The book starts about 28 years ago,then moves to present day,it was a good read,like all the books from this author,very well written

As a huge fan of the Grant County series, I was eager to read this new stand alone book from Karin Slaughter. I absolutely loved it and it even had me in tears at the end (I can probably count on one hand how many books have made me cry). The characters were amazing and the story was full of twists, turns and emotion. 5 out of 5 *****

This is a superb, dark and brutal novel from the talented Karin Slaughter set in Pikeville, North Georgia. Two tragic set of events occur 28 years apart and their catastrophic repercussions on a family and their community are observed. Rusty is a notoriously able lawyer who believes that justice should be for everybody, such as defending innocent black people, and others deemed beyond the pale, like rapists. This has made Rusty a host of enemies, seen the family home burn down and bring fresh danger to his wife, the fiercely intelligent and double PhD genius, Gamma, and his two young daughters, Samantha and Charlotte, known as Charlie. Two masked men enter the family home, shoot Gamma dead, leaving Sam for dead, buried in a grave, though a bloodied Charlie manages to get away. This is a story that transcends the most violent of crimes, its about family, loss, love, sibling relationships, regret, survival, damage and forgiveness.

Twenty eight years later, the savage events that ripped the family apart have taken their toll on Sam and Charlie. The two sisters have not seen each other for twenty years after Sam's anger led to an estrangement. Sam is a highly successful New York patent lawyer, has lost her beloved husband, Anton, and hasn't seen her father for decades. Charlie's marriage to Ben is on the skids, she works from the same building as Rusty as a lawyer, and she has made the terrible mistake of indulging in a one night stand with a stranger, with whom she left her phone. She is in the process of collecting her phone at her old school when all hell lets loose. Charlie is traumatised once again as she finds herself in the midst of a distressing double school shooting that includes a young child. The perpetrator is a girl with learning issues called Kelly. With rising tensions, flaring tempers, fear, rage, and intense media coverage, Sam returns to Pikeville amidst a disturbing set of circumstances. She provides legal counsel for Kelly at her arraignment after Rusty persuades Sam that Kelly is the unicorn he has been searching for. The stage is set to see the original family trauma under a new light as the truth begins to emerge and to discover if it is remotely possible that Kelly is not the killer she is painted to be, in direct contradiction to the evidence available.

Karin Slaughter has written a brilliant novel that incorporates the worst of humankind, a veritable Pandora's box of horror and despair, and the faint wisps of hope for Sam and Charlie. The complex characterisations are astonishingly good and feel desperately authentic. The novel captures the small town meanness that can run through a conservative rural community and its young people, and the atrocious behaviour and actions that result. The strength and wisdom of Rusty, given all that happens, along with his ability to protect his daughters the only way he knew how, is awe inspiring. I will never forget the role that ice cream plays for Charlie in the novel, given all the feel good factor that surrounds it. A fantastic read that I highly recommended. Thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

What a book from start to finish. I hated puting it down and couldnt wait to pick it back up again. I loved the sisters Sam and Charlie, I really wanted to know what happened to them and what would become of them. Rusty was brilliant, I kept picturing an older Ryan O'Neal. I loved how he protected his daughters and did so much more for them than they realised. I thought as I was reading I have sussed this out and then Karin Slaughter throws in a curve ball and I wasnt expecting that!! Loved every part of this book, my only complaint is its finished and I dont know what to do with myself!!

I am not normally a crime fan but I do make an exception for Karen Slaughter. Her writing is one of the best and she doesn't fail to draw me in to a story. And what a story I lived every moment of this novel with trepidation and hope. If it was a movie I would have been hiding my face in a cushion at times? It is fast moving but leaves you wanting more. Highly recommended.

I usually really like Karin Slaughter books but unfortunately I found this a really hard read as it was very repetitive in places and I found myself glossing over big chunks of it which is a shame as the premise was really good, but I will gladly wait for the next Will Trent book

This a new lead character from Karin Slaughter. She's a lawyer named Charlie Quinn with a messy present life and an intriguing back story. I didn't devour this book in two days it was more of a slow burner. It has a satisfying beginning and end but dips considerably in the middle. I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

This is the first Karin Slaughter book I've read and had heard such amazing things about her writing style. Maybe I was expecting to be blown away that I feel I can only give it 4🌟. The story was addictive and for the first third of the book I couldn't put it down. It then went on to repeat sections over again. I could see why this was done but felt cheated out of a good book. However the writing style is excellent with such attention to detail in the gory parts. I did not fall in love with the characters as I normally would but I had the greatest of respect for their journey.

Let me just start off with saying that that was an exceptional read.

It started off with setting the scene of a crime in the past and a crime in the present (at this point I had to ask myself how the book could possibly keep up with this initial intensity. It didn't disappoint). From that point onwards we fill in the gaps, not only in the details of the past crime, but how it affected the protagonists and those that surround them, and the impact it has on current events.

You're inundated with brilliant writing. A little bit of courtroom drama, a lot of crime mystery, poignant character development, family dynamics, revealed secrets, and all the other good things that make you cry, laugh, cringe, and most importantly turn that next page with eager anticipation.

I look forward to the movie ;). Well I can always hope.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a review copy.

I enjoyed this book, though I found the story thread that involved Kelly to be more interesting than the main thread about Charlie and Sam. Some descriptions were gruesome but not gratuitous. I found it frustrating that Sam and Ben didn't talk earlier on in the book. I also found it sad (though probably realistic), that some people live such sad and unfulfilled lives. It certainly gave a true feel for small town life. I look forward to hopefully more stand alone books by Karen Slaughter.

