From the very beginning I did not like the protagonist/narrator. I find her selfish, self-centered, egotistical, and a drama queen. Almost immediately she goes into the "huff, puff, I'll swoon" stage like a well-bred Victorian noblewoman on her fainting couch. I'm reminded of the antagonist Kate in Robyn Harding's HER PRETTY FACE; I could not abide her character either (though I adored the book). Heather also reminds me of the unreliable narrator of GIRL ON A TRAIN. This protagonist has no reason I could see to be as she is: she didn't have an abusive childhood; she had supportive and loving parents, a best friend, and two other almost-best friends. They seemed to have much freedom as far as being able to roam and go about, separately and together. Perhaps she is one of those cases of "damned by faint praise," a person whose life is too stable so she gets spoiled and seeks out excitement, then blames her failings on others (including the victim).

All that aside, the novel did catch my interest about 18% in, and the plot is intriguing, especially certain events which begin to occur in the life of the protagonist in an odd but compelling sequence, so that the reader wonders if the protagonist is having blank spells and acting thus herself, or is being gaslighted, or is in actuality being threatened. Throughout the story, the past is interwoven with the present, so that we see why events in the past happened as they did, and in what I think is the denouement, we find out exactly what was and was not done that fateful past night, and why, and what were the intents. I will only say how tragic, for all, but especially for some.

Despite my strong and persistent dislike of the protagonist, Heather Cole, the story line did maintain its intrigue and keep me turning the pages till the end.

For #stitchmaynia11 I'm working on Glendon Place's Monster Mash. I'm stitching it on a fabric called Eye of Newt, This was the perfect recipe of my favorite kind of Thriller. And it delivered. The characters are well fleshed out and you either like them or you don't like them but they seem real. The story moves along at a good pace, not too fast not too slow - so you really find yourself falling into the storyline, wondering what's going to happen next.

*I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review.* is a 32-count line by Weeks Dye Works - deep outrange with smudges of purple.

It's a lovely fabric. I'm using the monochromatic palette, in black and in the purple of 208 209 and 210. I've always loved the old style Universal monsters and this is what it reminds me the most!

Happy Saturday stitching, everyone!

I loved this book so much that I read it all in one night, which I was not planning to do! I have to say, I'm a little biased as I live right in the area the book was set and I couldn't get over that. Maybe that's why I was so drawn into the story, but boy, was I unable to let go! We're informed early on in the story that the Becca, the best friend of the narrator, Heather, was killed as a child. And surprisingly Heather herself states that she killed her. What you need to determine as the reader is how literal Heather is actual being...

The book begins in the present day and transitions between now and the months leading up to Becca's death.
I think this author does a brilliant job of capturing the essence of young teenage girls and the drama and angst that they experience on a daily basis. I found the conversations and behavior between Heather & Becca and their other friends Gia & Rachel believable and quite reminiscent of my own teenage years. Even their interest in horror stories and serial killers isn't hard to imagine as there's nothing spookier than sitting around telling scary stories. Becca's favorite are her tales of The Red Lady, a scorned witch from the distant past who takes revenge on the evil townspeople that bury her alive. As Becca becomes more and more obsessed with The Red Lady, her friendship with Heather begins to suffer.

The current events of the story revolve around the mementos of Becca being sent to Heather now, almost thirty years later. Who is sending them? How do they even have them? Heather's sanity slowly begins to unravel as she desperately tries to figure out what is happening. The one thing I was worried about was that the supernatural aspect would leave the conclusion somewhat vague or mysterious, but that was not the case. The reader is not left with any questions and I think it was the best way to end the story. It was such an engrossing read and has introduced this reviewer to a new author to enjoy!

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real—and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night—that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.




Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience first time reading anything from this author. It had me on the edge of my seat.

This book flips back and forth between the present and the past. From the first page you are left wondering what the main characters have had happen in their lives and question whether they are reliable. Very suspenseful!

I have not read a scary book, thriller, suspense since I was in the 7th & 8th grade, when I asked for the arc of this book, I wasn’t even thinking how I should probably not read it at night. Heather is a woman who is trying hard not to feel guilty over what happened with Becca, she has a lot of baggage and it starts affecting her real life when she receives a necklace only Becca wore along with her as a child. She begins to stalk people, and feels herself going crazy, she doesn’t want to believe the Red Lady is real yet she does believe she is.What made The Dead Girl’s Club interesting was how Heather kept going back to THEN and NOW, so she is reliving the story in the past and in the present, which is helpful to find out what really happened with Becca. I thought it was a perfect thriller, I could not read it at night because I would literally be scared to have nightmares, but this book could easily be turned into a movie and a great one at that. I would recommend this book for those who like mystery, thriller, suspense , scary, etc. With this book you find yourself questioning what is real and what isn’t. I would recommend this book to those who like a chilling experience, I can’t say that I found anything I hated, everything in the book seemed calculated until the end. I really enjoyed this read.

It’s kind of scary how much this book appealed to me. Title...check. Cover...check. Synopsis...check. It didn’t disappoint. Having never read anything else by Walters, I’m excited to go down a rabbit hole and discover her past titles. Heather, the protagonist, is reliable, if shifty and while I found myself growing increasingly frustrated with her choices...when I sat back and really put myself in her shoes, I’m not sure I would have done things differently myself. I also loved how childhood friendships were discussed. When you’re that age, losing friends feels like the end of the world and it all felt so relatable. I’m excited to see what Walters writes next. It seems like this is her first mystery/thriller without a horror bent...and I’m really happy that it didn’t disappoint.

The Dead Girls Club is a fabulous thriller that I could not put down. I loved the storyline and characters. Well written and well developed characters.

Red Lady, Red Lady show us your face..... The Dead Girls Club has the perfect amount of suspense and horror to keep one up at night with the lights on. I finished this novel within 2 days, because I really want to find out how it will end and it did not disappoint. Even though Heather's attempt to find out who sent her Becca's charm necklace are at times contradicting and irrational, the story line has enough twists and turns to keep you intrigued until the very end.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The Dead Girls Club is a clever and scary novel that had me gripping the pages until the very end! Books like this are the ones that I am always on the hunt for, so I am thrilled I took a chance on a new to me author and read this one! It's got enough suspense to leave you feeling needy for answers and enough supernatural aspects to leave chills on your skin! I really enjoyed this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book!

Heather is haunted by her past. As a young girl, she and three of her friends were members of a little club, The Dead Girls Club, where they discussed serial killers and their victims. Somewhere in their morbid fascination of violent death, Heather's best friend introduces them to the Red Lady, the one story that will alter their lives.

Now, Heather is still haunted by the Red Lady. As pieces of her past keep popping up, sent to her anonymously, and threatening the careful life she's built, she will have to find out who is behind the packages, and worse, if the Red Lady is real. The truth might just be more than she can bear.

There is a building sense of desperation and need for the truth in this novel. It toes the line of of real and paranoia, but does so in a way that is believable. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen, and was pleasantly surprised by the twists at the end.

What an amazing thriller! Absolutely loved the storyline and the heroes. The writer spins a beautiful tale abd draws you in slowly but surely.

This book had all the right things - a great, thriller storyline, well developed characters, and unforeseen twists and turns. I kept guessing what was going to happen next and I was often wrong, which is a great feeling as an avid reader of thrillers. I really enjoyed this novel and I would definitely recommend it to friends.

Where to begin..... I finished this last night and actually had to allow myself time to process before I could review it. It’s THAT good!! Let me start off by saying, this book is gut wrenching at times, and you feel for the characters so completely, as if you were a part of their world. I wanted to know the ending SO badly, but I also didn’t, because I knew the conclusion would be heartbreaking. I wasn’t wrong!

The book takes place in 2 time periods: when the narrator is 12, as well as present day. The story is told through a series of Heather’s flashbacks to growing up in a small town, in a small neighborhood, with 3 best friends. The girls are fascinated by death, serial killer stories and scaring each other. They form a bond called, “The Dead Girl’s Club”, a silly endeavor meant to entertain them during a long hot summer. Their goal is to frighten and a tale of the “Red Lady” does just that.

Strange things begin to happen to the girls. Things that cannot be explained. A tragedy strikes. Is the “Red Lady” real or is this a case of mass hysteria? So many years later, Heather tries to piece together the puzzle of that horrible summer while getting threats and clues that someone knows what happened. But who?! And why are they coming forth now?

We feel Heather’s despair and her panic. Her world begins to crash down around her and she needs to find out what really happened all those years ago??

5 HUGE stars!!!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you, #Netgalley!!
#TheDeadGirlsClub

I thought this was a very good horror novel. It reminded me a bit of S.P Miskowski's Knock Knock and the more recent The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste. I read it quickly and found it tense. I enjoyed the writing style, characters, and attention to setting.

The Dead Girls Club is a wonderful, dark and incredibly rich mystery/thriller novel, so well built and fast paced that I wasn't able to put it down till I reached the end. I was absolutely captivated by the atmosphere, and the characters.

This novel submerges the reader in a landscape so detailed that the plot never feels forced, and is never difficult to understand or picture in one's mind. All in all, a fantastic and well-rounded novel!

These 4 little girls make a Dead Girls Club. They are fascinated by serial kills and when together they tell stores about famous and not so famous killers. Until one of the stores is a bit too real and Becca is dead.

This book is very intriguing, you want to keep reading because your sure that the "Red Lady" has put a curse on Becca because there is no one of the other girls could have done something so terrible. This is has a horror feel as well as a thriller all in one. If you like a bit of the supernatural then you will like this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to review this book!

GoodReads Synopsis:

Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real--and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night--that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.

The night Heather killed her.

Now, someone else knows what she did...and they're determined to make Heather pay.


Review:

Where to even start! Honestly I was worried I would not be a fan of this book,solely because of the chapter length, but this book was written so well that it didn't even bother me! Chapters were all written from the point of view of Heather and jumped between present day and the past. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time battling with myself over what was really going on and trying to figure out where the truth lies. It was compelling following Heather and seeing how the past was slowly taking control of her. She became fixated to the point of ruining current day relationships and putting her job in jeapordy. I highly recommend this to all those who love thrillers, suspense, and even supernatural stories. I can't to get my hands on a physical copy because to cover is just as beautiful as the story itself!

There was a lot of working up to what happened that one night during Heather's childhood. At times it seemed to "drag" a little, like there was a lot of detail that could have been left out and it wouldn't have changed the book. There were times towards the end that I really thought maybe this was all in Heather's mind, that none of this really happened. So obviously, the ending wasn't one I saw coming! The end had a good twist and it's a book worth reading!

Damien Angelica Walters is one of my favorite literary horror writers. In her latest book, The Dead Girls Club, Walters veers a bit more toward a standard horror thriller without losing the brilliant turns of a phrase and human insight that makes her writing such a pleasure to read.

In her most mainstream work to date, Walters puts her unique spin on a few common horror tropes. Most notably, the “someone knows about an awful thing I did in the past” and “children play around with an urban legend” tropes. Thankfully, Walters is able to infuse both of these tropes with enough new energy that they still feel fresh and relevant.

Walters always mentions scars in her work, often as a physical representation of emotional turmoil. In this book, there’s not much of an emphasis placed on physical scars, but there are plenty of psychological scars to take their place.

The pacing of this book reminded me of Bird Box by Josh Malerman, and the comparisons to A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay are apt as well. Paper Tigers is still my favorite of Walters’ books, but The Dead Girls Club is also a 5-star, must-read for fans of the horror and thriller genres. It has plenty of tense, unnerving moments and a resolution that left me completely satisfied.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

This story of Heather and her friends Becca, Rachel, and Gale kept me guessing. It went from her past to her present every other chapter so I was able to follow along with what happened pretty good but I didn’t know who the bad guy was until the very end. I love that about a suspenseful story. I like not being to guess what happened and who did it.

Wow, What a wild ride. This book had the most creative plot, amazing characters andd suspense to the max. The past and present story telling worked well with the plot. The ending surprised the hell out of me. I could not put this one down. such an epic story. So well written!

The past comes back to haunt Heather Cole in a major way. Almost thirty years after she killed her best friend Becca, Heather begins receiving mementos. Who is sending them? Was someone else in the house with her and Becca that night?

I enjoyed the majority of this novel, particularly the chapters with Heather and Becca. The present narration with Heather was not as enjoyable and overall, I didn't really like Heather. She seemed to have an extreme reaction for almost everything, even before Becca's death. The story itself is really good though and I had a hard time putting it down.

I had to take a few days after reading this book to let it settle. Very well written. Fast paced. Great suspense. Not all questions are answered - but I felt very satisfied with the story. The characters are well developed - I was very attached to the main character. Moves between present and past when event occurred - smooth transitions, kept me wanting to know more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC!

I feel like most books written about this kind of thing and in this genre have been falling flat for me lately, but I loved The Dead Girls Club! It kept my interest throughout the entire story, and I couldn't put it down once I started it and got more into it. This is a fantastic thriller for fans of the genre, and for people looking for a read that they won't be able to put down. I felt that the ending was a little rushed, but the reveals at the end were absolutely devastating and not what I was expecting at all. It was very hard to tell whether this was a supernatural thriller or just a normal one, and I really enjoyed that it kept me guessing. I'm really looking forward to reading more of Damien Angelica Walters' work now.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I absolutely loved it and what a thrill ride it was!
It was so hard to put down and it is definitely a must read book!

Loved it. Could not stop reading. Full of suspense and creepy. I knew when I saw the similarities to Head Full of Ghosts that I was gonna love it. I hope to read lots more of this type of horror. So unique.

Wow! Awesome book. This book really kept my attention and guessing for more. I thought some of the flashbacks were a little long: it gave good information on the background and relationships between the girls, but the Red Lady stories were a little disturbing for me. (I was never one that got into that stuff as a kid). Throughout this book, I kept thinking this is predictable, this is predictable, it's the friend; it's the husband, but WOW what a great ending twist in more than one way! This will be an author I keep reading.

“The Dead Girls Club” by Damien Angelica Walters
Genre: #thriller #horror #fiction
Pub Date: 10 Dec 2019
Rating: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️/5
a·gog /əˈɡäɡ/
adjective
very eager or curious to hear or see something.
.
Ok, so I sat here contemplating my review but I decided that life is too short for 5/5 ratings to be unattainable. Did this book keep me entertained? Was it suspenseful? Was it the right amount of horror to reality ratio? Yes, Yes and Yes! Did I figure out the twist before I read it? No. So there you have it- a ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️/5. I’m a sucker for a good or even twisted love story in a thriller and this book kept me entertained WITHOUT that.
Thanks @netgalley and @crookedlanebooks

Heather Cole is a successful child psychologist with a loving husband and a dark secret. When she was younger, Heather was part of a group called The Dead Girls Club. Together she, her best friend Becca, and their friends Rachel and Gia got together to tell horror stories and discuss serial killers. When Becca becomes obsessed with the story of a woman called The Red Lady, Heather and her friendship begins to dissolve. Unfortunately Becca's obsession with The Red Lady lead to her death. Now decades later, Becca's half of her "Best Friend" necklace arrives in Heather's mailbox and someone is looking for revenge.  

