Pretty Girls: A Novel
by Karin Slaughter
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"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 show more 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" -- show lessTags
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Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter is the best book I’ve read so far this year. She combines great characters, outstanding plot and pacing, and she absolutely takes you into the dark, dark places of human imagination and behavior.
Pretty Girls explores all the things that happen to a family when a family member disappears. The strain it puts on a marriage, the way each family member’s life is irrevocably altered and set on a different path. And the way that not knowing what happened impacts them every day for the rest of their life. This dynamic serves as the backdrop for a story starting with another tragedy that uncovers clues that bring two estranged sisters unwillingly back together to piece together the truth.
The action in Pretty show more Girls moves forward relentlessly. The unsettling part is as much the ordinary face that evil wears as it is the horrific actions that it perpetrates. Slaughter doesn’t linger over descriptions of truly terrifying crimes, but she doesn’t shy away from them. That people who can commit these crimes walk among us as our neighbors, colleagues and friends with us none the wiser is truly terrifying.
Pretty Girls is the story of sisters driven apart by one tragedy and united by another and the search it takes them on to unlock the keys to both, along with a lot more than either of them had bargained for. A terrific story that grabs you on page one and squeezes your emotions every step of the way until the very last page. One of the best books of the year and destined for a lot of awards. Highly recommended.
I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book. show less
Pretty Girls explores all the things that happen to a family when a family member disappears. The strain it puts on a marriage, the way each family member’s life is irrevocably altered and set on a different path. And the way that not knowing what happened impacts them every day for the rest of their life. This dynamic serves as the backdrop for a story starting with another tragedy that uncovers clues that bring two estranged sisters unwillingly back together to piece together the truth.
The action in Pretty show more Girls moves forward relentlessly. The unsettling part is as much the ordinary face that evil wears as it is the horrific actions that it perpetrates. Slaughter doesn’t linger over descriptions of truly terrifying crimes, but she doesn’t shy away from them. That people who can commit these crimes walk among us as our neighbors, colleagues and friends with us none the wiser is truly terrifying.
Pretty Girls is the story of sisters driven apart by one tragedy and united by another and the search it takes them on to unlock the keys to both, along with a lot more than either of them had bargained for. A terrific story that grabs you on page one and squeezes your emotions every step of the way until the very last page. One of the best books of the year and destined for a lot of awards. Highly recommended.
I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book. show less
This was a ride of a book, let me tell you. Every time you think "oh no, that's awful, can't get much worse than that", it said "wait, watch this". I was questioning every character's motives, intentions and their status as good or bad with each interaction with them. Every. Single. Character. This was very well written with a great pace and the perfect amount of description...you know, enough to paint the picture but not so much you're skipping pages to be done with it already. I will absolutely read more from this author, including her series, and I really recommend this one to anyone that is looking for a mystery/thriller that has many elements you don't see coming.
I will warn it's a bit graphic when describing the gore and the show more assaults etc... so if you're squeamish maybe skip it. I personally thought it added the right amount of tension to the already tight mystery (mysteries?) but some people are not fans of that. Also, if you have triggers, maybe check for trigger tags for this, there are a few things I'm sure are triggering for many. show less
I will warn it's a bit graphic when describing the gore and the show more assaults etc... so if you're squeamish maybe skip it. I personally thought it added the right amount of tension to the already tight mystery (mysteries?) but some people are not fans of that. Also, if you have triggers, maybe check for trigger tags for this, there are a few things I'm sure are triggering for many. show less
Slaughter speaks the unspeakable. I'm torn: on one hand, maybe it's brave and necessary to acknowledge the parts of humanity that are most evil. Maybe it's important to remind ourselves how easy it is to fall into traps set by the most despicable among us. On the other hand, this is fiction, and fiction doesn't need this. The strongest parts of this story -- the family dynamics, examination of love and loss etc -- would have been just as strong without the absolutely sickening gore. Evil can be written subtly and hit just as hard, if not harder, than this. Look at Toni Morrison, who I think gives voices to the voiceless in fiction while also managing not to turn their pain into a spectacle. That's not to say that every author who wants show more to write difficult fiction should write like Morrison, or even be subtle about it, but this book made me wonder if, ethically, we as writers have a responsibility to be tactful when creating and sharing pain.
