As this prequel novella tells the story of the missing girl from Slaughter’s excellent novel, “Pretty Girls”, it really should be read second. It’s compelling, and suspenseful, and especially poignant knowing how everything ends for her in the novel. But it also went on far too long. It should have been a short story, rather than a novella.

Audiobook, borrowed from my public library via Overdrive. Excellent performance by Kathleen Early, the same narrator that reads “Pretty Girls”.

From my physical non-fiction shelf -  Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage by Edith B. Gelles and Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and his Nation by Susan Williams.

From my science reading list - The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman and Rise of the Rocket Girls by Natalia Holt. 

From my Nixon reading list - 1968: The Year That Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky.

From my Winter COYER reading list - Radio Girls by Sarah Jane Stratford, Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson, and Master of Love by Catherine LaRoche.

From my physical fiction shelf - The Trouble with Valentine's Day by Rachel Gibson.

Library pick - Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspear.

Finally, I am doing an experiment. Every Friday, I am going to read a short book from either my NOOK or Kindle. I am using Random Number Generator to pick from a list. I will announce these picks on my Friday reads. 

I almost knocked this down to two stars because of some fairly graphic depictions of sadistic torture and the implausibility of certain nefarious goings-on that involved a wide-ranging conspiracy of well-connected people being involved in something very disturbing and complicit in covering that thing up.

However--I kept wanting to move forward to find out how the story resolved, and I cared about the main characters.  Proceed with caution, though, especially if the first part of my opening sentence sounds like something you feel you need to avoid.

More than 20 years before, a 19-year-old college student named Julia Carroll disappeared.  Her case was never solved, and local law enforcement seemed to be satisfied with the assumption that she left of her own accord, to quietly begin a life in some other part of the world, without notifying her parents, sisters, or friends.

Julia's disappearance shattered her family.  Her father Sam became entirely focused on solving the case, while her mother Helen moved between checking out altogether and deciding that moving on was the only way to fulfill the needs of their surviving daughters, Lydia and Claire.  Lydia drifted into drug addiction, while Claire became a people pleaser, focused on being popular but not standing out too much.  Lydia has been estranged from Helen and Claire since she made an accusation about Claire's then-boyfriend (later husband), Paul Scott.

As the book opens, Claire has just had removed the ankle monitor she has had to wear following an assault charge and plea bargain.  She and Paul, a ridiculously successful architect, are meeting in a bar to celebrate, but after he is uncharacteristically late, they are attacked in an alley, where he has exhibited unfamiliar behavior, and they experience an attack that leaves Paul dying as Claire watches helplessly.

Soon after the incident, Claire begins to discover clues that Paul had another side she'd been unaware of, and which aligns with Lydia's accusations years before.  As she begins to rethink everything she thought she knew, she contacts Lydia, who has a teenage daughter of her own, and has turned her life around since her drug-using days.  Neither is initially sure they can trust the other, but soon their sibling loyalty is reestablished. 

What might Julia's disappearance have to do with the recent disappearance of 16-year-old Anna Kilpatrick?  Are there clues to be found in the journals that Sam Carroll left behind?  What secrets about Paul will the sisters uncover?

As suggested above, this book had me hooked on finding out what happens.  Although I started with the audiobook, I ended up switching to the Kindle version to progress faster.  I will say there is a twist I didn't see coming, and then I almost smacked myself on the head, because I've read enough thrillers where that kind of twist occurs.  But I won't say anything further about that (working to keep this spoiler-free).

This may be my last in the series. With the exception of my growing fondness for Lena, I don't care for any of the other characters and there are a few to whom I would like to see bad things happen.

This story was much harder for me to read than the first. The subject matter is one that I have a particularly tough time reading about but I don't think it was any more or less graphic than the first in the series, Blindsighted. Actually, it was probably less graphic but more emotionally painful.

There are a few things about Slaughter's style that I don't care for, one of them being how often she uses phrases like "if Jeff noticed the dismembered leg on the windshield, he didn't mention it." There must be other ways to state that someone didn't react to things that the POV character notices. 

I also have a problem with the sexism and homophobia that have been present in both of the books I've read in this series. Yes, I know that they're older books and set in Georgia. Some of the things that Slaughter writes for the characters - Jeff in particular but even some of the things that the female characters think or say - make me cringe. Lines about women knowing when to keep their mouths shut and dressing like they care more about their jobs than being a woman. I'm surprised a woman would write shit like that.

Anyway, we'll see if I eventually keep going. 

I just want to punch Jeffrey in the face all the time. All. The. Time. 

I'm feeling much more for Lena in this book than the last. Still not connecting with Sara. I haven't had much eyeball time and the narrator of the audio is pretty bad. I'm looking forward to the story unfolding though.