Besides the mystery this book is about so much more, the endurance and strength of the characters. They go through so much. Karen Slaugther just gets better with each book,even when you think nothing Google get better than the last one you read, the characters were very real and I cared for them and what would happen to them. Read this book you'll being doing yourself a favor!

Recently I have been reading young adults and supernatural books, these are great I love them, I love the supernatural genre and I think the stories are fun,however, I have read a lot of them and this book really honed in on the fact that I have really missed a good old fashioned Suspenseful Thriller! It's absolutely amazing,I was hooked like a fish on a rod, I literally could not put this book down it got to the point where I'm reading it to the very last second before I need to leave for work or I can't quite go to sleep yet I just have to finish this chapter.

The writing is spectacular she has this amazing ability to really bring you into the story,you are invested in the characters, you want to know them, you want to be with them, you feel their pain, their joy and you want what they want and you're afraid when they're afraid and I think that's just such a fantastic skill set to have.
I love the characters I think Sam and Charlie are great and they really work of each other and I love rusty especially nearing the end when you find out more about him, you really find out who he is and what makes him tick and I think he has some really good advice that he gave them.
This book is painful and it's sad and it's tough but there is a light at the end of the tunnel there is good in it as well and I really don't want to say anymore as I don't want to say anything about the story as I don't want to spoil it but it is an amazing story and I truly recommend this.

I always enjoy Karin's books and this was no exception. This was less gruesome than her last stand alone offering but remained gripping and kept me wanting to read even when I was too tired to do so!

I've always been a huge fan of Karin Slaughter writing and have pretty much read every book she has ever written, so to say I was excited to see she was publishing in a new book was an understatement! The Good Daughter is a standalone no sign of Will Trent here (I love this series by the way) and once again the author has shown why she is considered to be one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers. I was surprised to find The Good Daughter isn't as fast paced or as graphic as the authors previous books, although some of the scenes and subject matter may not be to ever reader's taste I must admit!

Like any book by this author there is plenty of mystery, hideous crimes but it also gives insight into family relationships when terrible things happen to them. Much of the book is about the horrifying events that happened to Charlie and her sister Samantha during their childhood , and how they are affecting their characters in the present and their relationships to each other and the people around them. I felt this novel was very much character led and the crimes almost felt secondary to the plot, that’s not a criticism by any means as The Good Daughter still made for a disturbing yet compelling read.


Karin Slaughter has created exceptionally complex characters, both sisters have their own demons that continue to haunt them, this novel is very much about the complexity of relationships and bad things happening to good people. With many themes running through the plot this novel made for an compelling read. Karen Slaughter never shies away from the darker side of life, in fact she hits it head on, The Good Daughter is dark, gritty and at times disturbing, with a superbly written plot yet again the author has shown me why she continues to be one of my all time favourite authors on the planet.

This review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog

Wow!!!!!! I love Karin slaughters books so was excited to have the chance to read before release thanks to Netgalley! Not one of the Will and Sara series so I was a bit worried I wouldn't like it..... but oh my days it's amazing! One of the only books I have read as fast. I was totally absorbed! Very raw and very real!

Good book about a family affected by tragedy and how they all finally find peace. I found this novel, and the premise, fascinating and very well written, with an uplifting ending. I really got into the skin of the characters and cared about their outcomes. The only reason I haven't given this five stars is because of the, in my opinion, unnecessary repetition of the day of the crime; although I suppose it does remind you of the horror.

This powerful book, starts with the happened to Samantha in 1989, when 2 masked men kill her mother, put a bullet through her head and try to bury her alive. The main culprit is deemed to be Zachariah Culpepper, someone known to Sam’s father, Rusty who is a defence attorney for the type of people no one wants to represent. The tension is there right from the start and the impact of a bullet at close range blatantly described. Sam was just 15 years old, trying to protect Charlotte her 13 year old sister.

The story then jumps ahead 28 years later, picking up the lives of Charlotte and Rusty. Charlotte is now a lawyer herself and works in the same building as her father, but their casework is very different. Charlotte has had to adjust to a very turbulent life, following the harrowing ordeal of her mother’s murder and sister’s attack. Bullied by the Culpepper sisters in the aftermath of losing her mum, she has managed to lead her life despite this, albeit she has had to try and bury certain memories. But something as chilling and harrowing will of course leave its scars.

These memories bubble to the surface when Charlotte is present at the local school when a shooting occurs and 2 people are killed, again with a vivid description of events. The police overt react and things get messy. Consequently a whole new set of problems start to emerge.

Absorbing from the start, these feisty, intelligent women striving to live their lives after witnessing one of the worst death’s and trauma is compelling. The story line with Charlotte’s husband Ben, their relationship and the transformation he undergoes was perhaps the least convincing, as were parts of the police reactions that felt OTT & therefore somewhat unrealistic, but only a modest flaw in the scheme of things as the pace swiftly sweeps you through this. Much is weaved into the story and the detail of what transpired years ago and why starts to become more granular. The impact on their lives is more apparent and the book is thus as much about coping after adversity, and finding your true self as anything else. Despite this being more about family relationships than the crimes themselves it is still a very decent, gripping thriller.

I have read many of Karin slaughter's earlier novels and I was pleased to get stuck into this stand alone. An well written police thriller with a family story at its heart

Brilliant. Karin Slaughter at her best. I sat glued to this book. I read it in one afternoon. It is brilliantly written and full of surprises. Charlie and Sam are really good characters there are so many shocks in the plot. The shocks keep coming throughout the novel. I really want to sit and read this book again. I enjoyed it so much. It is action packed and engaging the whole way through. There is so much happening in this story. I have read most of Karin Slaughter's books and love them all.

This is an involving story that keeps you gripped in the differing experiences of the characters to the same events.