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Karin Slaughter

Pretty Girls: A Novel

Name: Pretty Girls: A Novel
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.3 (88539 reviews)
Author: Karin Slaughter
ISBN: 9780062499554

Karin Slaughter

(Author)

4.3

88,539 ratings

Lee Child says it’s “stunning… certain to be a book of the year.”

Kathy Reichs calls it “extraordinary… a major achievement.”

Gillian Flynn says of Karin Slaughter: “I’d follow her anywhere.”

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 novel from one of the finest writers working today.

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ISBN-10

0062499556

ISBN-13

978-0062499554

Print length

432 pages

Language

English

Publisher

William Morrow Paperbacks

Publication date

February 06, 2017

Dimensions

5.31 x 0.97 x 8 inches

Item weight

11.2 ounces

Popular Highlights in this book

Her father always said that the price for hearing gossip was having someone else gossip about you.
Highlighted by 2,325 Kindle readers
This was the beginning of something that might lead to everything or nothing at all.
Highlighted by 2,204 Kindle readers
Claire had realized a long time ago that if you lie with enough conviction, you can usually fool yourself.
Highlighted by 1,584 Kindle readers

Product details

ASIN :

B00VES8D6K

File size :

3664 KB

Text-to-speech :

Enabled

Screen reader :

Supported

Enhanced typesetting :

Enabled

X-Ray :

Enabled

Word wise :

Enabled

Editorial Reviews

“The author’s trademark of complex plots coupled with character studies makes Pretty Girls another standout.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“Stunning family.... Certain to be a book of the year.” — Lee Child

“Slaughter’s eye for detail and truth is unmatched. . . . I’d follow her anywhere.” — Gillian Flynn

“One of the boldest thriller writers working today.” — Tess Gerritsen

“Her characters, plot, and pacing are unrivaled among thriller writers.” — Michael Connelly

“Breathtaking…. Fiction doesn’t get any better than this.” — Jeffery Deaver, New York Times-bestselling author of Solitude Creek and The Skin Collector

“Searing, searching, soulful: a major achievement.” — Kathy Reichs, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Speaking in Bones

“A hell-raising thriller…a genuinely exciting narrative driven by strong-willed female characters who can’t wait around until the boys shake the lead out of their shoes.” — New York Times Book Review

Sample

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.

“Knowing the details won’t make it any easier,” she warned me. “The details will tear you apart.”

I was a man of science. I needed facts. Whether I wanted to or not, my mind would not stop generating hypotheses: Abducted. Raped. Defiled. Rebellious.

That was the sheriff’s theory, or at least his excuse when we demanded answers he could not give. Your mother and I had always been secretly pleased that you were so headstrong and passionate about your causes. Once you were gone, we understood that these were the qualities that painted young men as smart and ambitious and young women as trouble.

“Girls run off all the time.” The sheriff had shrugged like you were any girl, like a week would pass—a month, maybe a year—and you would come back into our lives offering a halfhearted apology about a boy you’d followed or a friend you’d joined on a trip across the ocean.

You were nineteen years old. Legally, you did not belong to us anymore. You belonged to yourself. You belonged to the world.

Still, we organized search parties. We kept calling hospitals and police stations and homeless shelters. We posted flyers around town. We knocked on doors. We talked to your friends. We checked abandoned buildings and burned-out houses on the bad side of town. We hired a private detective who took half of our savings and a psychic who took most of the rest. We appealed to the media, though the media lost interest when there were no salacious details to breathlessly report.

This is what we knew: You were in a bar. You didn’t drink any more than usual. You told your friends that you weren’t feeling well and that you were going to walk home and that was the last time anyone ever reported seeing you.

Over the years, there were many false confessions. Sadists rallied around the mystery of where you’d gone. They provided details that could not be proven, leads that could not be followed. At least they were honest when they were caught out. The psychics always blamed me for not looking hard enough. Because I never stopped looking.

