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.
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter was published July 2, 2015, by William Morrow.
This was a bookclub pick for our library for June, in part because it was an author that had not yet been done and was available as a mass-market paperback. I had read a book by her previously (Cop Town in 2014) and liked it well enough. This one came out a year later.
This novel was intense, containing very graphic sexual-violence which is pivotal to the story plot. Slaughter pulls no punches in telling this story. That alone can make it a difficult read for some. There were passages where I had to skim over to bypass disturbing descriptions (the reading equivalent to watching a horror film between barely cracked fingers).
Given that, the story kept me engaged, eager to see the final fate of the antagonist. There are several strong themes explored around families and trauma, and how one copes with the other. Slaughter is a very strong writer and knows how to deliver a story that will linger with the readers long after the final page. This is why she has been such a successful writer for over several decades.
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