I think HBO should scrap whatever they are working on for season 4 of True Detective and just make this book into season 4. It would make an amazing tv series and I am available to help consult on this project 😂⁣⁣
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Girls like Us is a wonderfully executed mystery that you’ll want to finish in one sitting. FBI Agent Nell Flynn returns home after the sudden death of her father. Her relationship with him was strained and being home brings back awful memories of her own mother’s grisly murder. Nell only plans on being home long enough to spread her father’s ashes and close his estate, then she wants to hightail it out of there. Things change when her father’s partner asks her to help with the case he was working on before he died, the murders of two young women in Suffolk County. As she begins digging into the case Nell can’t help but start to suspect that the ones closest to her, including her father, may have been involved. Wanting justice for these women Nell continues to ask the tough questions... even if in the end she doesn’t like the answer.⁣⁣
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I loved this story because it featured a full cast of strong female characters whose struggles and experiences were the focus of the story. The book also touched on the immigrant experience with Suffolk county’s wealth divide providing the backdrop to the story. I highly recommend this book if you love mysteries with a little more substance and are sick of the unreliable narrator trope. 5 ⭐️s!

After reading The Banker's Wife, I could not wait to get my hands on Girls Like Us. I really enjoyed The Bankers Wife but I was a little let down with this one.

It is a slower paced thriller but the suspense of the story had me flipping the pages fast for the first half of the book. You will not have any clue who to trust at this point. However, around the halfway point, the story line kind of fizzled out for me. I think I expected more twists and action. Things were pretty much laid out for you in regards to certain plots. It became a little too predictable for me. I love a great twist and having my mind blown away. The big twists here wasn't mind blowing. It more more of an "AHHHH, I knew this person/these people were linked to it!"

Even though this book didn't blow my mind, it is very enjoyable. I would recommend it. I look forward to Cristina's upcoming books!

** spoiler alert ** I enjoyed Alger’s previous book, The Banker’s Wife, so I was anxious to read her newest.

This was a quick read that was fast paced and enjoyable. Just like with her previous book, Alger caught me by surprise towards the end of the book. She has a way of writing that has a reader believing that they know what is going on and bam. No you don’t.

Girl’s was a very well written crime thriller. With a plot that had me hooked, the pages turned quickly as I tried to figure out the mystery right alongside Nell. Was her father’s death really an accident or was something much more sinister behind it? Who is responsible for the murder of two young women? Could there be a connection? With an original plot and complex characters, this was a gritty good read! Would love to see more of Nell in future books!

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Girls Like Us because I’ve heard soooo many amazing things about The Banker’s Wife (which I still haven’t read yet 😬 but need to bump up my TBR ASAP!)! I loved this thriller! Finished it in 2 days and didn’t want to put it down. I thought that the premise was pretty unique, and I honestly had no idea how it was going to turn out!
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FBI agent Nell returns to her hometown when her father, a homicide detective, dies in an accident. While she’s there, she becomes involved in a local investigation into the murders of two young women. The more she digs into evidence, the more her father appears to be a prime suspect, which makes her question what really happened the night her mother was murdered years prior. To find closure after her father’s death, she must find answers to what has happened to these women.
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I really enjoyed this one, and huge thanks to @putnambooks and @netgalley for the free review copy! Girls Like Us is available tomorrow, July 2!!

This thriller/police procedural/crime novel packed a punch. l loved the strong female protagonist and I enjoyed the constant action.

I really liked that there was more to this case than there seemed to be. I thought the story was going to go one way and I'm so happy that my assumptions were incorrect. The plot kept me guessing and though I didn't love this one quite as much as The Banker's Wife, it was still a great read in its' own right!

3.5 stars

Girls Like Us was one of my most anticipated reads for 2019 and it completely delivered! After reading The Banker's Wife, I was immediately drawn to Cristina Alger's writing style, it makes the story so compelling. She does a fantastic job of writing strong female characters that also feel relatable. I felt connected to Nell, the main character, the entire book. I also admired her ability in this book to pace the story so that it didn't hit a slump, I was engaged the whole time. I found myself looking for any chance possible to pick the book up and continue reading. If you are looking for a book that keeps you guessing, but doesn't rely on crazy gimmicks, pick this one up soon! Cristina Alger has become a favorite for me and I will continue to look forward to whatever comes next!

* I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review *

A little over halfway through this book, I started wondering if it was going to be part of a series. No indications so far that it is, but I hope it will be. FBI Agent Nell Flynn is a great character who is trying to recover from a shooting, avoid being hunted down by the criminals she was after, and dealing with the death of her father. Returning to her hometown, she starts noticing small links between past crimes and can't resist digging. The result is mainly a really good story. I will admit to being annoyed with a part of the plot, but to mention it would be a bit of a spoiler. I hope Ms. Alger decides that we need to read more about Ms. Flynn's adventures in law enforcement.

If you're like me, and you enjoy a good mystery/thriller/whodunit type book, then Girls Like Us is for you. There are two girl who are dead, a father who recently died, and all could be under mysterious circumstances. Our main character is an FBI agent, whose come back to her childhood town after her father passes away. While she's not considered "on duty", she can't pull away from who she really is. She begins to suspect some things are amiss and may be more connected than she realized.

