harlequin Mira, 2014. 350 pages |
Fiction Mystery

The daughter of a prominent Chicago judge and his socialite wife, inner-city art teacher Mia Dennett is taken hostage by her one-night stand, Colin Thatcher, who, instead of delivering her to his employers, hides her in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota to keep her safe from harm.

All The Missing Girls

by Megan Miranda

Simon & Schuster, 2016. 371 pages 
Fiction

Ten years after leaving Cooley Ridge, Nicolette Farrell returns to care for her ailing father. A decade ago, she, her brother Daniel, her boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne's boyfriend Jackson were suspects when Corinne--Nic's best friend-- disappeared without a trace. Within days of Nic's return, they are plunged into a shocking drama when Nic's neighbor Annaleise, who is dating Tyler and was the group's alibi ten years previously, goes missing. Told backwards from the time Annaleise disappears, the book follows Nic as she works to unravel the truth and, in the process, reveals shocking realities about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

What She Knew

by Gilly MacMillan

William Morrow, 2015. 472 pages 
Fiction

Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son Ben when he asks if he can run ahead. It's an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry--until Ben vanishes. Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel's newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public's attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion. As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent's nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most ...

MES