Pieces of Her goes to great lengths to show how little you know someone, even those closest to you!
The research and thought that have obviously gone into the creation of this is evident in the storytelling and only Karin Slaughter could have put it together so brilliantly.
I found once I’d began reading this, it was impossible to put it down. I would like to see the characters again, maybe finding out how the revelations in this have had an impact on their relationship, and how they can go forward .
I can’t recommend this highly enough!!

Amazing-Karil Slaughter is a quality writer and this one does not disappoint. A little graphic and not for the faint-hearted. Rather a long book and slightly predictable but nonetheless a cracking read from one of the worlds best authors.

Mother/Daughter relationship books always draw me in - I think it's fascinating that some people can think of their mother as their best friend while others grow up fearing that one day, they'll turn into their mother. Andy and Laura's relationship is an interesting one - Andy assumes she knows everything about Laura, but an event changes all that in seconds.

As with most of Karin's books, this one starts with a bang (literally). We go back and forth between 2018 and 1986, and see the contrast between the two women (including the opportunities available to them). The issue of overprotective parents is not hammered home, but it's there - Laura has done everything she can to protect Andy, but has it backfired? Is it possible to grow up with a parent and still never really know who they are?

Overall this is another fast-paced, action packed thriller from Karin that would be a great holiday read.

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all?

Andrea Cooper knows everything about her mother Laura. She knows she's spent her whole life in the small town of Gullaway Island; she knows she's never had any more ambition than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she's never kept a secret in her life.

But one day, a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura.

Twenty-four hours later, Laura is in hospital, shot by an intruder who's spent thirty years trying to track her down. Now, Andrea must go on a desperate journey to follow the breadcrumbs of her mother's past. If she can't uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either of them…

A stand-alone thriller by Karin Slaughter which does not disappoint.
Told from two different and interesting viewpoints, the plot is fast paced and suspenseful.
The setting, spread across various cities once it gets going, is atmospheric and edge of your seat.
The two main characters and quite a few of the supporting ones are deep and intriguing, with their own story to tell, Andrea is a strong woman who just doesn’t know it but is soon forced to acknowledge her own inner strength, whilst Laura is a mystery to all those who thought they knew her but didn’t.
A good solid thriller, that I couldn’t put down.

'Pieces of her ' is a stand alone novel from author Karin Slaughter.

Andrea Cooper thinks she knows everything about her mother Laura, but everything is about to change. When Andrea and Laura get involved in a violent encounter, Laura shows a different side to her personality. Laura is shot by someone who has spent the last thirty years trying to track her down. The gunman is stopped in his tracks by Laura who displays a coolness while overcoming the killer, while everyone else is left paralysed with fear.
Laura instantly notices the change in her mother and begins a search for the truth. She is determined to discover the truth about her mother past and uncovers secrets that threaten several lives. The story is told through two timelines allowing the reader to discover the events as they happen in the past and present.
This is a fast paced thriller which I found a little different to previous novels I have read by the author.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Harper Collins for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Slightly different to Karin Slaughters other books but I enjoyed the added level of mystery this one had. Thanks for allowing me to review this book.

An interesting story from Knowing Karin Slaughter. Written from two perspectives, a mother, in the past and the current, her daughter. You wonder all through the book, what is it that the mother has done that causes all the drama for her daughter so many years later. A real page turner and one not to be missed.

4.5*

Laura and her daughter, Andy, are in the local mall when a man walks in killing two women. Whilst preventing the killer from harming Andy Laura kills him. The police investigate – is Laura actually a killer? Has Laura got secrets?

Then Andy finds her mum in trouble a man has her tied up – Andy hits him and he dies. Laura tells her to go, gives her instructions on what to do. Andy leaves but after following Laura’s instructions she starts to do some of her own investigation into her mother.

As Andy tries to find out who her mother really is we are transported back in time to meet Jayne, Nick and Andrew. It’s the 1980s in Oslo where a murder is committed – Jayne and Andrew’s father is shot. It seems straight forward, the killer takes their own life. Then back in the USA the FBI, amongst other Agencies, are looking into the incident. There is a kidnapped women still missing. They are suspicious. As the net grows ever closer on the suspected perpetrators their actions and decisions will affect the family forever.

Karin Slaughter really knows how to weave a twisty tale, her pacing is excellent and she draws you into the plot so you feel you are almost in it yourself. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to like Laura and Andy but I did, I really liked what the revelation of Laura’s past did to their relationship.

Karin Slaughter continues with her fascinating exploration into family relationships with this cracking read. Her plotting, writing and characterisation is, as always, wonderful and you race through this book to find out what happens.

Whilst I have always enjoyed the series that Karin Slaughter writes these stand-alone books are fast becoming favourites and I would happily recommend Pieces of Her, indeed all of them, to readers.

This is the fourth stand-alone book and the third that I have read, click on the link if you would like to read what I thought of Cop Town and The Good Daughter.