I don't think any of the above takes away from Slaughter's obvious skill. I just can't rate a book like this with a number system. show less
I don't think any of the above takes away from Slaughter's obvious skill. I just can't rate a book like this with a number system. show less
Best known for her Grant County and Will Trent crime fiction series, Pretty Girls is Karin Slaughter’s second stand alone novel.
After nineteen year old Julia disappeared without a trace, the Carroll family fell apart in a spectacular fashion. Twenty four years later, sisters Lydia and Claire are little more than strangers, until they are reunited at the graveside of Claire’s murdered husband, Paul. When Claire discovers some obscene videos that depict the torture, rape and murder of teenage girls on her husband’s computer she is horrified. Though a local detective assures Claire the movies are fake, one of the victims looks eerily like a girl recently reported missing and Claire finds she can’t ignore her instincts, and reaches show more out to the only person she feels she can trust, her sister, for help.
Pretty Girls is primarily a psychological thriller but includes plenty of action and graphic violence. The fast moving plot twists and turns as Lydia and Claire are caught up in a nightmarish conspiracy and become the targets of a psychopath. Their shared narrative is full of tension as they renegotiate their relationship and heal old wounds, while working together to uncover the truth about Paul, and their missing sister’s fate.
A third perspective weaves its way through the novel. Sam is the girls’ father who was obsessed with searching for Julia until he committed suicide on the sixth anniversary of her disappearance. His narrative underscores the emotional agony experienced by the shattered families of the missing who find it difficult to move on without closure.
I’m really not sure why I didn’t find Pretty Girls as compelling as many readers seem to do. It is a dark, gritty and often page turning thriller, well written with plenty to recommend it, but it didn’t grip me as fully as I hoped. show less
After nineteen year old Julia disappeared without a trace, the Carroll family fell apart in a spectacular fashion. Twenty four years later, sisters Lydia and Claire are little more than strangers, until they are reunited at the graveside of Claire’s murdered husband, Paul. When Claire discovers some obscene videos that depict the torture, rape and murder of teenage girls on her husband’s computer she is horrified. Though a local detective assures Claire the movies are fake, one of the victims looks eerily like a girl recently reported missing and Claire finds she can’t ignore her instincts, and reaches show more out to the only person she feels she can trust, her sister, for help.
Pretty Girls is primarily a psychological thriller but includes plenty of action and graphic violence. The fast moving plot twists and turns as Lydia and Claire are caught up in a nightmarish conspiracy and become the targets of a psychopath. Their shared narrative is full of tension as they renegotiate their relationship and heal old wounds, while working together to uncover the truth about Paul, and their missing sister’s fate.
A third perspective weaves its way through the novel. Sam is the girls’ father who was obsessed with searching for Julia until he committed suicide on the sixth anniversary of her disappearance. His narrative underscores the emotional agony experienced by the shattered families of the missing who find it difficult to move on without closure.
I’m really not sure why I didn’t find Pretty Girls as compelling as many readers seem to do. It is a dark, gritty and often page turning thriller, well written with plenty to recommend it, but it didn’t grip me as fully as I hoped. show less
CLAIRE: A glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. LYDIA: A single mother dating an ex-con, who struggles to make ends meet. JULIA: The sister whose devastating disappearance more than two decades earlier shattered their family. When the shocking murder of Claire’s husband brings the horror and heartbreak of the cold case of her sister’s disappearance roaring back, she is forced to form a wary truce with Lydia, whom she has not spoken to in decades. Two crimes, nearly a quarter century apart: What could connect them? Haunted, the surviving sisters begin to unearth the dark family secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago … and find the astonishing truth where they least expected it. Powerful, poignant, and an show more utterly gripping crime thriller, packed with indelible characters and dark, unforgettable twists, The secrets connecting a brutal murder to a decades-old disappearance are about to be unearthed, but will the truth save them, or bury them forever?
