Book blurb...
'Slaughter has outdone herself with Pieces of Her - a novel that sets the standard for psychological thriller writing. Rarely in fiction have the past and the present collided with such force and in such a distinctive and compelling voice' Jeffery Deaver
What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all?
Andrea Oliver's mother, Laura, is the perfect small-town mum. Laura lives a quiet but happy life in sleepy beachside Belle Isle. She's a pillar of the community: a speech therapist, business owner and everybody's friend. And she's never kept a secret from anyone. Or so Andrea thinks.
When Andrea is caught in a random violent attack at a shopping mall, Laura intervenes and acts in a way that is unrecognisable to her daughter. It's like Laura is a completely different person - and that's because she was. Thirty years ago. Before Andrea. Before Belle Isle.
Laura is hailed as a hero for her actions at the mall but 24 hours later she is in hospital, shot by an intruder, who's spent decades trying to track her down.
What is Andrea's mother trying to hide? As elements of the past return and put them both in danger, Andrea is left to piece together Laura's former identity and discover the truth - for better or worse - about her mother. Is the gentle, loving woman who raised her also a violent killer?

My thoughts…
Karen Slaughter is a prolific writer and one I will seek out in future. I have not read any of her books before and I believe I have missed many opportunities to be swept away into the world she creates with her stories.
This story captured my attention from the first page and occupied my mind for days. When you read this story it reminds you to be grateful that you know the family around you.
Or do you????
A great mystery. One that puts you firmly in the protagonist’s place and makes you feel everything she is feeling and wishing you were a part of the puzzle.

As always, Slaughter weaves a gritty story and I was addicted from the start! I’ve loved all her books and this one is no exception. Her characters and plot are fantastic!

I never quite know what l am going to get with Karin Slaughter. I have not read her series, but think l would like to try them eventually. I have read some of her previous standalone novels and have been a bit all over the place with feelings about them. This book is no different.
Normally l am shocked by the graphic descriptions (some of which seem overly gratuitous) but this book was less graphic than say, Pretty Girls.
After a mass shooting incident where Andy's mother shows a side her daughter has never seen, Andy sets out on a road trip of discovery into her mother's past. What she finds will shake her world and put her life at risk.
Overall, with this one I quite enjoyed the story line. The writing was, as always, fantastic. Karin Slaughter really knows how to pace her stories to ramp up the tension. The only thing that really got to me about this one was the character of Andy. She was 31 years old and basically useless. I wanted a main character with more backbone (like her mother), someone l could really root for, but instead I just found her really annoying. This aside, the rest of the book was really good, though it was nowhere near the perfection that was The Good Daughter.

(review scheduled on my blog for next week)