It took me a few chapters to get into this one, but once it's revealed that the murder case is much more sinister than it seems, I was hooked. There are so many questions to be answered and I felt the story wrapped them up nicely. Well written and great characters. I would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC!

FBI agent Nell Flynn is back in her hometown after years to bury her estranged father and recover from an injury in the line of duty. A dead body that seems tied to a previous murder has her questioning all she knows about her father and his friends that run the police department. Will the questions lead her to truths about her father she doesn't want to know? Will she survive long enough to find the truth?

This was a good, quick read that kept me guessing. It follows Nell Flynn of the FBI as she returns home after her father's unexpected death. Her father also worked in law enforcement and was in the middle of working on a case that Nell ends up working on. As she begins working on the case she begins to think her father may have more to do with this case and others, including being the prime suspect.
I enjoyed this book and would be interested in others by the same author.

I first gave it 4 stars for the tone as much as anything but then I dropped it to three due to the ending. The way the sense of wrongness and the pervasive misogyny built up as the case built was infuriating. The ending up the stakes a lot and I kind of liked it better as a quiet build but even then, there was a sense of justice and of continuing to overlook women. On further reflection, the ending fell apart. It felt rushed and out of character and in places unnecessary like the author didn't know how to end the book.
I think the title takes away from the point of the book. They are women and Nell even requests that she not be called kid. The men are not called boys. Women like us would have worked just as fine and girls just follows the overdone habit of using girls for women.

Four stars for “Girls Like Us” by Cristina Alger. This is a tightly plotted mystery that doesn’t waste time dropping you right into the action. The twists are unexpected and interesting and the characters are well-defined. I really enjoyed this novel and am anxious to read The Banker’s Wife, also by Cristina Alger. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book caught my attention through a Shelf Awareness ad and I am so glad that I wound up getting a copy from Netgalley. Girls Like Us was exactly what I needed after reading a slow paced fantasy novel. It didn’t jump into the action right away, but after the first four chapters I was hooked. I found myself regretting starting it after 10 p.m. though, because it kept me up until about 4 a.m. until I fell asleep with my face on the Kindle. Girls Like Us is quite the page turner and I am really excited for this book to hit the world.

The book had a plot that kept me turning the pages, but it also really had great character development. I think the way that Nell could relate to the victims really gave this book a powerful impact on me as a reader. Even though I am nothing like Nell of the victims I found myself relating to them, which is truly a testament to Cristina Alger’s writing. The slow start to the book was good for character development, but that wasn’t this book’s primary focus. Nell was a good character, but this book focused mostly on the mystery and the plot, which I think was appropriate.

The story line was absolutely gripping. Nell tries to solve the case of two missing Latina working girls, the kind of girl that no one really winds up looking for. I found the narrative sad, but all too realistic. While the novel touched on topics like police misconduct and profiling, it also dove into the subject of human trafficking. These touchy topics are written about with truth and respect, but also in a way that is suspenseful and riveting. The mystery was a bit predictable, but the topics focused on and the way it was written made up for that.

Girls Like Us is a mystery that kept me turning the pages until the early hours of the morning. The characters were developed much better than I would expect for a mystery and the writing was fresh and brought life to the story. I felt like some difficult topics were written about in a way that felt authentic, but also with tact. This was my first read by Cristina Alger, but I don’t think that it will be my last.

I enjoyed thus book. I live on Long Island so I loved all the references to places I’ve been and roads I have traveled.
The main character was a strong, kick A$$ lady and the story moved quickly
My first book by this author

I really enjoyed this book!! The setting was Long Island which I loved. It kept me guessing til the end. The heroine was bad a$$. I thought the writing was engaging and that it was very well done. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

This was an interesting read. I loved the plot line, but it just didn’t keep me engaged how I had hoped it would. This story definitely had potential, but just fell short.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I greatly enjoyed this novel! Cristina Alger is a new-to-me author, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with Girls Like Us. But I am so, so glad that I took a chance on something new because I absolutely LOVED this novel! The writing was superb, the story was excellent. The characters were unique, perfectly flawed and grew with the plot. The story itself moved quickly, built upon itself and had me hooked from the very first page. I devoured every page of this novel, and stayed up way past my bedtime, because walking away wasn't an option. A beautifully written story and a definite recommend!!

I really wanted to fall head over heels in love with this book. Unfortunately that was not the case. Let me start with what I did really like.....I enjoyed the idea of a girl returning home to heal wounds and say goodbye to the past but instead uncovering a salacious scandal that almost gets her killed. What I struggled with are bits and pieces we are given that don't fit in the puzzle. Its like extra pieces that have no reason to be a part of the story. They could have been left out and the story would have still flowed.

I would recommend this for your beach bag. It will entertain as it keeps you on the edge of your seat....

I received this free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Girls Like Us is a thriller mystery following a FBI agent's pursuit to find who has been committing a string of murders. While it had a bit of a slow start, I ended up not being able to put this down. There were a few turns that kept you wanting to know more.

What do we really know about our parents? FBI agent Nell Flynn is forced to reexamine her father's life, and her own, when she returns home after his death. Once home, she consults with the local authorities on the murders of two young women but, as more facts come to light, Nell begins to suspect her own father and even wonder if he was responsible for her mother's murder years before. GIRLS LIKE US is a good mystery but it also made me ponder my own relationship with my parents and how well I really knew them. Good read.