I would like to thanks HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the eARC of Pieces of Her via NetGalley. This is my own opinion. I have not received any payment in relation to my review.

I read Pieces of Her as one of my #20BooksofSummer challenge books.

As ever Karin displays a mastery of her art
Great Book
Great characters
Great Read
Anyone who likes this genre this is a must read

Karin Slaughter has a wonderful ability to reel in the reader with a totally absorbing story. When mother and daughter Laura and Andy are caught up in a shooting at a Mall it begins a horrifying roller coaster of events that question every part of their tangled lives. Alternating between the present day and thirty years earlier this complex story unravels in increasingly shocking installments. Love and hate become entwined questioning the fine line between the two. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, my only criticism would be that the ending felt a little incomplete.

Pieces of Her is a different type of book than usual from Karin Slaughter. It is a stand alone fast paced story with some great characters. It grabbed my attention right from the start. Cleverly written, well thought out plot. Highly recommended.

This book started brilliant, a Mum out with her daughter enjoying a birthday meal and BAM a killer enters the cafe and shoots the diners......the Mum ( with little fuss) apprehends the killer and kills him!!!!...the daughter is shocked...just who is this woman she calls Mum?....and then...well then I spent the next few hundred pages confused as the back story and present story swopped and changed and at times ( with a massive set of characters ) lost me...I spent a lot of the book wondering who was who and who had done what and that was with a fair amount of repetition in the story...the present day story was easier but again at times I was shaking my head thinking ‘I haven’t a clue what is happening’ and sadly nor did I care enough to go back and re read to find out!
I didn’t care for most of the characters tbh and although finished the book feel I am not that much wiser as to what I have read than when I started!
Karin Slaughter has 35 million books in print and is a very popular author but this book for me didn’t do it at all and well , that’s it ....

I remember reading this and feeling quite shocked and drawn in but a few days after I can't say I have the same feelings about it, I'm finding myself not really remembering it.
This is my second Karin Slaughter book and I definitely enjoy her writing style and ability to create tension and suspense. I'm not a huge fan of dual perspective novels and this one really didn't work for me. I really struggled to get a handle on constantly flitting from the present to the past especially when there were several characters to remember and know. I think part of the reason this didn't work for me was that it took away from the 'whodunnit' part of the story. When I read suspense and thriller I like to try and solve the puzzle but it was presented in front of me as more of a 'howdunnit'. So, this is a matter of personal preference.
This hasn't completely put me off of Slaughters work but I would probably do more research in future into what style of writing she uses.
Despite all this I do remember quite vividly that I enjoyed this read. The characters were mostly believable and for the most part I found the events also quite believable in a slightly unbelievable event (if that makes sense),
4/5 Stars

I’m torn between giving this book a 3 or 4 star rating. I’ve went for the 4 star as I enjoyed the read and I was hooked in parts, but it certainly wasn’t of the usual 5 star Slaughter books I’ve been used to.
I found the character of Andy quite unlikable and boring, the plot as a whole pretty far-fetched and the flashbacks tedious.
Having said that, it is well-written and gets the heart racing at times.
Would I recommend it to friends & family? Yes, but I’d tell them to wait until it’s half price.

I must confess to almost giving up on ‘Pieces of Her’ as I found the opening chapters rather boring, the hook arrived quite late but what a hook! After that it was a great read, with an intriguing plot. Nick the charismatic con man who desperately wanted to save the world by blowing it up certainly didn’t fool the readers but like so many other leaders, fooled the followers. I felt sorry for Mike who probably now walks like a cowboy without a horse! I am giving it four out of five because of the slow start.

Andy's world is turned upside down on her 31st birthday when her mother, Laura, tackles and kills a gunmen who begins to shoot in a cafe they are in. Laura sends Andy away with details of a storage facility in another state and so begins the unravelling of Laura's past. . The story follows the discoveries that Andy makes and details she uncovers and she begins to question who her mother really is. We flit between the present and a period of time in the past where a murder takes place by what appears to be a cult which made me, as the reader, also begin to question who Laura and Andy really are. I enjoy a good puzzle and this one reeled me in to desperately seek the answers. My one criticism is that at time the story appeared elongated and could have been more concise as at times I flicked through unnecessary text. Having said that I found it a brilliant read and a gripping story.

Written by Karin Slaughter — Do you remember much about your 31st birthday? No? Me neither, but Andrea ‘Andy’ Oliver’s 31st is about to stick in her memory forever.

Andy is a pretty ordinary woman. She tries, but usually she fails. In fact her life is littered with things she tried to do but didn’t quite manage. She is now back living at home with her mother Laura, a 55-year-old speech therapist who works with people recovering from strokes.

Laura’s pretty ordinary too, but she’s recently been battling breast cancer and Andy came home from New York to Belle Isle, Georgia, to give her mother support. An excuse, really. Andy was failing miserably in the Big Apple and it was the perfect opportunity for her to get away from the place.