The story was interesting, as well as sinister with well-developed characters. It also had more secrets than "Pandora’s box". Claire had had multiple affairs, which had included her husband’s best friend and his business partner. Lydia and Claire’s father continued investigating Julia’s disappearance even though everyone else had given up. He went as far as going to visit a serial killer on death row numerous times to get information about his daughter. Lydia and Claire’s mother had continued to see their father even after she remarried. And then there was Paul. He was almost two entirely different people. He was Paul, the loving husband, and he was Paul, the serial killer. Even the cops in this one, had secrets. You couldn't trust anyone. Then there was Lydia. We learned that she had had a drug addiction and a very unfortunate past. She tried being honest with her sister about Paul’s attempt to attack her, and as a result to that, her sister cut her completely out of her life. This book is incredibly detailed; almost too much so. This might be seen as a strength, but I found it to be more of a weakness. Also, the reader should be aware that they need to have a very strong stomach, since there are some very graphic details about the murders. The murders were all recorded and the tapes hidden, Lydia finds them...watches them and graphic details, shares the contents with the readers. I didn't mind that, but some readers diffidently will. This book is for those with very strong stomachs.
I had to know what was going to happen. Every chapter leaves another question unanswered. If you can make it through the murder tapes and the descriptions, you will be captivated and intrigued to the very end. The author did a really good job of wrapping everything up. I would definitely recommend it to mystery lovers but remember it is graphic. show less
The story was interesting, as well as sinister with well-developed characters. It also had more secrets than "Pandora’s box". Claire had had multiple affairs, which had included her husband’s best friend and his business partner. Lydia and Claire’s father continued investigating Julia’s disappearance even though everyone else had given up. He went as far as going to visit a serial killer on death row numerous times to get information about his daughter. Lydia and Claire’s mother had continued to see their father even after she remarried. And then there was Paul. He was almost two entirely different people. He was Paul, the loving husband, and he was Paul, the serial killer. Even the cops in this one, had secrets. You couldn't trust anyone. Then there was Lydia. We learned that she had had a drug addiction and a very unfortunate past. She tried being honest with her sister about Paul’s attempt to attack her, and as a result to that, her sister cut her completely out of her life. This book is incredibly detailed; almost too much so. This might be seen as a strength, but I found it to be more of a weakness. Also, the reader should be aware that they need to have a very strong stomach, since there are some very graphic details about the murders. The murders were all recorded and the tapes hidden, Lydia finds them...watches them and graphic details, shares the contents with the readers. I didn't mind that, but some readers diffidently will. This book is for those with very strong stomachs.
I had to know what was going to happen. Every chapter leaves another question unanswered. If you can make it through the murder tapes and the descriptions, you will be captivated and intrigued to the very end. The author did a really good job of wrapping everything up. I would definitely recommend it to mystery lovers but remember it is graphic. show less
Ahhh I want to rate this a little higher but there is just too much gratuitous gore and sexual violence for me to bump it up more. It is certainly thrilling, and for once I wasn't screaming at the characters to make better choices. The villain is demonically evil, and the ending is satisfying. It's really long for a thriller though, and I don't feel like the characters are developed enough to warrant the length.
What a disturbing, gripping story! Think of the creepiest, best, Criminal Minds episode combined with the same caliber Law and Order SVU, expanded to the length and depth of a Silence of the Lambs, and... you get the idea.
This story is about the dessimation of a family and the sheer horror wraught by the human psyche. The heroine, Claire, a rich Georgia Barbie, is not very likeable (I kept picturing the golddigging "Meredith Blake" character from The Parent Trap), although you begin to root for her as the story unfolds.
A conspiracy theme hovers over all the unfolding horror, some of it quite graphic, and author Karin Slaughter adds an incredible amount of detail to her storytelling throughout, and less frequently, to at least some of show more her characters.
