Books 67-68: Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes and Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
Book 67: Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes.
Author: Karin Slaughter, 2015.
Genre: Crime Thriller.
Other Details: ebook. 80 pages.
A missing girl in the news reminds Julia Carroll of herself: nineteen, beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyes. Julia begins to dig deeper and plans an article for her college paper. She becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, never imagining how close she herself is to danger. - synopsis from UK publisher's website.
Oh Karin Slaughter I am not sure if I love you or hate you! I am used to reading these kind of short stories from various authors prior to a new release. They provide a pleasant diversion though this turned out to be a prequel teaser for her new book, Pretty Girls. I quickly came to care about Julia and this story and the sample chapters of Pretty Girls made me eager to read that book right away rather than waiting for library copy or for Kindle price to drop. Happily I only had to wait a day for publication.
Book 68: Pretty Girls.
Author: Karin Slaughter, 2015.
Genre: Crime Thriller.
Other Details: ebook. 544 pages.
With a missing girl in the news, Claire Scott can’t help but be reminded of her sister, who disappeared twenty years ago in a mystery that was never solved. But when Claire begins to learn the truth about her sister, nothing will ever be the same. synopsis from UK publisher's website.
This stand-alone thriller certainly packs punch after punch. As noted above I had been well hooked by the prequel story 'Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes', which set up Julia's story.
Aside from her long missing sister, Claire is also estranged from her other sister, Lydia. While Claire lives a life of luxury as the wife of a millionaire businessman, Lydia is a single mother struggling to make ends meet. Events bring them back into contact and the reasons for the estrangement is revealed along with many other twists. I lost count of the number of times I was knocked back by another revelation.
As with other of her novels it was highly violent and quite disturbing in places. If you plan to read do avoid spoilers. It proved a very satisfying tale with strong characterisations, especially of its female protagonists. I really could not fault this novel. It was a roller-coaster of a read and I am glad that I bought it on the day of release.
Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge.