I am so glad I picked this up, it was a wild ride of a book! I went into this pretty blind so that I didn't even know things that were mentioned in the blurb! With thrillers, I find that the most enjoyable way to read them so that everything is a surprise.

The first third of this book was absolutely mental and I was totally invested and shocked by what was happening. Then, I felt it slowed down slightly for the second third and then it picked up again for the final third, obviously, due to the plot resolving and tying up loose ends.


However, I've heard many, many good things about Karin Slaughters books and how they are full of gore and shocks so my expectations were pretty high! So overall I found only the start of the book to be full of gore, with only one or two odd moments of it later on and this wasn't quite enough for me.

My enjoyment was probably also dampened slightly because when the plot was being resolved I got a bit confused. Well done me... but thankfully one of the characters then says "to clarify...." and explains it all again in simple terms to help people like me out! This meant the shock factor was lost on me a little, but that's not the authors fault, it's my stupid self's fault!

This book kept me gripped to the end, and had me finding excuses to pick up my Kindle. It is a good page turner, and provided me with all the things I like in a thriller - believable and likeable characters, back stories that show why the characters are flawed, suspense, and atmosphere.
The sisters Charlie and Sam were damaged by the trauma of a terrible event when they were teenagers. They dealt with the experience in different ways. But both women were strong and determined, and I was cheering them on throughout the book.
Not one for the faint hearted, the book was shocking and tense, and one I would certainly recommend. I am off to buy more of Karin Slaughter’s books, and look forward to her next one. Maybe a follow-on? Thank you #NetGalley. #TheGoodDaughter

I have wanted to read this book since the hardback came out last year so was delighted to receive an ARC copy for the paperback edition release. Although this is the first book I have read by Karin Slaughter, I have heard so much about this author and couldn’t wait to get stuck in to this book.

At first, I found the style very different to the kind of psychological thrillers I like to read. There was a lot of intense action with blood and gore which was a bit too much for me; I almost put the book down. However, I am so glad I never.

With an omniscient third-person narrative, family and relationships are at the heart of this book. The novel explores the themes of love and deceit: how one person will do anything to protect those closest to them including putting themselves in danger; and another will do anything to protect themselves above anything or anybody.

Starting with Samantha and Charlotte Quinn, aged 15 and 13 respectively, we see how the lives of these young girls were torn apart when two masked men came to their house looking for their father. One of the masked attackers calls the other one by his name, and the other calls his accomplice ‘Bro’. The girls then recognise their attackers as two notorious brothers who are clients of their father.

Samantha is determined to protect her younger sister at all costs. Charlotte finally manages to escape with her life by running to the house of a young school teacher, whilst Samantha is shot and left for dead buried in a ditch. But true to its genre, nothing is at is seems. When one of the brothers is sentenced to death, and the other is on death row, the neighbourhood accuses the girls of lying.

Twenty-eight years later and Charlotte is caught up in a shooting at her old school, where a young girl has seemingly shot one of her teachers (the husband of the teacher who came to Charlotte’s rescue) as well as another student. Caught with the gun in her hand it appears straight forward that Kelly is the shooter. However, her defence lawyer, Randy Quinn (Charlotte and Samantha’s father) believes she is innocent.

Set in an old town where nobody moves away and everybody knows everybody’s business, this page-turning plot delves into events of the past, linking them to events of the present day. Not just to solve the shooting, but to uncover the hidden turmoil in the lives of the two sisters.

There are some great twists and turns in this novel; I did guess some of them but that just made me turn the pages all that faster to see if I was right. This was a very satisfying read. Under Literature Love’s rating scheme, this book has been awarded 4 out of 5 stars. This means: I really enjoyed this book. This book is highly recommended.


Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an Advance Review Copy of this book.

Karin slaughter once again proves to be an amazing thriller writer. This had me hooked immediately. The story flits around in time, giving you so much details, as well as different perspectives on events. It allows you to really get to know the characters, who, although flawed, I ended up caring for and liking. A fantastic novel with real shocking twists.

Bit of a strange one this, I enjoyed it in parts but felt the book was a little too long for me. It just seemed to drag on when it could have finished 100 pages earlier.

Good and entertaining read, you really empathise with some characters and not with others. Some harrowing scenes that you come to expect from Karin Slaughter - a terrific author.

Can't wait for the next one!

This book was so good I purchased a physical copy. It's sitting proudly on my shelf.
Great writing. Great story. Go buy it.