I understand why your mother gave up. Or at least had to appear to. She had to rebuild a life—if not for herself, for what was left of her family. Your little sister was still at home. She was quiet and furtive and hanging out with the kind of girls who would talk her into doing things she should not do. Like sneak into a bar to hear music and never come home again.

On the day we signed our divorce papers, your mother told me that her only hope was that one day we would find your body. That was what she clung to, the idea that one day, eventually, we could lay you down in your final resting place.

I said that we might just find you in Chicago or Santa Fe or Portland or some artistic commune that you had wandered off to because you were always a free spirit.

Your mother was not surprised to hear me say this. This was a time when the pendulum of hope still swung back and forth between us, so that some days she took to her bed with sorrow and some days she came home from the store with a shirt or a sweater or a pair of jeans that she would give you when you returned home to us.

Karin Slaughter

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.

Reviews

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

88,539 global ratings

Brittney Maile

Enjoyed this book!

Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2024

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I typically read a lot of suspense and murder mystery books and this one was no different. I will say there is a bit of “torture rape murder” at one point which may be tough for some to read, but it doesn’t dominate the entire book.

BraxstonThomas

will leave you in a chokehold

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024

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Superb! Gosh, the writing here was top tier!

You will feel every emotion that these characters feel. This kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time!! The way this book kept me GASPING!? Is unreal. This was so suspenseful, I honestly didn’t see any of the twists & turns coming. You will be clutching your pearls, you will cry, you will gag, but it was worth the ride. I don’t know how to recover from this book. But I’m so glad i read it!

Please please, check trigger warnings, cause this was not for the faint of heart. But if you can deal with the horrible, gruesome, atrocious acts done by these villains, you will love this book. I know this is fiction, but this family deserved better. Any family who went through, or is going through what the Carrolls went through, you deserve better. My heart will always go out to our missing loved ones out there. We need to bring you home. 🤎🤎

6 people found this helpful

bewilliams101

Gripping and Intense Thriller That Will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

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Karin Slaughter's "Pretty Girls" is a masterpiece of suspense and mystery that captivates from the very first page. This gripping thriller delves deep into the complexities of family, secrets, and the darkness that lurks beneath seemingly normal lives.

The story follows the lives of sisters Claire and Lydia, whose worlds are shattered by a tragic event that resurfaces long-buried secrets and forces them to confront painful truths about their family's past. Slaughter weaves a tale filled with twists and turns, keeping readers guessing and turning pages late into the night.

What sets "Pretty Girls" apart is Slaughter's ability to create multifaceted characters with layers of depth and emotion. Each character, whether major or minor, feels incredibly real and flawed, adding richness to the narrative.

The pacing of the novel is relentless, building tension with each chapter until it reaches a heart-pounding climax that will leave you breathless. Themes of resilience, justice, and the power of sisterhood resonate throughout the story, making it not just a thrilling read but also a thought-provoking one.

Slaughter's writing is sharp, visceral, and unflinching in its portrayal of violence and trauma, yet it never feels gratuitous. She skillfully navigates sensitive subjects while keeping the focus on the characters' journeys and the overarching mystery.

In conclusion, "Pretty Girls" is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and suspenseful storytelling. Karin Slaughter proves once again why she is a master of the genre, delivering a riveting and unforgettable experience that will stay with you long after the final page. Highly recommended!

4 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Wow. Just wow

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2024

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I have never written a review before, but I feel strongly about this book. This book is dark, very dark. I found myself physically cold and sometimes physically shaking with some of the things that happened in this book. I had to put this book down twice and read another, more happy book in order to continue.

But I kept coming back. Not because of how dark this book is, but the characters. These characters were so deep, so complex, that they felt so real. That they could be someone I know. I was rooting for the two sisters, scared and angry for them. The husband on the other hand, wow. I'll leave it there as to not give any spoilers.

This book is so well written, with such complex characters and story lines. This book is one I have thought about often several weeks and 2 books later.

5 people found this helpful

bewilliams101

Gripping and Intense Thriller That Will Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2024

Verified Purchase

6 people found this helpful

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