If you're a fan of supernatural thriller stories like those of Paul Tremblay, you'll be delighted with The Dead Girls Club. The book keeps the reader guessing the entire time of whether the force haunting Heather is supernatural in nature or a real killer coming for her. I felt for her as Heather tries to use her background as a psychologist to keep things in perspective and keep looking for what the real cause of everything might be, but only making herself look guiltier and guiltier.

The Dead Girls Club is the type of book that you start thinking you'll just read a few chapters, and then find yourself hiding under the covers trying to hide either a flashlight or your phone light so you can get to the very end. 

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters comes to book stores December 10, 2019.

The land of thrillers, this one stands out. I requested this novel after I saw the author of Head Full of Ghosts had a quote on the cover. I enjoyed that book...though I do have some thoughts about it...so I decided to try this one. In the Dead Girls Club, we follow the story of two best friends. The main character receives a mysterious package as an adult, and that sends her back in time to remember the death of her best friend.

Her friend friend she killed.

The story goes back and forth between their history and the events that lead up to Becca's death, and the hunt our main character's adult self has for whomever is stalking her.

Is it supernatural? Is it real? It isn't clear until the very end of the novel. So often such stories are pretty predictable, but I wasn't sure until the very end.

If you liked Head Full of Ghosts, because it is similar....but a better story.

With a title like that how could you not want to read it.?! This was such a good suspense novel that I want you all to read it right away. Highly recommend, the characters were fantastic and the writing was excellent.

A little slow at first, this story picks up quickly and the suspense doesn't stop. The back and forth between then and now adds to the tension and keeps the reader on edge. Just when I thought I had it figured out the story threw a sharp twist and left me stunned. This is a psychological thriller you don't want to miss.

I received an ARC Kindle version from NetGalley. I was caught up in the story immediately and kept wanting to know more about The Red Lady, Becca, and Heather. It worked to go between Then and Now. Heather’s search for her friends almost seemed to easy to find and reconnect. Her husband became a minor character with deception on both sides. Lots of time spent leaving work and sneaking around. Heathers choice as a child psychologist works to give her strategies for coping with trauma. I had to reread the last few chapters to understand what happened. So many loose ends come together. Surprise ending. I would recommend Dead Girls Club to my book club. It would be fun to discuss the role of each character to the story!

LOVE!

This is a thriller novel that I can definitely get behind. I love the back and forth between timelines. It's usually difficult to pull that off, but this book was able to do it flawlessly. The characters and the mystery surrounding them were great, and we definitely got to be immersed in the situation.

Received via NetGalley for review.

A wonderful examination of guilt, uncertainty, mental illness, and friendship. Heather and Becca are and always will be best friends, but when Becca starts to seem obsessed with the story of the Red Lady and show signs of abuse, Heather doesn't know what to feel or how to act. Eventually, she decides that their friendship is the most important thing, and does what she can to help Becca.

Years later, as an adult, someone begins to send Heather reminders of the incident, sending Heather into a spiral of paranoia and anxiety. Watching her sabotage herself trying to figure out who knows her secret is incredibly well-written, engaging, and hard to read. At times, it was hard to tell if there were was anything supernatural going on, or we were just witnessing Heather's descent into madness (which is a trope I always love).

Do you like ghost stories around the campfire? If so, this is your book. Mean Girls mixed with slasher movie! I am in love! It felt a little young adult to me, but it was still really fun and suspenseful.

Becca, Rachel, Heather and Gia are members of their own little club, The Dead Girls Club. This club discusses recent murders of women or girls. They also talk about past murderers, Bundy, Gein etc. They meet in a house that is listed for sale. It's easy to get the keys since Becca's mom has them to show the houses.The girls are all friends, but Becca and Heather are best friends. Best friends since kindergarten. Heather is a very good artist and storyteller. Her and Heather have spent lots of time writing and illustrating booklets together.
Now lately, Becca had been telling stories about the Red Lady. She was supposedly buried alive and came back for the people who killed her. She always left dirt in their mouths.
Of all the girls, Becca's life is the hardest. No one knows but she is physically abused by her mother when she is drunk. Heather has seen the marks, a black eye, swollen cheek, bruises. Becca always says she fell or ran into something. When Becca disappears her mother is in prison for her murder.
Now, years later, Heather is receiving items that belong in their childhood. The most profound item it the half of the "Best Friends Forever" necklace.
Heather still has her half and she knows Becca died wearing her half. So how did she receive Becca's in the mail. Most of all, how does know Becca was wearing the necklace.
Wonderful story, great characters, outstanding storyline. Captivating ending!

Damien draws the reader into the world of the real and the supernatural with The Dead Girls Club. The timeline travels seamlessly from the present day to the past when Heathers friend Becca died. Along the way we are introduced to the story of the Red Lady whom Becca believes will save her. A terrific thriller with twists till the end. Highly recommend.
Thanks netgalley for the preview in exchange for an honest review.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Holy fantastic book!! I have never read a book that kept me on the edge of my seat every single page!! It's a story about 4 young girls who are in love with scary stories and reading or hearing about serial killers. So they decide to form a club and begin to tell the stories of the Red Lady. As they continue to tell the story, one of the girls Becca, begins to show signs of serious abuse from her mother. As the story plays on it gets deeper and deeper. I highly recommend this book, it will keep you on the edge of your seat from page one too the end!

tw: abuse, drug abuse, child neglect, alcoholism, death

Warning: don't read this book before bed. 1) It's too creepy. 2) I couldn't put this book down. It is quick and one heck of a thrill-ride. My favorite element of this book is how creepy it is. The book's release should be closer to Halloween rather than December! This is the absolute PERFECT, creepy Halloween read! 5 stars!

Oh my gosh!! I read this book in a day and a half. It sucked me in, I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

I had to know how Becca died, and who all actually knew about it. Who was taunting Heater and making her feel crazy, and if Gia and Rachel had anything to do with it.

This is definitely a must read!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC! It's been a long time since I've read a horror novel that has stayed with me like this one has. In between reading, it occupied my thoughts when I let my mind wander and has plagued my dreams at night. I rushed home after work to continue the story, trying as hard as I could to finish it even though I never wanted it to end. It was all too easy to see myself and my friend group from when I was a kid as the Dead Girls Club, and maybe that's why it effected me so, but either way, it was an expertly crafted scary story.

Heather is an adult who seems to be doing very well for herself. A good job working with kids, a happy marriage, stable friends her age-- but there's a secret she's been harboring that lies just beneath her spotless veneer. She murdered her best friend when she was a kid and got away with it. No one else knows; Becca's body was never found, and her mother, Lauren, was pinned with the crime. When Heather begins to personal items that belonged to Becca in the mail, she begins a steady decline into a sort of madness. This descent brings up long buried memories from her past, and chapters of Heather's present are interwoven with scenes from her past.

