Award Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2015)
Book Blurb:
Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.
More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.
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The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
My Review:
No, no, and just…no. My third book by this author and I’m thinking might be my last.
It’s 1991 when Julia Carroll disappears. The family doesn’t cope well and the two surviving sisters each grieve differently becoming estranged both from each other and their parents. Unfortunately, a recent disappearance twenty years later draws them back. A teenage girl has disappeared but it appears the murder of a middle-aged man appears to be connected almost twenty years later.
Sometimes I’m not sure how I get myself into these books as I’m usually careful about trigger warnings that include sexual violence, murder, and torture. Other than to figure out how the author was going to pull this one off, I’m not sure why I continued to read.
While there was an occasional humorous, snarky comment, “…but that was largely because he was under sixty and still had a clear view of his feet,” it was honestly pretty awful. I just don’t need that. I find the descriptions of subconscious human mannerisms rather compelling—Slaughter knows how to turn a phrase while painting her prose black.
If graphic horror is your jam, this might appeal. The author does sketch out some dark ideas. I read and then watched the series Pieces of Her last year. Are you a Slaughter fan? Did you catch the TV series? Read this one? Is this one beyond her usual level of violence or is this standard? Last year I thought I might try one more of her novels. This was it.
I received a Kindle copy of this book from my library recommendations that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Three Stars
Book Details:
Genre: Kidnapping thrillers, Serial killer Thrillers, Police Procedurals
Publisher: William Morrow
ASIN: B00VES8D6K
Print Length: 548 pages
Publication Date: September 29, 2015
Source: Local Library through Kindle
Title Link(s): Pretty Girls [Amazon]
The Author: Karin Slaughter is the author of more than twenty instant NEW YORK TIMES bestselling novels, including the Edgar–nominated COP TOWN and standalone novels THE GOOD DAUGHTER, PRETTY GIRLS, and GIRL, FORGOTTEN. She is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. PIECES OF HER is a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette. The Will Trent Series is on ABC (and streaming on Hulu in the U.S, and Disney+ internationally). THE GOOD DAUGHTER and FALSE WITNESS are in development for film/tv. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.
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