Pretty Girls

Author: Karin Slaughter
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Type: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 575
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: William Morrow
First Published: 2015
Opening Lines: "When you first disappeared, your mother warned me that finding out exactly what had happened to you would be worse than never knowing. We argued about this constantly because arguing was the only thing that held us together at the time.

Book Description from GoodReads: 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.

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.

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

My Rating: 2.5 stars

My Review: This was my third book by Karin Slaughter. She has interesting plots and can ratchet up the suspense but, while I think she can write well, I just can't stomach the graphic violence that she liberally uses in her books. After reading the first two books from her Grant County series, I was hoping that this standalone would have less graphic violence. Oh m'word. I did not get my wish.

This book isn't for the faint of heart but that's not to say I didn't enjoy certain aspects. I was engaged in the story for the first 75% or so of the book but after that point, the plot begins to unravel, and the believability of the plot takes a massive hit. There are bits of humour sprinkled into the dialogue which I enjoyed but the extreme violence, which is graphically detailed, was too much for me. I had thought about putting it down, but other reviewers had said they were glad they stuck it out, so I kept going. Unfortunately, I should have just walked away.

I think that Slaughter can write well but I don't think she and I are a good fit. I'd like to be able to sleep at night after reading a book and her vivid descriptions of depravity keep my brain thinking about gruesome things. Those with stronger constitutions may enjoy her books more than me.