In these scenes, we meet the Dead Girls Club. Heather, Becca, and their two friends, Gia and Rachel, bonded over a shared love of the macabre, and when they had their club meetings they would take turns telling stories. They were mostly stories about serial killers, local murder victims, or the supernatural, but one day, Becca sits them down in an abandoned house her mom is selling to tell them about the Red Lady. She was a witch who was horrifically murdered centuries ago, but who lives on to make deadly bargains with those who ask for her help. Once Becca starts telling her stories, things quickly make a turn for the worse. The girls all start having nightmares and phantom pains, and Becca withdraws from Heather, ending in a night that changed Heather's life forever.

Heather's anxiety and fear pushes everyone she loves away from her. She was suspicious of everything and I got to a point where I wasn't sure if I should trust anything she said or saw, because she was truly one step away from losing it completely. I liked the unreliable narrator factor, and how we were given very plausible cause for every character we met to be who had finally found Heather out. Her life spins out of control, and I was left breathless trying to decide whether there really ever was a Red Lady, or if, like it goes so many times in life, the Dead Girls Club made up something to shield them from the glimpses of real life that they had come across far too young.

I really could go on and on about this book, but I'm trying not to reveal too much. It very well may be my favorite read of 2019, and it hasn't even been published yet! I was hooked on this original tale, and could have never guessed the ending. I know that I'll be thinking about this story for awhile now; maybe even seeing the Red Lady in my dreams for many nights to come. Thank you, Damien, for the haunting and intricately woven spider's web that you've weaved. I'm the fly, and I'll never be free.

'In stories, blood smells of old coins. An apt description. What those stories fail to mention is that the smell lingers, not on your skin, but in your memory. You can't ever wash it away.'

And with that paragraph, I was instantly sucked into the story and this book was mine to fall in love with.

The Dead Girls Club is a tale after my own heart. A group of young girls obsessed with serial killers, urban legends, and creepy stories? A retelling of my own youth. Heather is now in her 30s and is a successful child psychologist with a dark past and that past has come back to haunt her. Literally. I was instantly gripped by the wild turns that this book took and at several points questioned our dear protagonist's own sanity. The author does an amazing job with her storytelling and I was not expecting the end at all. Can I also mention how beautiful this cover is? I'm looking forward to more of the author's works in the future. This was a fantastic read and my only negative is that I finished reading this at night and I'm kind of afraid of what kind of dreams I'll have. Please pray that I don't wake up with a mouth full of dirt.

Thank you very much to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. This review will be published on Goodreads indefinitely 06/26/2019 :)

This book was everything I love about a good thriller; relationships, murder, and a dash of 80's nostalgia to remind me of my childhood. This story delves into a missing person (I won’t ruin it and say who) and is divided between the main character, Heather’s childhood past and adult life. Someone is sending Heather haunting messages and, as the book progresses, you’re taken along the journey to figure out who it is and why they’re stalking Heather.

The past takes a look at Heather’s life with best friend Becca and two other girlfriends, Gia and Regina, who make up the Dead Girls Club. They talk about all-the-things teen girls do, being liked, friendship, and growing apart. It felt completely relatable to me, as a woman and the mom of a pre-teen girl. While the relationship between Becca and her mom is tough because it hints at child abuse and alcoholism, you’re so entwined in the story you just want to reach out and help her. I also found myself much more connected to Heather's relationships in the past versus her current relationships with her husband, best friend, and co-worker (two names which I kept confusing). The characters from Heather's childhood feel more developed and I was much more drawn to the past, versus Heather’s current life.

The present time follows Heather into what can only be described as madness and she wonders if she’s losing her mind as a series events lead her to ponder her past. Who is sending these relics from her childhood and why are they doing it? The story is fast-paced and definitely kept me guessing. I had my ideas about who might be involved, but as I got to the end, I found a huge relief to finally know the truth-there were so many possibilities. I was truly committed to this book from start to finish and found myself looking forward to picking up where I left off – in the car, in the kitchen, I had to know how it ended.

I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars. Check it out!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Dead Girls Club are four young friends (Heather, Becca, Rachel and Gia) who meet to tell macabre stories about serial killers and ghosts, including the Red Lady who Becca insists real. The book follows Heather as an adult and also slowly unravels the story of what happened when they were kids. We start out knowing Becca is dead and Heather killed her, although Becca's abusive mother went to jail for the crime. Becca's body was never found. Almost thirty years later, Heather's life starts to fall apart as she begins to believe someone else was there the night Becca was killed.

The Dead Girl's Club literally kept me up at night and I finished it after midnight last night, when I should have been asleep hours ago. Then I stayed awake even longer analyzing the ending. It was intriguing and incredibly sad, especially because Becca believed that the only way out of her situation was to die. It's a toss up between who was the most disturbing character in the book, the Red Lady or Becca's mom Lauren. The end keeps you guessing as to what's real and what isn't. It's one of those books that I feel will stay with me for awhile and I'll be looking up Damien Angelica Walter's other books.

If I was a character in this book I would have been a card carrying member of the Dead Girls Club. My childhood was full of watching scary movies and reading scary books. The Dead Girls club is one of the best thrillers I have read this year. Centering on friendships between 4 young girls and their love for the spooky and supernatural. Thirty years later one of the girls, Heather, is confronted with what happened that summer. “You never knew who was secretly a monster.” This thriller will be one that you can’t put down!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley.
The Dead Girls Club... wow. The cover is GORGEOUS. The blurb really drew me in.
It was a little slow to start, but once it drew me in, holy cow. You won't regret reading this book.

I have received a NetGalley arc copy in exchange for an honest opinion

To be honest I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. The story had it all from girls secret club to witchy "Red Lady" ghost to real tragedy. It was a solid mystery book. A secret kept since childhood resurfaced later in life and keeps you wonder who else knows? I couldn't put it down.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to.

This book had me guessing the whole time about what was actually happening. There were times when I was just as creeped out as the main character, which can be a hard feat to accomplish. I will definitely be purchasing and recommending this one.

The start plods along, but somewhere mid-book the author hits the gas and the reader is left with a very uneasy feeling that our narrator is wrong very wrong about what happened to her childhood best friend.

This was equal parts creepy coming of age tale and hairpin turn thriller.

I did not expect the twists that were revealed at all, the sneaking suspicion that all is not what it seems was definitely confirmed but not the way I had pieced together.

A fantastic read for folks who like their female characters flawed and somewhat unlikeable (I stan a complex lady!) , and seamless jumping back and forward in time.

Thoroughly enjoyed The Dead Girls Club!

This book will keep you guessing until the end with some very unexpected curveballs. As a psychologist, Heather should have been more prepared than just about anyone for her past to invade her present but it still almost destroyed her and everyone around her. Watching her completely unravel as she tries to solve the mystery was compelling and heartbreaking. Her world is imploding and she is powerless to stop it because she is consumed by paranoia and memories of what happened to Becca. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery.

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Walters is a force to reckon with. Written about a young girl who at one time was part of a club. Not the normal club that you would expect but a more macabre sort of club. I was able to go back to my childhood and remember the times I sat around with friends trying to scare them with my stories of ghosts and goblins. We meet a girl named Becca. You may find Becca a little on the haste side and probably not someone you would want to hang around but she has a past and that past is vile. Becca’s friend Heather believes that she has seen the witch that was in the stories they told as young girls. No one really believed her until she was dead. This novel had me on my feet all night reading to find out what happened next. I could not put it down. The writer certainly has a way to keep your attention and allow you to become part of the story. You almost feel as though you are one of the characters. This is a great 5+ star novel to read.


Thank you to netgalley as well as the author for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Not gonna lie, I usually don't read thrillers with supernatural but this book blew me away. Never expected to love this book as much as I did. It was amazing and couldn't put it down once I started. The writing was amazing and the story will keep you guessing.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW
The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
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Thank you for the early release of the ebook Netgalley
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Release date 12/10/2019
Review also on Goodreads and Instagram under Bookish_Pineapple

https://www.instagram.com/bookish_pineapple/

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/45701350
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This book was not at all what I expected. The build up took me a little bit to get into but once I did, I didn’t put it down. I finished this book in less than a day. Forgo laundry and dishes. This was much more important.
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A story of preteen friends and imaginations. Stories you tell to make things seem better or deflect from what’s really going on. We’ve all done it. Our monsters are not as scary as the ones we make up. Our saviors are not as close as the ones we believe in. Friends are there until the end. And sometimes even after.
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A disturbing but enticing witchy supernatural-twist your mind-mystery. Find out what really happens as you are enveloped into the past through flashbacks. What you think is not what happens. Kept me on the edge of my seat until I was finished.

Excellent, fast paced psychological thriller. Kept me guessing until the very scary twisted end. Two young girls who have a fascination with the macabre start a club with two other young girls. As the four girls start learning the story of The Red Lady, strange things begin happening to all of them. If you are a fan of horror and mystery novels then this book is for you. Left me completely creeped out for several days. Highly recommend!

This book had me hooked from the first page to the very last!

The story of 4 friends, aged 12 and 13, who were obsessed with the macabre. The girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real–and she could prove it. That belief got Becca killed.

The book goes back and forth between present time - which is 30 years later - and the past, and it does this very fluidly. The transition between now and then is practically seamless which makes it easy to stay focused on the plot. I honestly did not figure out the twist until the very end - but what was fun is that I would think I knew and then something I read would change my mind. The end wrapped everything up but not too tightly because I still can't stop thinking about everything that happened.

Definitely could not put it down from the very beginning to the end!

What a fantastic book. Really got into this one. Characters are well formed and the storyline keeps you focused. Wish I could have read it in one sitting but really enjoyed it

So detailed and amazing. I finished it in one sitting. Amazing attention to detail. Love, love, love this story and the characters.

Great thriller. Kept me guessing. Will definitely be adding to my collection. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Review by 2shay……….

Brilliant and creepy!

Within the first few pages, I was hooked! The author’s use of phrasing had me intrigued with Heather immediately. Heather is a smart, well-educated child psychologist with a wonderful, loving husband and a peaceful, satisfying life. I needed to know how she arrived there. I knew from the beginning that she had done something dreadful as a child. She killed her best friend.

Ms. Walters uses flashbacks beautifully to unravel the events of Heather’s childhood. Childhood friends, four girls, with a similar obsession with the macabre that so many children, myself included, shared. Heather and Becca were the best of friends. ”Friends Forever” read the necklace the two girls wore in solidarity. If you’re old enough, you may remember those, they were hearts cut in half in a jigsaw pattern, and each friend wore one half. I had one until it turned my neck green and my mother made me take it off. They were cheap trinkets.

Heather and Becca, along with their other friends, Rachel and Gia, formed The Dead Girls Club, discussing everything from scary books to serial killers they heard about on the news. It was just a harmless club until Becca became obsessed with a made up story about The Red Lady. Becca was a smart and talented kid, a story teller and artist. She was the natural leader of the group, and the other girls complied when she wanted to contact The Red Lady with a ritual. It brought back memories of being scared silly when fooling around with a ouija board! There’s nothing quit like the shivers kids can give each other when they’re 12, is there? But a case of the shivers doesn’t usually result in death. Heather and Becca’s ritual ended with Becca’s death, while wearing her half of the friendship necklace.

When, almost 30 years later, Heather opens an envelope and Becca’s necklace falls out, the real story begins. The real mystery begins. More things from Heather’s time with Becca show up, and Heather starts believing someone is watching her. Stalking her. Do they want revenge? Justice? What? Heather’s life begins to unravel, and I began to wonder if Heather is truly losing her mind from remembering painful things…from the guilt.

I loved every page of this book. The ending was great, scary and enlightening. I could visualize this story as a movie, and I knew every place where a much younger me would have shrieked in terror. Ms. Walters, you entertained the hell out of me! Thank you!


ARC graciously provided by Crooked Lane Books and NetGaLey

Wow! Every year, I look for that one ultimate horror summer read and I don't find it very often. This book is exactly what I was looking for.

A nice mix of mystery and suspense mixed in with the supernatural. The story had me hooked from the start. This is the kind of book you'll think about while you're at work - you'll count the minutes until you can get back home to pick it up and read some more. At night, you'll scan ahead to see if you can read a little bit more before going to bed, and once you read to the next stop, you'll scan again to see if you can read just a little bit more.

The ending made for a very satisfying read. I wish there were more books like this.

A complicated plot with a few unexpected twists.
The story is haunting and scary, the unraveling of a mystery that lay dormant for decades and that could cost everything to our main character.
The Dead Girls club starts as a rendering for all the lives lost by the senseless actions of serial killers. The fascination with the macabre that plagues the life of young Becca, and the love for mystery and horror that her best friend Heather has.
How to discern fact from fiction when you are an impressionable teen.

Truly an ending I didn’t see coming, and I usually have at least an idea. The Dead Girls Club is an excellent story that reminds us of our childhood friendships, and how we choose to remember them.
Becca and Heather are best friends forever, until they aren’t. When Becca ends up dead, we are led to wonder if it was due to her best friend? Or something more sinister.
Years later, Heather finds out what really happened and who really is responsible.

This book tells a story from present to the past, where we get the glimpses here and there about what transpired between two friends.

Heather Cole, a child psychologist, received an envelope at work only to discover it is a necklace belonging back in another place in time. Half a heart with letters, and Heather knows it's the type of necklace the one wears half and the other half is worn by a friend...best friend to be exact. This necklace shakes Heather because it looks like the same one that belonged to her best friend, Becca, who is dead.

Becca, Heather, Gia, and Rachel all hung out together. While Heather and Becca were best friends, often doing things without the other two. Becca's mother was in real estate, and Becca takes a key to a listing that is empty. It is there that the four friends, develop a secret group called The Dead Girls Club.

Becca enjoys telling tales and feeds her friends a horror story about The Red Lady. Over time, the story seems to take on a life of its own. Becca becomes obsessed with it, making claims the Red Lady is real. When Heather doesn't agree wholeheartedly, it causes a rift in her and Becca's friendship.

Now, thirty years later, someone is sending Heather mementos from the past that appear to be Becca's. Someone is stirring up the past. Heather starts to look into Gia and Rachel, because it was just the four of them that knew of The Red Lady, and they were the ones that belonged to The Dead Girls Club. Heather has a secret of her own, and in trying to uncover who is stalking her, it'll take a toll on her marriage and friendships.

After all, The Red Lady is just a made up story, right?

This book kept me glued to the pages. We know up front, something happened, but it's through the unveiling of the story that adds a shocking unexpected twist. It centers around that one special friendship that means so much, and what one will do for their BFF.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books and I voluntarily reviewed this book.