If the last chapter doesn't move you, you're a robot. Yet for me, this page-turner didn't quite all hang together. show less
This story is about the dessimation of a family and the sheer horror wraught by the human psyche. The heroine, Claire, a rich Georgia Barbie, is not very likeable (I kept picturing the golddigging "Meredith Blake" character from The Parent Trap), although you begin to root for her as the story unfolds.
A conspiracy theme hovers over all the unfolding horror, some of it quite graphic, and author Karin Slaughter adds an incredible amount of detail to her storytelling throughout, and less frequently, to at least some of show more her characters.
If the last chapter doesn't move you, you're a robot. Yet for me, this page-turner didn't quite all hang together. show less
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*****
“My girl, what happened to you now…”
There are tons of cliches that reviewers fall back upon to describe how much effect a book had upon them. It kept me up, all night, I couldn’t put it down, etc. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter brought a new one to life for me. The entire time I was reading this astounding novel I was so jittery and on the edge of my seat that I felt like I had show more just downed a triple-shot of Starbuck’s strongest.
I have read a few of Ms. Slaughter’s other novels, and she is easily one of the most daring and fearless suspense novelists working today. She takes chances, and has the skill and daring to make them work, and all of her talents are brought to to bear again here, and then some. Pretty Girls knocked me out.
When teenaged Julia Scott disappears, it destroys her family. Her father Sam becomes so obsessed with her fate that it destroys his marriage with his wife, Helen. Older daughter Lydia becomes a drug-abusing party girl, and younger sister Claire subsumes her ambitions and marries Paul, a mild-mannered and orderly architect who becomes a multimillionaire.
We watch Lydia right her life; becoming a middle-class single mother with her own business, she works endlessly with her boyfriend Rick to provide a good life for her daughter, Dee. Adding to her everyday worries is the news that a girl from Dee’s school has gone missing. Claire meanwhile, has become a tennis-playing trophy-wife with a dark underside that is revealed when she assaults another trophy wife with a tennis racket.
Then Paul is murdered during a robbery in front of Claire. Lost in grief she is further shocked to find that her home has been burgled during his funeral. Searching for insurance documents on her husband's computer she comes across some hidden videos that shatters her image of her husband. Not having spoken to her sister for years, she still decides that she needs Lydia’s help.
Understand that this is less than a fifth of the way into the story, and that so many twists and turns and revelations follow that I have opted out rather than try to describe them without spoiling the beautiful house-of-cards plot constructed my Ms. Slaughter. I wasn’t blowing smoke when I called Ms. Slaughter fearless, either; this is a visceral novel that doesn't dissemble or shy away from brutality and violence, both physical and emotional. Yet even as it stares into the abyss I found this to be a work full of strength and hope, both embodied in the touching and psychologically nuanced relationship between the sisters, Lydia and Claire.
Both are fully-realized characters, and they grow and evolve and deepen as Ms. Slaughter steers them into ever deeper and darker situations that test their resolve. Just about every character in the book feels real and true, and Ms. Slaughter’s prose never fails to captivate. Her first-person narration of Sam’s story, the father, is particularly vivid, and just about broke my heart.
If all of this wasn’t enough, Ms. Slaughter shows a very deft hand in action scenes, bringing the physical violence to life without shying from the pain and blood. I may not have mentioned it yet, but her prose is smooth and assured and the setting is vivid and feels true-to life.
As the end this novel comes to terms, with grace and skill, with the fact that life is very seldom about winning and losing, but more often about surviving. That is more than enough.
Review by: Mark Palm
Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.co... show less
“My girl, what happened to you now…”
There are tons of cliches that reviewers fall back upon to describe how much effect a book had upon them. It kept me up, all night, I couldn’t put it down, etc. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter brought a new one to life for me. The entire time I was reading this astounding novel I was so jittery and on the edge of my seat that I felt like I had show more just downed a triple-shot of Starbuck’s strongest.