If you are looking for a fantastic mystery/thriller, look no further than Girls Like Us!!! Cristina Alger has brilliantly crafted an edge of your seat storyline that will keep you up way past your bedtime! I literally found it difficult to put my kindle down because this novel was so darn addictive. I adored the fact that Cristina Alger has written such a strong, kick-@ss leading female character— I seriously found myself cheering out loud for a fictional character lol! I would LOVE if Cristina took the main character, Nell Flynn, and created a whole series around her— a strong FBI agent who is smart, gutsy and fierce, sign me up!!!! Girls Like Us is a solid 5 star read that you will devour! I highly encourage everyone check out this epic read!

Girls Like Us was a engrossing thriller that I could not put down. The book was written well and the characters were well developed. I would recommend this book to read.

Girls like Us was a great thriller. I loved that the writer went in to details about the crime and also the background story about the main character, Nell. There seemed to be a lot of emotion behind Nell which made her relatable on a lot of levels. This was a great pager turner and I had a hard time putting in down.

Girls Like Us is a gripping, gritty and raw thriller set in Suffolk County, New York, where the disparity between rich and poor is sharply drawn. The characters are complex and interesting, and the main character, Nell Flynn, is so compelling that this could be the start of a series. Riveting and engaging from start to finish, this book will appeal to fans of the thriller genre, as well as anyone who likes police procedurals or strong, yet flawed, female protagonists, which is sort of my jam. I read this very quickly because I couldn’t put it down!

When we first meet FBI agent Nell Flynn, she is on a boat with a few officers from the Suffolk County Police Department, scattering the ashes of her father off the coast of Long Island. It’s her first time back in ten years, and she has been forced to return to the home where her mother was brutally murdered years ago in order to deal with the sudden death of her father following a motorcycle accident. When her father’s partner, Detective Lee Davis, invites her to visit a crime scene with him, Nell becomes involved in an investigation into the murders of Ria Ruiz and Adriana Marques, two young Latina women in Suffolk County. The deeper she digs, the more likely it seems that her father is heavily involved, and his friends on the police force seem to be covering his tracks. Nell, who is increasingly plagued by doubts about who her father was and how her mother died, must decide whether to uncover the truth behind these murders in Suffolk County at the risk of paying the ultimate price.

Alger’s last book, The Banker’s Wife, had all of the elements of a thriller – twists, turns, murder and intrigue. Girls Like Us has all of these elements in spades, but, in my opinion, has moved more towards literature. By that, I mean there is more depth and nuance to the story, and the characters are more deeply developed, allowing me to feel more connected and engaged with them. This is especially true of the main character, Nell Flynn. Nell is sharply drawn, with a clear and interesting back story, some good flaws and a lot of grit. I truly loved this character!

Alger made Suffolk County come to life on the page, differentiating between the circumstances of the hard-working people who live there year-round and the extremely wealthy and privileged, who only inhabit their Hampton mansions during portions of the summer. In many ways, this was the perfect setting to juxtapose the way the law operates differently for those who ‘have’ and those who ‘have not.’

Like Alger’s other work, there are a number of surprises in Girls Like Us, one of which nearly made my jaw drop. It was such a shock that I literally had to go back and reread it. But layered on top of this compelling thriller is a timely and important exploration of the unfair hierarchy of individuals based on race and class within the U.S., which is reflected in our justice system. This, in part, is what makes the title, Girls Like Us, so compelling. Nell, a woman whose maternal grandfather and grandmother crossed the border from Juarez, is investigating the deaths of two Latina girls whose lives somehow seem to matter less, even though they shouldn’t. But read another way, the title could also be a testament to the strength and fortitude of women like Nell Flynn and the Latina girls she helps, who fight to survive no matter what the obstacles, no matter what the cost.

​Thank you to Shelf Awareness, NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the chance to read this ARC.

A steady diet of mixed genre reading can’t well avoid a female authored female driven thriller for long since they are everywhere. This time it was more of a police procedural, though, so…refreshing. Kinda. Alger’s protagonist is an FBI agent Nell Flynn. Technically on leave from work, but never really off the job as it were. She comes back to Long Island to bury her father a local police detective, and finds herself assisting in solving a local murder, potentially work of a serial killer. Suddenly, dangers are lurking everywhere, she isn’t sure who to trust, because what’s going on on the island may be much more complex and involve people close to her. So that’s the basic plot. The narration moves along very swiftly, present tense and heavily dialogue driven for that specific sort of thrilleresque immediacy. Nell is tough as nails and driven like a freight train, an almost too perfect sort of detective, nothing gets in her way. And to her credit she does solve the entire thing in under 300 pages, uncovering layers of cover up that involves a variety of social classes on the strategically class divided island. Turns out Long Island is a multilayered severely socially striated sort of place where everyone takes advantage of everyone and does whatever they can get away with. Until Nell Flynn gets there to sort it all out that is. I’m not a huge fan of procedurals, but after reading entirely too many of the other kind of suspense thrillers (where mysteries are solved by the unwitting nonprofessionals) it was a nice change. Nothing especially mind blowing, more on the side of averagely decent, a few nice twists, one of which I figured out right away, but one was a pleasant surprise. Very tough and gruff sort of story and characters, mostly, like a proper cop show. Sounds like it might be a start of a series, Nell certainly has what it takes to carry more the weight, but then again the world doesn’t need any more series and this book, although not quite a perfect entertainment, was perfectly entertaining in its own right as a standalone. Fun very quick read. Not in any way overpowered by estrogen as these things tend to go. Genre fans should enjoy this one. Thanks Netgalley.

Thanks to Christina Alger, Penguin Group/Putnam, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. I loved this book - a layered, beautifully written, complicated mystery that kept me guessing and hooked until the last page. I particularly enjoyed all of the strong, smart female characters. I was sorry for it to end! Highly recommend this novel! I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

A chilling page turner.I was immediately caught up in the story this is an author I will be following.I will be recommending this well written page turner to all y friends, #netgalley #outnambooks