The Quarry Girls was painfully predictable throughout. I wanted to enjoy it. Unfortunately, in this case I was simply hanging on to the end with hope the story would twist, turn, or improve. For me, it did not. Great premise but the delivery was disappointing.

The setting really made this one come alive for me. I think the big reveal was obvious early on but I liked the story just because of the vibe of the time period.

Based on true events.

I haven’t read any of the author’s serial books but I have read two of her novels before this one. She has a unique way of disturbing the reader with small town stories set in the recent past (1960s - 1980s) where there is clearly something very rotten in that town. Nothing is overly graphic but your mind fills in the blanks and leaves you feeling extremely discomfited. It’s like an oily film on your skin that you desperately want to wash away.

It’s the summer of 1977 in St Cloud Minnesota. Heather and her two best friends Maureen and Brenda are on the cusp of womanhood, they have formed a band and spend time at the local quarries swimming and sunbathing but everything is about to change. It starts with the abduction of Beth McCain after she finished her shift at the diner. She never turned up at the party that was held at the quarry that night. Sheriff Jerome Nillson wrote her off as a runaway. Heather is already walking on eggshells at home because of her mother’s fragile mental state. Her father, the DA, spends more and more time away from home and Heather is left to care for her 12 year old sister, Junie.

The houses in the part of town they live in, Pantown, are connected by tunnels from their basements as Pantown was developed as worker accommodation for the Pan factory which closed down years ago. The kids often play down in the tunnels. One night Heather, Brenda, Junie and Claude are playing down and Junie opens a door to the basement of one of the houses. What they see there shocks them to their core. It is bad - very bad, but they can’t tell anyone. In this town, people hold their secrets very tightly!

The girls’ band gets a gig at the town fair one night and Maureen doesn’t come home that night. The sheriff again seems disinterested. Heather is feeling more and more paranoid, after all she is technically still a child but rapidly being forced to grow up. Then her friend Brenda disappears and Heather’s fear is displaced by anger at the betrayals of people she should have been able to trust. The truth is a very rude shock and nearly undoes her.

The atmosphere of this book was very menacing and claustrophobic. Parts of it made my skin crawl. It was so well done. I feared for Heather and Junie throughout the story. Heather’s character was fantastic, she was forced to grow up quickly and, despite her fears, she rose to the occasion and she protected her little sister who didn’t realise how much danger she was in. This was a thrilling but very disturbing read and I loved it. Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

I really jive with Jess Lourey’s writing and stories. I love the focus on the kids and their relationships with each other and the adults in their lives. We also always get a perfect creepy small town setting with GREAT characters.

This book was no exception. Our main character Heather is nuanced and clever, but acts believably for her age. The villains are well crafted and honestly realistic.

And the tunnels???? I would have loved to have those as a kid and they were a great addition to a great story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Quarry Girls
What a well written novel, set in the 1970's, Heather is the main character, teenager, having to take care of her sister because her mom is not well and dad works all the time as the DA.
As the story unfolds, girls are missing, there are tunnels under the houses, kids play down there, and the doors open to other homes, most are locked, but the same key opens may door. There are some other sinister events going in, Heather is trying to sort things out, figures out why her friend has gone missing. Her dad listens but brushes it all under the table, Heather is trying to protect her younger sister from it all at the same time. Seems there is a sequel predator in the town.
The mystery unfolds, this is a gripping story, well written, excellent characters and well introduced, this is the first novel I have read by Jess Louery, I will be looking for more.

I had zero expectations going into this one and I really enjoyed it! Set in the 1970's a serial killer on the loose gave me heavy "Nightstalker" vibes. I like that it kept me guessing and hooked from start to finish. This was my first Jess Lourey read and I will be reading more.

This book is so disturbing! Yet all her books seem to be which I'm all for. Not sure I could live in a town with tunnels connecting everyone's homes 🧐 I can see the perk of this but also terrifying as hell.

Clearly no man in Pantown can be trusted. It almost seems to be a cult and they don't even know it. No one ever leaves, men can do whatever to any women, everyone has to go to church (or should be going to church).

If you thought Bloodline was insane definitely grab this one. It's a slow build, but definitely worth it

I enjoyed this book so much! A view into the 1970s teenage life and fear that came with it when girls start disappearing. My first book by this author but will not be my last.

Killers hiding in plain sight. Small-town secrets. A girl who knows too much. All that and more. Lourey is one of my favorite writers and this book may be her best. I felt as though I was reliving parts of my own teenage years based on how realistically and insightfully these characters have been drawn. It's a dark and creepy story for sure but in a delicious way that makes you wish you were there and actually knew these girls and Lourey makes you feel that you do. I am giving this book to everyone I know for the holidays this year because this is a book that shouldn't be missed. And seriously...can we have a movie here? I am already casting it in my mind.Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This was a little better than the first book ive read by this author but not the greatest. It made me want to read from her again but maybe thriller is not her style

This 1970s set story was disappointingly predictable with characters were oversimplified into their clichéd types. Even the troubling family dynamics lacked unique spins. The narrator told the story in a bland voice and overall it was a struggle to get through this book.

