It’s no secret that I’m a mega Karin Slaughter
fan. Ever since I read PRETTY GIRLS, I’ve steadily been making my way through
the Will Trent series, along with every standalone Slaughter has released. And
thanks to the super awesome folks at Harper Collins Canada, who made my whole life by sending me an advanced copy of THE
GOOD DAUGHTER, I was able to get
an early read. Wooooooot!
The back jacket, from Goodreads:
The stunning new novel
from the international #1 bestselling author — a searing, spellbinding blend of
cold-case thriller and psychological suspense.
Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville's notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again — and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized — Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case that unleashes the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried forever…
Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville's notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again — and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized — Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case that unleashes the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried forever…
__
If you’ve read anything by Karin Slaughter, you’re aware that it
never takes long for things to get dark, and that’s the case for THE
GOOD DAUGHTER as well. But to paraphrase the front cover blurb by Gillian
Flynn, I’ll follow Karin Slaughter
anywhere, because although she has a remarkable knack for writing
graphically violent scenes, they aren’t gratuitous. Instead, they create a
necessary baseline and in this case, I needed to know where Charlotte and
Samantha Quinn began in order to understand their behaviour as adults. And at
its core, that’s what THE GOOD DAUGHTER is about: how Charlie and Sam were affected
by a horrific night in their childhood, and the memories that resurfaced when
another crime occurred, twenty-eight years later.
Cover design by Joe Montgomery
Cover photographs: © Michael Trevillion/Trevillion Images (woman);
© Balazs Kovacs / Arcangel (match detail)
Raised by a ferociously intelligent mother—one who could spurt out
technical and scientific facts like a Wikipedia page (only correct)—and a
father who followed his conscience at all costs, even to the detriment of his
family, Charlie and Sam didn’t shy away from claiming their space. Both women
had strong senses of self, and were aware of their challenges (whether they
faced them or not) and it was refreshing to read two flawed female characters
who didn’t apologize for themselves. That said, they were each fairly
emotionally stunted, because not dealing with the aftereffects of traumatic
experiences doesn’t mean they go away, but their hearts, beaten and battered as
they were, remained open enough to feel sympathetic towards others, which served
them well.
To keep it real, it’s been a challenge to write this review because there
are so many specific elements I want to share. I won’t, of course, in order to keep
things spoiler-free, but I will say that THE GOOD DAUGHTER is one of the most
remarkable psychological suspense novels I’ve ever read. I was enthralled with
Charlie and Sam right from the beginning. And as the novel continued, the sisters' deepest thoughts, blind spots, fears, hopes, and dreams were up close and
personal, to the point that it sometimes felt intrusive. Fascinating, mind you, but painfully intimate, and during certain scenes,
I morphed into a ball of weepy disaster, fearing that my heart had actually
broken—a new experience for me in regards to Slaughter's work.
So while the graphic nature of THE GOOD DAUGHTER may not be for
everybody, the raw emotional content is worth the risk. Ultimately, I felt
uplifted by this twisty, painful, and grounded tale, with a heavy dose of
police/legal procedural, and if I could give it more than five stars, I would.
Massive thanks to Harper Collins Canada for
an ARC!
__
For this mani, I used:
Kb shimmer – Shade Shifter
FingerPaints – Paper Mâché and Black
Expressionism
OPI – Rollin’ in Cashmere, Samoan Sand, My Twin Mimmy, and matte topcoat
Julep - Nadine
Mitty Burns – Minty 0 and Clean Flat Pro
nail art brushes