This is a creepy book as the title would suggest, but I also found it compelling from start to finish! I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this author in the future!

I didn’t see that coming!!

Preteen girls playing at silly ghost story games. We’ve all been there, done that, but this time something goes terribly wrong.

Why is the Red Lady returning now? Is it the Red Lady or is Heather having a mental break?

Grab this story and be prepared to have your thoughts and ideas thrown out the window.

This book had so many twists and turns, I was in utter shock when I was reading the ending! This is a thriller that is part supernatural and part frightening/scary. It begins with four young girls who are in a club of their making, The Dead Girls Club. They are very interested in killers and urban legends. Becca and Heather are the main characters in this story. Becca becomes obsessed with one urban legends to the point that it has deadly consequences. I was hooked on this book from beginning to the very end.
If you like thrillers that will have you guessing to the end, pick this book up! I would highly recommend.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dead Girls Club was one of the most fantastic books I've ever read. It was unlike most of what I've read before and it was amazing. Well written, unique, and gripping, you won't want to put this down.

First off, let's be real: I AM HERE FOR THIS COVER AND TITLE. Actually, I'm here for the story, too, but man, the cover and title are what sucked me in and the rest held me hostage. I normally don't like books that jump between past and present. If done wrong, it can be so much work and so confusing. However, it worked beautifully in the book.

The Dead Girls Club is a heart-pounding thriller kept me on the edge of my seat. It's about Heather, one of four girls who used to be part of a small club that was obsessed with serial killings. One night, Heather's bestie talks about Lady Red -- and their whole lives derail at that point. Flash forward years later, and Heather is being sent little bits of the Red Lady (trinkets, hints, etc) anonymously and she's determined to uncover the truth before it destroys her carefully crafted existed.

I really liked this book because the tension -- the desperation, the suspense, the fear -- is palpable. It reminds me of Pretty Little Liars or Final Girls, and I love that sense that the source of all the anonymous grief being given could be around any corner....or right in front of Heather.

Heather Cole seems to have it all together: married, a career as a child therapist, but one day an unmarked envelope appears on her desk that brings her face to face with a past she buried long ago.

As the weathered chain slinks out and lands in her hand, she doesn’t even need to look to know what she’ll see: a half-heart pendant.
One half of a “Best Friends Forever.” She still has her half deeply hidden away.

Nobody should have been able to send this necklace to Heather, it’s an impossibility.
And only Heather knows why. It’s something she’s kept secret for more than thirty years.

Suddenly, the life that Heather has so carefully crafted is over, and she is forced to come face to face with the events that happened one night, all those years ago.

The night that her best friend Becca died.
The night that she killed her best friend.


When I first started this book, I was honestly just drawn to the novelty of the synopsis:
Best friends getting together, talking about morbid things and telling ghost stories. Naming themselves The Dead Girls Club. Sounds like me when I was younger. (Who am I kidding? I’m still like that. ☠️)

However, as the book started alternating chapters/timelines between THEN/NOW, I realized this was an incredibly multifaceted story.

I felt like it was a perfectly crafted plot. The scenes from the past felt nostalgic, especially because they brought back so many memories of myself as a teenager in the 90’s. All I could think was, SAME.
I almost had a hard time reading as it got further along, because I knew a “Becca” in real life.
It’s difficult to say much without spoilers. I think it’d be an injustice to spoil this book.

The scenes in the present are tough because while you know the reason for Heather’s fears, as things become more threatening for her and her life is really spiraling downward, sometimes you just want to smack her for the way she handles things.
But then, who am I to say how I would behave in a situation like that? Fear (of all manner of things,) makes us someone we aren’t, sometimes.

This book, I have to say, is one of my favorites I’ve read recently.
It was a suspenseful thriller, it had the paranormal, but then, damn if it didn’t sneak up and give me the feels too.

It’s an examination of childhood innocence, childhood trauma, the dynamic between mothers and daughters and girls as friends.
It conjures up questions on morality vs. loyalty, secrets and lies, and is a wonderful window into mental health issues.

While that makes it sound very serious, it ultimately was completely entertaining, and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Just when I thought I was sure I knew who did it or what was REALLY happening, I was wrong. I never got it right.

This, to me, is one of those perfect books.
Like sitting down to eat a snack and getting a whole meal instead.
I was taken through every emotion imaginable, and I love that, especially because most of the time I will purposely avoid books that I think might evolve certain emotions.
I forget that they are good too sometimes.

I gave this 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
And, I’m so happy I was given a chance to experience this book.
So special thanks to the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, Netgalley, and the author, Damien Angelica Walters.

*All opinions are my own.

I will be distributing this review among my other platforms after I get a photo taken as a feature.
I’m anticipating by September 1.
I will feature it on my blog, Ink & Paper Wanderlust
http://inkandpaperdreamer.home.blog

My Instagram
http://Instagram.com/inkandpaperwanderlust

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/Inkandpaperwanderlust

"You never have friends like you do when you're a kid."

Child psychologist Heather Cole hasn't thought about her childhood friends in years until one day when she gets a necklace in the mail. It's one of those "BFF" necklace sets you can buy at Claire's, with each half coming together to form a heart. Nothing strange about it...except for the fact that she hasn't seen that necklace since her best friend Becca Thomas died while wearing it. As she keeps receiving mementos reminding her of Becca, Heather is forced to revisit what happened that summer when she was twelve: the story of the Red Lady, the Dead Girls Club, and, most importantly, what really happened to Becca.

We've all had a friend like Becca. Of course, I'm not talking about her eventual fate. You could never quite tell when she was telling the truth, she always pushed the fun a bit too far, and the pain and jealously that accompanied her decision that you were no longer her best friend were almost too much. Setting aside the creepy premise of this book, I thought that Damien Angelica Walters wrote about the melodrama being twelve and the complexities that accompany preteen friendships with startling accuracy. The emotions that twelve-year-old Heather felt towards Becca and the other members of the Dead Girls Club were very realistic. I seriously started thinking about my own middle school friends, even ones I hadn't thought about in ages! On a more serious note, though, this book is an interesting take on what we, especially as children, are willing to believe when we're desperate. I wondered if Becca had intentionally made up the story of the Red Lady to scare her friends or if she was simply so eager to escape a hopeless situation that she convinced even herself that it was all real.

I also thought the format of this book worked really well. The narration switched between "then"--the summer that Heather was twelve and Becca told the story of the Red Lady--and "now," which follows adult Heather's investigation into who keeps sending her Becca's belongings. I admit that I was a bit more interested in the "then" sections. I was intrigued by the story of the Red Lady, and I was anxious to learn more about Becca's death. In that respect, I thought the two timelines worked really well together. From the beginning of the book (and even from the book description, for that matter), it's no secret that Heather killed Becca. But the events of the "then" sections really start to call into question if that's actually what happened, I wasn't necessary expecting a huge twist from this book--to me, it got more of its suspense value in the fact that we knew what was going to happen, so the tension kept building every time the perspective shifted--but I was pretty surprised by the ending, especially the epilogue.

Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It was a fun, creepy read that made me introspective too!

DEFINITELY NOT MY LAST BOOK BY THIS AUTHOR

Amazing plot line! Love this story and our main character was very well written.

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This was a fantastic book. Such a well told story. I loved the characters and the psych of the MC. The story unfolded and had you wondering who was behind it.