This is the first stand alone novel I have read by this author and it does not disappoint. The story is intriguing and it is hard to say too much without giving the plot away.
I think it is fair to say if you like this author you will love this book. It twists and turns and reveals more about the central characters as it progresses.

This is the story of a terrible childhood incident which is re-told as an adult. Something happened to Charlie and her sister on the day their mother was murdered. Their adult lives follow very different courses and they come back together again only because their father is unwell.

The full details of the childhood incident are not revealed at the time. But the story gradually unfolds as it is tied up in another terrible situation. It is complex, but reasonable easy to follow. I liked the characterisation and especially the way that the sister's lives turned out to be very different.

I expected to like this book because of the author, although I have only previously read the Grant county series.

Thank you to Netgally for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another addictive page turner by Karin Slaughter. The story's twists definitely got me. The characters had me intrigued the entire story.

The story is dark (hello, it's Karin Slaughter!), and so heart wrenching. I had a book hangover for days and didn't want to start another book.

Amazing read!

This is a new author to me. The writing is very detailed which I enjoyed. I will look out for more books by Karin Slaughter

This is the first Karin Slaughter book I've read and I was impressed by the detail in the story and her ability to create believable, flawed characters. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

I don’t have the words to describe how much I loved this book!!! It was compelling, it was emotional, at time it was sitting on the edge of your seat drama.

I loved the two main characters of Sam and Charlie, and I loved how they felt like real people, with their grief, flaws and annoying characteristics. I also really liked how you read it from both of their perspectives, and the time jumps were easy to understand. I loved how you saw the opening tragedy and the later events from both Sam and Charlie’s perspectives, especially as parts of the later tragedy intermingle with the first tragedy.

This book was just excellently written and I didn’t want to put it down from beginning to end.

This was my first book by Karin Slaughter and it didn't disappoint. The characters have great depth and their relationships with each other were equally as intriguing as the main plot, which moves along at a good pace with very little down time. There were some good twists too, which I never saw coming.
I am currently ordering Karin Slaughter's back catalogue.

I really enjoy Karin Slaughter’s popular Grant County series which features Will Trent and so when I was offered the opportunity to have a sneak peak of her new, standalone, novel ‘ The Good Daughter’ my fingers were crossed that it would be as good, if not, better and I have not been disappointed.
The book starts with a frightening memory of two young sisters being walked, at gunpoint, into the woods behind their home after seeing their mother shot dead by intruders who were looking for their father. Fast forward twenty eight years and we, the readers, follow Charlie’s story as she is the witness in another case which leads to painful memories of the tradegy that shaped her life all those years ago.
A well paced book which keeps the reader’s attention right to the very end. Karin Slaughter has written a fantastic stand alone book which will appeal to readers who enjoy a high intensity psychological suspense story. The reader is lead through a number of twists and turns which is set in the present day but also links back to Charlie’s childhood and a time that she has tried hard to leave behind. Throughout the book I enjoyed the high intensity and building fast pace of the novel and I found myself being shocked many times during the story as Slaughter slips in an unexpected twist or reveal.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a great read this summer time. It is one of those books that once a reader starts they are enthralled to the very end so make sure you have time to devour this book as it is not easy to put it down once started.

Thank you to the publishers, Harper Collins, for inviting me to take part in this blog tour.

3.5 Stars
Trigger Warning for Rape and Miscarriage

This book was intense (in a good way) from the plot to the writing. I didn't know what to expect as i dont tend to read many Mystery Thrillers, However i was pleasantly surprised on how much i enjoyed it.

I loved Charlie and Sam our main characters who go through a lot together. They both have a very strong mentality in their own way and who also suffer with Trauma from the same event that happened in the book.

I very much enjoyed the suspense of what was happening and about to happen and what secrets were hidden.
This book isn't for the faint-hearted as there is many mentions of blood and gore so be wary.

This was my first Karin Slaughter book and certainly wont be my last.

With their father Rusty being a defence lawyer for the guilty, sisters Charlotte and Samantha are used to the disapproval of the town locals; the hurtful comments, the general disdain for their father and what he stands for. They ignore it all and love their father and mother, nicknamed Gamma, regardless. When the girls house is targeted by arsonists, they are forced to move to a “higgeldy-piggeldy” house in the woods and think they’ve hit rock bottom. When the girls are thrust into an horrendous, terrifying situation and find themselves alone and in serious danger, they have to split up to survive. This night changes everything for them.

