Pretty Girls

By: Karin Slaughter

Narrated by: Kathleen Early

Length: 20 hrs

Publisher's summary

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

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

Jeffery Deaver says that “fiction doesn’t get any better than this.”

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

See for yourself what these #1 New York Times-bestselling authors are talking about.

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.

Included with this gripping thriller is Karin Slaughter’s chilling short story “Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes.”

©2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2015 Blackstone Audiobooks

Fantastic listen. Ignore bad reviews!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Once I started My To Do list got ditched and I could not stop listening.

Any additional comments?

I can not figure out why this book got so many bad reviews claiming it as too gory and the sexual violence was too much. The writer only included enough to make you realize how bad the perpetrator was. Without it you would never have known or gotten the full effect of the story. If you tend to be very sensitive to this subject matter, don't listen to this book. If you are not, you will probably love it!

This book needs a major trigger warning

I don't get all the rave reviews, but I'll admit that thrillers aren't really my genre of choice. Pretty much the whole book focuses on the graphic details around the horrific serial rape and murder of young girls. Maybe I should have done more research into the author/book but it wasn't obvious from the description). If the level of graphic depictions around that in game of thrones didn't bother you, I suppose this wouldn't either (but there aren't any interludes with political or comic intrigue to balance things out in this book). It's not really how I care to spend my free time. The suspense mechanisms and plot were not terribly innovative either. I did read all of it because I felt I'd be more disturbed imagining the ending than knowing it but then I tend to always finish books. The reader's performance was good.

The BEST Murder Mystery this year... possibly ever

Any additional comments?

By far, the best murder mystery I have read this year... maybe ever.

Have you ever been so terrified, devastated, disturbed, horrified but so utterly captured by a book that you just can not put it down? That is exactly how this book made me feel. At times, it was difficult to listen to, in fact, it made my stomach churn a bit, but that is what made it so captivating. Karin Slaughter writes in a way that you feel as if you are literally living between that pages of the book. This book is anyone's absolute worst nightmare, but especially for a parent.

I don't want to give anything away, but please, please pick up this book even if it isn't your usual genre (it isn't mine either). You will not be disappointed.

This is one of the few books that I would love to seen made into a movie.

Could have been a decent story, but....

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would have to warn anyone before recommending this book. I actually gave up before finishing this story, but will probably finish it eventually. Why would I warn someone before suggeting they read/listen to the book? "You can't unsee something and you can't unhear what you've heard." I am not a squeamish person usually. I have read books with horrific crimes and can handle them. This story didn't need to go into the amount of detail to be a good read. Violence against women happens everyday in the real world, and there are a lot of sick psychopaths out there. If you choose to read this book, be forewarned that this delves into some psychopathology and sociopathic tendencies. If I had chosen the print version, at least it would have been easier to skip some of the graphic violence.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

For me, it was the psychology of how well you can know a person. Certainly had interesting and messed up characters in this family. Claire and Lydia both have mental issues, and the men in the family, ...I won't give any spoilers here, but the whole family needs therapy.

What about Kathleen Early’s performance did you like?

She was fine as the narrator, even handled some of the parts with proper emotion.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I am an adult, and don't mind adult content to a certain point. This movie, if it followed the book, would be considered porn in my opinion. I definitely wouldn't watch it in a movie theater with other people and highly doubt would watch it in my home either.

Any additional comments?

Read the reviews and make your decision to read this or skip it. I personally wish I had used my credit on something else.

Very dark

The storyline was definitely gripping. I finished the book despite wanting to stop several times. Many of the scenes seemed gratuitous and unnecessarily graphic. I did not feel they were necessarily to move the story forward. I had a constant queasy, dark feeling while reading the book which I did not enjoy. It was definitely suspenseful and I kept reading to see what would happen next.

Gripping from the beginning until the end.

This is one I couldn’t stop listening to. The final chapter was an interesting way to complete the story. I will definitely be looking for more Karin Slaughter books!

wow!

great story! I loved everything about this book. I will tell everyone I know about this book

One step below porn

Good story but too much porn style writing and that could have been avoided. My interest in the author has been diminished...

WOW!!! What a book and performance!

Absolutely worth your credit. Tough subject matter but incredible storytelling that draws you in! So glad I got this. I need to find more from this author and the performer.

Warning

The author is a fabulous writer, and the narrator is excellent. But this is so over-the-top graphic, it makes me sick to my stomach. The level of detail in the absolutely brutal rape and murder of several women, over and over and over again, is beyond disturbing. I couldn’t finish it.