What a great story! I wasn't planning to finish it in one sitting, but I did! I appreciated the plot, the well developed and believable characters and plots twist I didn't see coming!!

What a doozy! I literally hung on every line of The Dead Girls Club and couldn’t put it down. From the very beginning, the mystery of the dead girls caught my eye, and the story of the Red Lady was so spooky. The story revolves around four girls- the main character Heather and her best friend Becca being the main characters.

The story is cut between Heather’s childhood and her present life as a child psychologist. It talks about a childhood ghost story and how many years later, the ghost is back. The author did a great job of describing the way middle school-aged girls think and act and it brought me right back to my own childhood. The ghost story of the Red Lady is such a perfect example of a childhood story gone terribly wrong.

This book is definitely a psychological thriller and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It had a slow, suspenseful build-up, and I loved the way the ending explained everything. I hate when books have plot holes, and this book tied everything up nicely. I thought that The Dead Girls Club was a quick and interesting read, and recommend it to anyone who likes a good thriller.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for my ARC!

Review Copy

THE DEAD GIRLS CLUB is everything I want and love in a novel. It's a coming of age story about girls - something that's rare. It's also that, combined with horror, and it's a psychological thriller as well. The writing is sharp and faultless. I appreciated every word. Such a brilliant novel about friendship and loss is one that shouldn't be missed.

While child psychologist Heather Cole has not forgotten what happened during the summer of 1991, she has moved on with her life—until she receives the missing half of the friendship necklace she shared with Becca. Becca was killed that summer, and her alcoholic mother was jailed for her murder. As she receives more disturbing reminders of that summer, and the Dead Girls Club, which she and Becca formed with two other girls, Heather can’t stop herself from investigating. But her google searches and telephone calls begin to occupy more of her time, until her career, marriage, and other relationships suffer.

Even as she realizes the toll her obsession is taking, Heather won’t stop until she learns the truth.

The Dead Girls Club is a creepy suspense thriller. Heather is not entirely a sympathetic character, and at times, I wanted to shake her and beg her to stop. Author Walters does a fabulous job of establishing what a normal, enviable life Heather has constructed, before forcing the reader to watch her tear it down. Walters saves some pretty big surprises for the end. #NetGalley #DeadGirlsClub

This was a definite 5 star read for me. I didn't see the end coming and I thought for sure I knew what was going to happen. The beginning was a little hard to get into but the end more then mad up for it. Once I reached about halfway I couldn't put it down!

This was such a good read. I loved the supernatural suspense, the friendships and mystery. I couldn't put this book down and wanted to know why and what happened. Thanks netgalley for the e-arc

This thriller is a recommended first purchase for collections where the genre is popular. Has crossover appeal for certain HS collections as well.

I haven't read anything previously by this author but I was impressed. This book will keep you up all night reading until the end and is the perfect thing to read before Halloween and share around the campfire. Highly recommend this one! Also, beautiful cover-art!
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Ok this book was amazing. Personally I’m not usually into the supernatural type of books but after I read broken girls last year I knew I had to give this one a shot. It was so worth it. I was hooked from the start and could not put it down. So much mystery and suspense. Definitely recommend even to those not normally into this type of book. Thanks NetGalley.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book was incredibly creepy! Told in first person it explores a '90's childhood and the life of a child therapist.

There's some really neat twists that I didn't see coming.
I highly recommend this book.

A Darkly Gleaming Gem of a Book

This novel was beautifully crafted. Part horror, part crime mystery, and part coming-of-age story, the suspense grew steadily, keeping me up at night until I finished.

The story's intermingling of real crime headlines and their effect on the minds of these girls resonated especially with me. I remember snagging my mom's True Detective magazines for slumber party reading with my girlfriends. And of course, we were fascinated by ghosts and psychic phenomena as well.

I could really relate to Heather, Becca and their friends. While I never saw the danger then, it seems so obvious now that their morbid interests and a dysfunctional household, coupled with a vivid imagination and lack of supervision, can yield horrifying results.

Or a career as a writer!

When I read the description of The Dead Girls Club, I knew I was going to like it. What I didn't expect was how I didn't want to put it down! This book is so filled with suspense, I needed to know how it was all going to end and couldn't stop reading until I did.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
As you can tell from the 5 stars, I really liked this book! I think reading it in October gave it an extra spooky feel in sections. This book comes out in December, but I was lucky enough to be able to read an early copy to review it thanks to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books.

Pros:
The characters were relatable (Heather for sure). The book switches back and forth between ‘then’ and ‘now’ from when Heather was 12 to present day. I feel like both time periods were relatable because reading the ‘then’ sections reminded me of being a 12-year-old and wanting to do whatever my friends were doing so I didn’t seem scared or boring.
If you like ghost stories, you’ll definitely like this books! There were sections of it I had to quit reading after dark because it made me so jumpy! 👻
Cons:
None

The Dead Girls Club is the latest book by Damien Angelica Walters. The Dead Girls Club is a psychological thriller and a horror story combined. Ms Walters tells us the story, by going back into time, by using "Now" and "Then". Some edge of your seat moments along with some absolutely unable to put down times. I was given an early copy to review.

First off thank you NetGalley and Damien Angelica Walters for the chance to read this before it hits store shelves in December! This book puled me in from the beginning, I love a book that has a plot like this. I also felt a tie to the characters just because I myself love to read about serial killers too, I would love to have been part of the club. I liked how the author told the story, flipping back and forth between now and then. So you could piece the story together on your own but yet you didn't have all the details yet. I didn't care for the fact that her mother was acting cold toward her, considering her best friend was gone, but it al comes out in the end. I also didn't care that the husband jumped to conclusions, I mean I can kind of see why he did but he didn't even give her a chance to explain. I think my favorite part was when she returned home and everything was just a teensy bit off kilter. Yall definitely need to read this book when it comes out.

Holy cow. Where do I even start? When I started this book I went in thinking it was going to be a good thriller. I was not expecting to read 70% of it in one day and the only reason why I didn't finish it all in one sitting was because I was reading it at work.

This book was so good. I honestly want to read it again and see if I pick up on clues in the beginning. I really thought that everything didn't happen the way Heather remembered it. And then the end. I am just at a loss for words. This was everything I needed in a spooky thriller. Now I can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy and anything else that Damien Angelica Walters writes.

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends--Becca, Gia, and Rachel--were members of the Dead Girls Club. Self-professed lovers of serial killers and macabre, the girls exchanged stories both real--like the tales of Ted Bundy--and fake--like The Red Lady, a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Traumatized by the abusive Lauren Thomas, Becca insists The Red Lady is real and that only she can save her from the torment she experiences at home. This believe gets her killed.

Years later, Heather is now Dr. Cole, prominent child psychologist to those with tragic lives. Heather survived her childhood--and The Red Lady--but not unscathed. When a mysterious envelope arrives with the other half of her "Best Friends Forever" necklace--the very one Becca was wearing when she died the night Heather killed her--Heather is convinced someone is sending her a message. Someone knows what really happened the night Becca died, and Heather can't hide behind her lies any longer.

While marketed as a supernatural thriller, I spent a good majority of my time immersed in the plot, wondering if The Red Lady would turn out to be a real entity. As an avid thriller reader, I expected her to be fake, a figment of the children's imaginations and an explicit representation of just how powerful our minds truly are. The way the author handled The Red Lady and her story, providing evidence for both sides, made for a thrilling, eerie, and unputdownable read.