They are having a quiet birthday lunch in a local diner when all hell breaks loose. A young man dressed like a western gunslinger appears in the restaurant and shoots and kills the two women who have come over to speak to Laura. What happens next will change Andy’s perception of life – and of her mother – forever. As Andy lies cowering in a corner, Laura springs into action. She grabs the knife which the shooter is now wielding after his gun has run out of bullets, turns the blade on him and, suddenly, the man is lying dead on the floor. It’s a deft move that looks well-practised. How on earth did Laura learn such things?

Up until now, Andy has led a pretty sheltered existence, but her mother’s actions have suddenly put them in the spotlight. The drama and violence in the diner set off a train of events that will eventually see Andy on the run from… somebody. The question is, can this little mouse of a woman find the courage to get her through what lies ahead?

This compelling plot strand in interspersed with a second, which is equally as dramatic and confounding. The year is 1986, location Oslo, and a high-powered international finance and business conference is about to take place. The main speaker is Lee Iacocca, the real-life CEO of Chrysler. All tickets have been sold for a panel which will see the outspoken Martin Queller, creator of the controversial Queller Correction, which is built upon the theory that economic growth is more important than the welfare of the poor and disadvantaged, pitted against his greatest naysayer, Professor of Economics Alex Maplecroft. But the woman sitting opposite him is an imposter, and Laura Juneau has another agenda altogether. What happens during the panel discussion has worldwide ramifications, but what could be the connection to Andy and her mother?

Pieces of Her is a book which contains a plethora of puzzles, and just when you think you’ve slotted all the pieces into place and the picture is becoming clearer, Slaughter tips the table and you have to start all over again. She can also conjure up a place and a period is surprisingly few words. Small-minded, small-town USA lives and breathes within these pages and the 1980s sections of the story are equally well rendered. This author feels right at home in the past, as evidenced in her 2014 novel, Cop Town, which was set in the 1970s and the Oslo scenes feel comfortable in their appointed decade.

Not content with creating the crime fiction version of the Cowardly Lion in the shape of permanently nervous Andy, Slaughter throws in another set of flawed but perfectly pitched cast members in the shape of the Queller family and their hangers on. There are not that many people to like in this book, but you’ll still find yourself rooting for quite a few of them as time passes.

This author has gained a reputation as a teller of tricksy tales and Pieces of Her is right up there with the best of ’em. There’s a fair chunk of death and desperation to be found within its pages, but also a surprising amount of lighter, laugh-out-loud moments to balance things up a little. A super standalone.

A special celebration turns sour in Sue Fortin’s The Birthday Girl, while pursuit is at the heart of Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton.

Harper Collins
Print/iBook/Kindle
£9.99

CFL Rating: 5 Stars

Pieces of Her is a very accomplished novel, as you would expect from such a renowned author. It wasn’t really like the Karen Slaughter books I’ve read previously but I enjoyed it just the same. The story was pacy, characters well developed and interesting and the sections relating to the past were very skill fully integrated. Definitely to be recommended.

I really enjoyed this book very much. With lots going on it kept me reading and wanting to find out what happened in the end quickly.

So first of all I am a HUGE Karin Slaughter fan and was giddy with excitement to receive an ARC of her latest novel "Pieces of Her". My initial impressions of this standalone read were that this did not "feel" like a Karin Slaughter book and I felt that I wasn't racing through it as I usually do but this is a terrific read nonetheless.
The story centres around Andrea 'Andy' Cooper and her speech therapist mother Laura. Andy is a rather unfulfilled young woman who has a track record of a lack of commitment in all areas of her life - she dropped out of college and moves from job to job and her personal life is non-existent. Following her move back to her home town to nurse Laura back to health from breast cancer treatment Andy and Laura are having breakfast in a local mall diner when all a gunman begins shooting at customers in the diner. Andy is in the gunman's line of sight when Laura intervenes and blocks the gunman's view of her daughter whilst calmly instructing Andy to take cover. Andy watches in horror and confusion as Laura proceeds to disarm the gunman and kill him with his own knife in a professional, composed and ruthless manner leaving Andy to question whether she truly knows her own mother. The resulting media storm sets off a chain of events that takes Andy across the country, running for her life and trying desperately to unravel the mystery and danger of her mother's past which may be the key to saving both their lives.
I very much enjoyed this book although as previously said, it felt very different from the tried and tested Slaughter-formula. The story flicked from present day to events 30 years previously but I found it easy to follow and all helped to build to the climax of the story. I loved the character of Laura however found Andy's character to be rather irritating at times and came across as a lot younger than her 30-odd years.
All in all a great read but I look forward to a return to business as usual with the forthcoming next instalment in the Atlanta Will & Sara series - 4.5 stars and huge thank you to Ms Slaughter, Netgalley UK & the publishers for the ARC.