"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…"
My Thoughts:
Wow! To say that I really enjoyed this book seems kind of wrong considering how dark it was overall. After only reading two books by this author I have to say that she isn't afraid to make her readers cringe at times. She also writes some very compelling, hard to put down books! As soon as I read the above summary, I knew that I wanted to read this book. Reading through the summary again, it's funny how much that summary doesn't tell you (which is a good thing). I kind of went into reading this book expecting one thing and what I got was completely different. I've got to say that I found this book so hard to put down! This book starts and you've got this instant sense of dread....like something bad is just bound to happen and you are just waiting for it. It created this layer of suspense that really doesn't let up throughout the entire book. I found myself almost tense while I was reading just waiting to see what was going to happen next. I also really loved how this book was set up but I can't say more than that without possibly being spoiler-ey. I do want to say that there is some difficult subject matter and graphic scenes that may be disturbing for some readers. Hence why I said that Slaughter isn't afraid to make her readers cringe. She doesn't shy away from including violence and graphic detail in her books which is one of the reasons that they seem so dark.
The mystery portion of this book was very well done. It was almost two mysteries in one as there are some questions remaining of what happened so long ago to the Quinn family and then also the mystery behind the recent tragedy in Pikeville. I'm trying really hard here not to spoil anything so forgive me for being so vague. What else can I tell you without giving anything away? This book is really, really good and has a good chance of making my top reads list for the year. I found myself reading late into the night because I just didn't want to put it down. I also found that these characters aren't ones that I will be forgetting about any time soon. I would actually love if this author wrote more books and turned this into the beginning of a series! Even now I'm really excited to see what other readers thought about this book. I usually try to avoid reading reviews of books until I write my own so I'm definitely planning on checking out those reviews now.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book even when it was way darker and more intense than I had expected. I've seen a lot of hype on this book and think that it is well deserved! I myself am eager to go back and read some more from this author's back-list. This book would be perfect R.I.P. reading if you are looking for reading suggestions. Just be warned that there is some difficult subject matter included that isn't always easy to read about. Highly recommended but with that warning to go along with it.
Bottom Line: A dark and compelling read that I couldn't put down!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour.
Ooh you're right, this would be an excellent RIP reading choice! I'm glad you can recommend it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a part of the tour.
I am glad you enjoyed this one, Sam! It does sound good. I've read one Slaughter book and enjoyed it, but didn't love it. This is one I keep hearing such great things about, I want to dive right in. Thank you for your great review!
ReplyDeleteWendy, I do think that you would enjoy this one. Just be prepared as it is graphic at times but ultimately I found it to be a really great read. If you do end up reading it, let me know what you think!
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