Girls Like Us is a page turner. I read it in a couple of days and really enjoyed the story. The author did a great job of making the characters either lovable or hateable. And there are a few twists along the way.

Definitely recommend!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 5

Girls Like Us is my first time reading a book by Cristina Alger and I enjoyed it so so much.

What it's about: Nell Flynn is on leave from the BAU after shooting and killing a man, and suffering a gunshot wound. While on leave, her homicide detective father whom she hasn't seen in 10 years dies in a motorcycle accident and she is forced to go back to her home in Suffolk County to settle his estate. She hasn't been back since she left for college, and it brings back many nasty memories including her mother's gruesome murder when Nell was only seven. But she ends up getting more than she bargained for when her dad's old partner asks her to consult on the murders of two young women. As she digs into the investigation, she starts getting a bad feeling about her dad and the other cops of Suffolk County. Who killed Ria Ruiz and Adriana Marques, and why did they do it? And was the person who got sent to prison for killing Nell's mom actually her killer?

I saw a few reviewers that mentioned they thought Girls Like Us was fast paced but I feel inclined to disagree. For me, this book was more of a slow burn - at least in the first half - and there was a lot of detail in the beginning that was meant to bring the setting to life. Which Alger did by the way, because I felt like I was right there with Nell. Because of the detail, I ended up reading this book slower in the beginning, but by the end I felt like I was speeding through it because of how much was happening. Overall, I ended up reading this insanely fast and finished in just 3 hours and 21 minutes. This is literally the fastest I think I've ever read a book, and I was completely drawn in by the plot and by Nell.

I loved Nell as a character and was so intrigued by the grittiness of Girls Like Us. The overall feel to the book for me was oppressive, like we were under a dark cloud due to all the bad things happening. For me, this was a good thing and the book really came to life for me as I read it. I also loved that Nell was a profiler because, Criminal Minds.

Song/s the book brought to mind: Yesterday by David Guetta feat. Bebe Rexha

Final Thought: I haven't read any of Alger's other books yet so I can't do any comparisons, but I loved the style of writing she used for Girls Like Us. I didn't see any of the twists coming either, and it felt like I was watching a TV show as I read it. I can't wait to read more of her books ASAP!

Thank you to Get Red PR and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Nell's come home to scatter her father's ashes along with his buddies from the police force. She's an FBI SA now but on leave because she killed a suspect and was injured in the process. A body - a young woman who was dissected and then wrapped in burlap- has been found in circumstances eerily similar to a murder a year ago. Nell's pressed into assist, informally, by her dad's old partner. Unfortunately, things begin to align in an uncomfortable way for Nell as she discovers there was more to her father than she knew. Alger has done an especially nice job with setting the scene in Suffolk County, especially between the haves and the have nots, but never goes too deep on that, preferring to keep the pace on the mystery. There's a character who might remind you of Jeffrey Epstein but he's not a real player here. There are several big twists-none of which I saw coming. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This was an excellent read with a great character in Nell and smooth writing- a real page turner. Highly recommend.

[Excerpt]:

“Girls Like Us” is a detective/mystery/thriller type of story. There’s a murder. (There usually is.) Young girls are dead and continue to be hunted and killed. (Again, not unusual.) The female protagonist is a twenty-eight-year old who works in the BAU (behavioral anaylsis unit) at the FBI. She returns home for her father’s funeral, and in the process she gets wrapped up in another investigation that involves her hometown’s entire police force, including her deceased father.

This is the first of Cristina Alger’s books I’ve read. What I can say for sure is that it was very straightforward. There really wasn’t any complexity involved in this tale. It was a very standard “who-dun-it” mystery. Girls – well, sex workers – are being murdered, a police force is corrupt, and Nell’s father is somehow involved in it. Did he commit the murders? Was he a mole for the FBI/DEA? Was he taking bribes from well-connected pimps to look the other way?

I’m not much into mysteries or detective thrillers, but I did read through this book fairly quick. It was short, and again, there weren’t any sub-plots or sub-sub-plots. I came for a murder mystery and that’s what I got.

Alger definitely set up an appropriate atmosphere. Suffolk County and Long Island both seemed extraordinarily dim and depressing. Constant cloudiness, rain, chill winds with abandoned or empty houses. Lots of wild, overgrown land. And, of course, multiple murders. Everything seemed very bleak and unhappy. I got that sense from Nell too; she’s alone (no significant other, and now no family), doesn’t have a home (she’s contantly on the move because of her job), and is definitely a budding alcoholic. Nell is a very isolated, lonesome character. Aside from her father’s funeral, which happens in the opening chapter, the entire book revolves around work. There are no distractions for Nell.

[Full review on my blog!]

Nell Flynn returns home when her father dies only to be dragged into an investigation that brings up old memories. Girls Like Us is one of those books that slowly grabs hold of you. Once it does, it won’t let go! Twists and turns that really made my head spin. Highly recommend!

*ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Girls Like Us is billed as a mystery/thriller. Nell returns back to Long Island after many years when her estranged father dies in a motorcycle accident. However, when she arrives to close out his estate and handle his ashes, there appears to be things that are not so Kosher.

What develops is a mystery that involves the murder of two female escorts, and the possible involvement of a coverup.

Overall this book was fine, but it falls in the typical mystery/thriller genre. It felt a little formulated, but I was engaged for the most part. If you love this type of book, I think this will a good read for you.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book, for an honest opinion.

I finished this book in a day .. yes you read that correctly in a day! I absolutely loved The Bankers Wife so when I got an advance copy of Girls Like Us I felt like I was the luckiest bookstagrammer! FBI agent Nell Flynn had a falling out with her father homicide detective Martin Flynn, but when he suddenly dies in a motorcycle accident she’s back in her childhood home and going through all his personal belongings . Her mother was brutally murdered when she was a child and it’s something that has haunted her and follows her around. As Nell is sorting out final arrangements and talking to her fathers partner and other police officers who her father considered friends , she feels like maybe there was more to her fathers death. When a young woman is found buried tied up and body parts dismembered she’s soon roped in with the investigation. This is the second woman found like this. The first woman’s murder was being investigated by her father. The more she investigates into the woman’s murder and past she soon finds herself questioning what her fathers role was in the murders and who can she really trust in her small hometown. When Nell starts digging into the young woman’s life she finds herself shocked that the police just want to close the case. Soon she finds herself being followed and she knows she need to solve the case before she’s the next victim. I loved Nell! Her no nonsense attitude and she is one tough FBI agent! I enjoyed that she isn’t perfect and she has her own faults but that’s who she is and she accepts that. I give this book five stars! It completely sucked me and I had to know what was going to happen. I enjoyed the police investigation parts and I felt I was right along with Nell trying to figure out what the heck was going on! Add this to your summer reading list ASAP and thank me later!

I hate to be negative, but this book was just... fine. It was a really quick read, but that was more due to page length than a compelling storyline. I think that this one will burn quickly- it's an interesting enough premise that will get readers to pick it up, and there are a few very tense moments at the end that peaked my interest, but there just isn't much done in the way of character development and the storyline was predictable and familiar enough that it's not a standout, memorable plot.

Lindas Book Obsession Review "Girls Like Us" by Cristina Alger, July 2, 2019

Cristina Alger, Author of "Girls Like Us" writes a suspenseful, captivating, page-turning, intense, and thrilling novel. The Genres for this Novel are Mystery and Suspense, Thriller, Psychological Fiction, and Fiction. The timeline for this story is the present and goes back to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story.  The author describes her dramatic cast of characters as complex, and complicated. There are twists and turns, action, betrayals, deep-dark secrets, dangers, and murder.

Nell Flynn is an FBI agent who returns to Suffolk County in Long Island, New York for her father's funeral, after not being home for ten years. Nell's mother died when she was a young child. Something about her father's death is making Nell very anxious. The Police Detectives who worked with Martin Flynn sing the highest praises and express their deepest condolences. While Nell is home, a body is found that seems to have to do with one of Nell's father's former cases.

The Suffolk County Police don't want outside intervention, but let Nell investigate because of her father. The more that Nell discovers, the more danger she is in. Both the questions and answers can be deadly for Nell.

I would highly recommend this riveting, tense, edgy and complex psychological thriller.

FBI Agent Nell Flynn returns to her hometown to settle her newly deceased father's estate and spread his ashes. While there, her father's partner on the police force asks for her help in a series of murders. What she uncovers changes everything she believes she knows about her father, her past, and what she expects for her future.

Although this book was a little slow at times, the storyline was excellent. There were so many layers to the mystery, that it kept me guessing through the entire book. Overall I found this a very enjoyable book.

When FBI agent, Nell Flynn, returns home, she believes she is burying her father, settling his affairs, and getting out of Suffolk County for good. Instead, she stumbles into a murder investigation – which quickly unfolds as a serial investigation. But when Nell starts suspecting her father may be at the center of it, her need to close the case becomes even more important…

WOW! Girls Like Us is my kind of thriller, with its large-scale crime, developed main character, and of course, an unpredictable twist. Alger’s detailed, fast-paced unfolding of events really made this novel a page-turner for me. I loved Nell’s character. I thought she was not biased, she did not deny her dad’s possible involvement, and instead objectively investigated. She also had her own trauma (being shot and the loss of her mother) to deal with.

The only thing I felt this novel was missing, was the tie in of the original problem Nell faced. She was shot by a Russian mobster’s crew, and was hiding from him while in Long Island. But honestly, I could live without Alger including it. Although, I was thinking maybe he was related to the serial killing in some way.

Overall, Alger’s Girls Like Us has earned five out of five stars for me. I am excited to go back and read some of her other work. I am already putting books on hold at the library. Be sure to get your copy of Girls Like Us when it is released on July 2, 2019.

Super quick read! I liked it a lot. Nell is a scrappy FBI agent who ends up investigating her father’s death and it turns into a larger mystery.