Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter – catching up on my #20booksofsummer2022 reads

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors.

Book blurb

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenage 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.

The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter of a 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.

Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful novel from one of the finest writers working today.

My thoughts

This is a standalone novel from Karin Slaughter. It’s a fascinating book that tells the story of two estranged sisters, Claire and Lydia, who after many years get together when Claire’s husband dies.

Their family had fallen apart when elder sister, Julia, went missing more than twenty years ago. Lydia spiralled out of control whilst Claire married and lived a totally opposite lifestyle. Claire and Lydia haven’t spoken in a long, long time and we find out what the rift between the sisters was really about and what brings them back together.

We follow what happens as the two sisters reunite and start to listen to each other’s stories. What unfolds is a difficult and dark story, with some unexpected turn of events and lots of terrible, long hidden secrets being revealed. The two sisters have a mission to find out what has happened to Julia and it will take pretty much every last breath to get to the truth.

Read and admire how Karin Slaughter masterfully tears apart twenty years of their past to reveal the horrific tragedy of what happened not only to Julia but to their family and to many other families over those years.

I am a big fan of Karin Slaughter all her books are wonderful reads, she is most definitely a great story teller. I highly recommend reading her books whether the Grant County or Will Trent series or one of her standalone novels I believe you won’t be disappointed rather, as with Pretty Girls, you’ll be totally engrossed in her very fine writing.

Previously read and reviewed

I have read many of Karin Slaughter’s books including all of the Grant County Series. Karin Slaughter is right up there as one of my favourite US authors of crime fiction. Here are the ones I have on my blog:

The Good Daughter | Cop Town | Pieces of Her |The Last Widow | The Silent Wife | Last Breath (Novella)

Book: Purchased

I read 19 of my hoped for 20 books of summer this year. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter was one. I am currently catching up on my blog with my thoughts for those I read.

You can check out my (soon to be) updated list here. Cathy from 746Books is the mastermind and host behind this annual event do take a look at her excellent blog.

Information

Published: Arrow (10 Mar. 2016) imprint of Penguin Books

Buy: Bookshop.org (affiliate link) | AmazonSmileUK | Hive | Your favourite Bookshop.

Author

Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her nineteen novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated COP TOWN and the instant NEW YORK TIMES bestselling novels PRETTY GIRLS, THE GOOD DAUGHTER, and PIECES OF HER. 

Karin Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project–a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. 

A native of Georgia, Karin Slaughter lives in Atlanta. 

Her standalone novels PIECES OF HER, THE GOOD DAUGHTER, and COP TOWN are in development for film and television.

You can check out all things Karin Slaughter on Karen’s website or follow her on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Books

Will Trent Series: It takes place in Atlanta and features GBI special agent Will Trent, his partner Faith Mitchell, and Angie Polaski. The first two books in the series are Triptych and Fractured. Later, Sara Linton from The Grant County Series joins the series, and also appears in Undone, Broken, Fallen, Criminal, Unseen, and The Kept Woman. There are also two short stories featuring Will Trent, Busted and Snatched.

Grant County series: Set in the fictional town of Heartsdale, Georgia, (in the fictional Grant County) the narrative takes place from the perspective of three main characters: Sara Linton, the town’s pediatrician and part-time coroner; her ex-husband, Jeffrey Tolliver, who is chief of police; and his subordinate, detective Lena Adams. The series includes Blindsighted, Kisscut, A Faint Cold Fear, Indelible, Faithless and Beyond Reach (also called Skin Privilege).

Standalone Novels | Short stories

Karin Slaughter books published by HarperCollins | Books published by Penguin

Out now