A wonderful coming-of-age novel, with a healthy dose of serial killer for good measure. What wasn't there to like?

The Quarry Girls is brilliant. Born in the 70s, I have a deep understanding of what it was like for women back then - the unquestioning obedience to the “man of the house” would be pretty disturbing now, but then it was the norm. Nowadays I'd look at this "conformity" with concern, but as they say, life was different back then.

My heart hurt for the girls of Pantown. On the one hand, it felt like they didn’t stand a chance, but on the other, they were ready to triumph. A story about gutsy, small-town heroes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for graciously allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Devoted Jess Lourey fans know that she has a darkly-immersive style all-her-own. Some might argue that she's mastered the 70s/80s midwest serial killer thriller, delivering plots designed to knock the wind out of you by the end.

In some ways, "The Quarry Girls" delivers on what Lourey's readers will have come to expect. The year is 1977, and small-town secrets simmer deep below the surface in Pantown, Minnesota. Heather, Brenda, and Maureen are best friends and bandmates, soaking up everything teenage summers have to offer: county fairs, swimming in the deep quarries, and staying out late in the tunnels that lurk below Pantown. After all, everyone knows everyone in a small town...or do they?

Overall, I'm disappointed to say that "The Quarry Girls" felt a bit been-there-done-that for Lourey. While the plot had its own unique spins, the general setting, characters, and even family dynamics written into the story felt strangely familiar and not novel enough to really have their intended impact. For the amount of characters in the story, it almost felt as though they'd been oversimplified into generalizations: men are hunters, women are prey. What resulted was a cast of characters that felt cliche and underdeveloped, a big difference from "Unspeakable Things."

Not Lourey's best but also not an outright-bad book, I'd recommend this to readers who like her easy-to-read style and the dark descent it takes you into Midwest small towns. A pro tip: read "Unspeakable Things" and "Litani" first.

A new author for me and one I will be forever reading. Loved the time period and the storyline!!! These girls are essentially raising themselves and each other. Based loosely on true events and well written.
Thank you to the Author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

As a Jess Lourey fan and fellow Minnesotan, I wanted to love this book. I ended up liking it, and I'd like to give 3.5 stars, but I will round up for the nostalgia factor. The references to food, clothing and pop culture from the 1977 era was great fun to read about.

I loved Unspeakable Things by Ms. Lourey, so I set my expectations quite high for Quarry Girls, since this was another suspense set in a familiar-to-me town in a time period I also grew up in. I just couldn't get behind the plot. There were too many far-fetched points, which I don't want to spoil for other readers.

I will continue to read her suspenseful mysteries and look for that next gem.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Love the whole small town, who’s it going to be. I do think I connected more to this one because I’m from a small town similar that has a quarry. I could truly see this happening in my town. Bits and pieces were quite cheesy in my opinion, but a decent quick read.

Jess Lourey is the best at writing small town, Americana thrillers. The atmosphere is always perfect in her books and this one is no exception. The late 70s are alive and well as we follow along with Heather during the summer between her sophomore and junior year. The story centers on 3 girls that go missing/are found dead and the secrets that the town holds. I loved that the focus was on the way girls are treated, the issues we face while growing older, and the way that society often sweeps things under the rug. Overall, I felt this book was a look into a lot of women's lives growing up. It was a page turner and I just had to know who was responsible. I was a bit let down by the actual killers because it didn't feel fully developed in a way. I really enjoyed this read and would definitely recommend it!

Another page turner by Jess Lourey, this one encapsulating our lives growing up. This book brought me back to my pre-teen years, that period of time where everything is is full of drama, worrying about fitting in, and the struggle between innocence and growing up. This story took a little longer than usual to get into, but likely because it resurfaced many of those memories but allowed me to look at them from a different perspective. Once getting past this I found myself drowning in questions and theories about what our character(s) are experiencing. I wanted them to be safe, be strong, have support form their loved ones and beat the odds ... I didn't predict the ending which means it scores high on my list. I enjoy twists and turns, and surprises. This story touches on truths we don't always want to bring to light but needs to be told none the less. Bravo Jess, bravo !!!

I pride myself on finishing every book but just couldn't do it on this one. Too many characters and jumping around. It's a pass for me.

I cannot overstate how exquisitely Jess Lourey writes the awkwardness, the heady sense of occasional power over a guy, and the awareness of your body and the pisssed off, creeped out feeling you got when grown men checked you out, like you were something to be looked at for their pleasure and nevermind how uncomfortable and angry it made you, and the fear that came along with being a teen girl.

This author’s consistent finely written works have made me an impressed and happily-reading fan.

I definitely recommend this.