Fast forward 28 years and Charlotte and Samantha, now in their forties have survived. Unable to escape the demons of that fateful night, the girls have drifted apart and have a fractured relationship where they now barely speak. Sam is a rich, successful corporate lawyer living in New York City. Charlie followed in Rusty’s footsteps and works in their hometown, in the same office as her quirky, loyal father. With Charlie’s marriage in pieces, she makes a mistake which drags her into another terrifying situation where her life is again in danger. When Sam is told that Charlie needs her, she reluctantly and slowly makes her way from New York to Pikeville; the hometown she was happy to leave behind.

When the girls meet, their fractured relationship makes it difficult for each of them to back down and admit they each need each other’s help. As they try to repair the damage of the last 28 years and that one fateful night, the truth slowly emerges and we find out exactly what happened and the journey they’ve both made to get them to today.

At the same time, the girls are dragged into acting as co-counsel for the accused in the crime that Charlie got herself mixed up in. The girls begin to work as a team and we see them sharing the secrets of their lives win each other as they start to rebuild their broken relationship.

The Good Daughter is absolutely packed full of action, drama and secrets. It perfectly shows how easily family relationships can be fractured or broken based on each other’s expectations. The writing is very good and the book is well paced with perfectly-timed reveal of the truths. The conversations between characters are brilliantly developed and you can imagine sitting there listening to them talking and arguing. The girls characters are both brilliant: Charlie is considered the screw up, the one that missed her chance and couldn’t move on, she makes mistakes, she has a temper and she won’t back down. Reunited with older sister Sam, Charlie turns back into a stroppy teenager who sulks and mocks her sister and you can perfectly envisage the girls and their bickering sibling relationship like your own!

I’d definitely recommend The Good Daughter. It tackles some hard-hitting subjects but the story and the characters are well researched and developed and provide an all round good read that becomes addictive.

Thank you to Karin Slaughter, NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I strongly suspect that it won't be the last.

The author has skillfully woven a story around an horrific event in the sisters' lives, with the full trauma and consequences being teased out through the book. Add the current drama in to the mix, along with the colourfully complex characters, and you have a wonderfully emotional and tense story which is well worth the space on your kindle.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

As Frightening a Thriller as you'll ever get:
This is a chilling thriller with a message: in the fraction of a second that it takes to pull the trigger of a revolver, and the bullet to find its target, lives are changed forever. There can be no turning back the clock.
This novel has its beginnings in events 30 years earlier and deals with the consequences on the lives of the survivors.
Meanwhile in the current day Charlie, now a lawyer, is witness to a school shooting in which there are two victims.
The author, Karin Slaughter, links both events, not just through the presence of Charlie at the crime scene but also through Rusty, her father, as attorney for the defence. To say too much more about both crime scenes would potentially be a spoiler, but let it be said that both crime scenes share more in common than that which might first appear.
There is nothing like a small Southern US town to provide atmosphere and the author uses this and the "incestuous" nature of a small town to add to the creepiness. (Think of Jane Harper's "The Dry").
This is a novel which will have some readers hiding under the bedcovers, or behind a cushion, depending on your preference for place of reading. This is not a novel for the feint-hearted: it features grisly details of violence.
Boasting an excellent plot this novel had me hooked from the start and via many twists and turns, right to its eye opening end.
The novel deals with serious issues; the death penalty and death row, consequences of violence on victims, and forgiveness to name but a few. If you like your Detective fiction to have you gripping the arms of your chair this is definitely a book for you. A great read.

This is a clever book, sometimes too clever as the reader is dragged through a web of details which explain and link past and present. Sometimes it feels hard to believe but good enough to keep reading.
The relationships are realistic, the conversations not:
Do people really speak to each other like this? Trying to decipher intent is hard work as the riddles of words are exchanged.
Despite my reservations, I was strangely satisfied by the conclusion. The world had some kind of balance after the trail of debris left by the lawyer-with-a conscience. But it would not surprise me if the book becomes film: it has that kind of structure.
After a reluctant start...all that blood and teeth and brains....it was worth staying with it for the zigzag ride.

Nail-biting.

A gripping plot with well rounded characters. I couldn't wait to see what happened and stayed up late to finish it.

This is the first Karen Slaughter book I've read, but will be hunting the others out.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.