I have read a few of Ms. Slaughter’s other novels, and she is easily one of the most daring and fearless suspense novelists working today. She takes chances, and has the skill and daring to make them work, and all of her talents are brought to to bear again here, and then some. Pretty Girls knocked me out.
When teenaged Julia Scott disappears, it destroys her family. Her father Sam becomes so obsessed with her fate that it destroys his marriage with his wife, Helen. Older daughter Lydia becomes a drug-abusing party girl, and younger sister Claire subsumes her ambitions and marries Paul, a mild-mannered and orderly architect who becomes a multimillionaire.
We watch Lydia right her life; becoming a middle-class single mother with her own business, she works endlessly with her boyfriend Rick to provide a good life for her daughter, Dee. Adding to her everyday worries is the news that a girl from Dee’s school has gone missing. Claire meanwhile, has become a tennis-playing trophy-wife with a dark underside that is revealed when she assaults another trophy wife with a tennis racket.
Then Paul is murdered during a robbery in front of Claire. Lost in grief she is further shocked to find that her home has been burgled during his funeral. Searching for insurance documents on her husband's computer she comes across some hidden videos that shatters her image of her husband. Not having spoken to her sister for years, she still decides that she needs Lydia’s help.
Understand that this is less than a fifth of the way into the story, and that so many twists and turns and revelations follow that I have opted out rather than try to describe them without spoiling the beautiful house-of-cards plot constructed my Ms. Slaughter. I wasn’t blowing smoke when I called Ms. Slaughter fearless, either; this is a visceral novel that doesn't dissemble or shy away from brutality and violence, both physical and emotional. Yet even as it stares into the abyss I found this to be a work full of strength and hope, both embodied in the touching and psychologically nuanced relationship between the sisters, Lydia and Claire.
Both are fully-realized characters, and they grow and evolve and deepen as Ms. Slaughter steers them into ever deeper and darker situations that test their resolve. Just about every character in the book feels real and true, and Ms. Slaughter’s prose never fails to captivate. Her first-person narration of Sam’s story, the father, is particularly vivid, and just about broke my heart.
If all of this wasn’t enough, Ms. Slaughter shows a very deft hand in action scenes, bringing the physical violence to life without shying from the pain and blood. I may not have mentioned it yet, but her prose is smooth and assured and the setting is vivid and feels true-to life.
As the end this novel comes to terms, with grace and skill, with the fact that life is very seldom about winning and losing, but more often about surviving. That is more than enough.
Review by: Mark Palm
Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.co... show less
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Author Information
104+ Works 59,749 Members
Karin Slaughter was born in Georgia on January 6, 1971. In 2001, she published her first novel, Blindsighted, which made the Dagger Award shortlist for Best Thriller Debut. She is the author of the Grant County series and the Will Trent series. Her stand-alone novels include Cop Town, Pretty Girls, and Pieces of Her. (Bowker Author Biography)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Mooie meisjes
- Original title
- Pretty Girls; Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes [short story]; Fallen
- Original publication date
- 2015-09-29; 2016-09-16
- People/Characters
- Claire Scott; Paul Scott; Lydia Delgado; Rick Butler; Adam Quinn; Fred Nolan (show all 12); Julia Carroll; Carl Huckabee; Sam Carroll; Helen Carroll; Eleanor Fitzpatrick; Anna Fitzpatrick
- Important places
- Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Dunwoody, Georgia, USA; Athens, Georgia, USA
- Important events*
- Rache
- Epigraph
- A particularly beautiful woman is a source of terror. --Carl Jung
- Dedication
- FOR DEBRA
- First words
- When you first disappeared, your mother warned me that finding out exactly what had happened to you would be wore then never knowing.
- Quotations*
- 'Een beeldschone vrouw is een bron van verschrikking.'
- Carl Jung - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Je blijft altijd mijn mooie meisje
- Blurbers
- Child, Lee
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.6
- Canonical LCC
- PS3569.L275
- Disambiguation notice
- Do not combine with the short story "The Truth About Pretty Girls."
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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