I'm quite impressed with the character development. All four friends were affected by the events of that summer. Becca lost her life, and Heather killed her. Heather, now a child psychologist; Gia, now a physical therapist; and Rachel, now a lawyer, all work in fields that allow them to help people, especially broken, injured (either physically or emotionally) individuals. The years have not been kind to these girls, and I really enjoyed seeing how that summer changed them.

I disliked very little about this book. While some character and writing quirks became distracting (e.g. the cuticle picking and the ever-constant goosebumps), I wasn't bothered so much that I was taken out of the story. Aside from that, the ending did feel a bit rushed and wrapped up rather easily. Even so, I am satisfied with the ending, and I did not foresee the final twist. That makes me one happy reader. After all, the ending is what makes or breaks a good thriller.

In exchange for an honest review, I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is my first book by Damien Angelica Walter's and definitely won't be my last!!!!!!!!! I loved this book and her style of writing is phenomenal!!!!!! Heather & Becca are in a club while teens that is obsessed with phantoms & legends like that. Well one of them gets killed during an obsessive with a Red Lady. Thirty yrs later Heather is haunted by what happened that night especially when she receives Becca's necklace in the mail. Which Becca was wearing that fateful night, the last time she saw her alive. Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for my honest review

Excellent story! Reminiscent of Laura Lippman both is setting (Baltimore) and in tone. This story illustrates just how much damage girls can do to each other, physically, mentally and emotionally. I was forced to continually question what was real versus imagination and I'm still not 100% sure of the ending. Excellent read, highly recommend!

Heather gets a shock when she starts receiving items that belonged to her childhood best friend Becca the only problem us that Becca was murdered years before. Together with 2 other girls they were part of The Dead Girls club where they talked about serial killers and then Becca begins telling a story about the Red Lady. Is she real or urban legend? Who and killed Becca and why? If Becca was killed who or what is sending Heather her mementos from Becca?

I received an advance digital copy of this book from the author, Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Dead Girls Club is a fast paced read that moves along like a film. Cinemagraphic in description and mood, the fear and confusion are palpable. I devoured this book in a day!!

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Damien is a master of a writer. I loved the creepy story telling and myth of "The Red Lady". A story not to be missed.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

This was my first time reading a full length novel from Damien Angelica Walters and I am so glad I did! DEAD GIRLS CLUB is a thriller/horror novel about a group of girls who met regularly to discuss true crime and other things. Like it happens with all of us, things change, things...alter. We meet Heather as a grown up and for the rest of the novel we follow along with her as Walters takes us on a journey that travels between the now and the then. This is done skillfully and I was never left in confusion. We experience what Heather experiences, and as the book ramps up and the MC begins to wonder what is real and what is fiction, so do we.

I love that the characters all seem to behave in ways that are absolutely true to the characters that Walters has created. I could see myself in both the “now” and the “then”, and honestly, that is so important to me. Not that I can see myself in a character, but that the author’s skill set has allowed them to craft REAL people. People that could just as well be real because of how grounded in truth they are.

With well-crafted writing, believable characters, high stakes discovery, and a storyline that digs its claws in, DEAD GIRLS CLUB is a coming of age tale that makes us ponder truth and fiction, love and hatred.

Publisher's description: Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face...

In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real—and she could prove it.

That belief got Becca killed.

It's been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night—that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She's done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn't seen since the night Becca died.

The night Heather killed her.

Now, someone else knows what she did . . . and they're determined to make Heather pay.

**********
I've always been pretty particular about my horror writers - Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Peter Straub. Not that I won't read the occasional horror novel by someone else, but I won't usually seek them out. It is time to add Damien Angelica Walters to that list! I'll be adding her other books to my TBR list.

"The Dead Girls Club" made me think of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." Alternating between Then and Now, the book is narrated by Heather, Then as a 12-year-old and Now at 42. Heather has it all...a great career, a loving husband, a beautiful home and life. And she has a secret that she's never told anyone. Suspenseful enough to make you want to keep reading and well-written enough that you aren't sure if Heather is really being tormented or if she's going crazy, this is one that you won't want to put down.

I won't give anything away, so you'll have to read this one for yourself. Make sure you do. It is fantastic!

Heather has done a very good job of pushing the memories of Becca and the mysterious serial killer stories that had been told during their school days. Stories that most know to be tales, urban legends and what not. Yet Becca had convinced Heather that the Red Lady was no legend. This leads to Becca's death.

Thirty years later Heather receives a necklace in the mail, one she has not seen in years. The one Becca had on that night she was killed.... by Heather.

A great mystery story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

I’ve been a huge fan of Damien Angelica Walters ever since I first discovered Paper Tigers, which left one hell of an impression. Damien takes a traditional horror set-up of hauntings and ghosts and reinvents it with an imaginative story that is captivating and one of my favorite novels in that particular subgenre. The less I describe of the plot the better, but I can’t recall another horror tale that takes the same angle as Paper Tigers. Also, Damien creates one of the genre’s most memorable protagonists in recent memory. Damien is a gifted writer and storyteller that I honestly feels way more recognition in horror circles. Her prose is so captivating that you’ll find it hard to pull away as Alison ventures down a path of terror and evil loaded with inventive scares. I also recommend diving into her short fiction. “The Floating Girls: A Documentary” and “On the Other Side of the Door, Everything Changes” are two of my all-time favorite short stories and you can check those out in her Apex collection Cry Your Way Home, which was on my “Best of” list last year. So, when I first heard about her second novel The Dead Girls Club, it shot straight to the top of my “Most Anticipated Reads of 2019.”

The Dead Girls Club opens with child psychologist Heather receiving a mysterious package that arrives at her office with no return address. She opens and it and sees there is no letter inside it, but she does notice something tucked into the corner of the envelope. It’s a small, weathered half-heart pendant that Heather hasn’t seen in nearly 30 years and seeing it, impossibly, in her office makes her panic. She begins reflecting on what the pendant represents and makes a shocking confession to the reader: She killed Becca. Before you curse me out for spoiling the story, it happens in the opening chapter and is even part of the synopsis. I promise, I would never knowingly spoil a book for you, but I digress. The arrival of Becca’s half of the best friend pendant is the inciting incident that kicks off The Dead Girls Club, a novel full of dark secrets, paranoia and a compelling mystery.

One of the many strengths of Walters’ work is her ability to create fully realized characters with personalities that leap off the page and that is true of The Dead Girls Club. The titular Dead Girls Club is comprised of Heather, Becca, Gia and Rachel, a group of tight-knit friends that formed the group the summer they turned 12-years-old around their fascination with serial killers. They would often get together and read books about them, discussing the brutal details of their crimes and looking at the pictures of crime scenes. Sometimes, they told scary stories. Well, Becca did. She was the de facto leader and storyteller of The Dead Girls Club. She often dictated the meetings, brought the group new details about the serial killers. The girls often didn’t care for Becca’s stories, instead preferring stories that originated in the world around them. That all changed the day Becca gathered them in their unofficial club house and began to share the story of the Red Lady. The rest of the girls were captivated by the dark history of the Red Lady, though Heather was a bit more skeptical. She was Becca’s best friend, but knew she had an active imagination and didn’t want to buy into the stories. Especially as the Red Lady began taking over every aspect of Becca’s life. She used her artistic gifts to draw vivid, terrifying portraits of the Red Lady. At first it was just a few, but over time, Heather began to notice them taking up more space on her friends walls. This obsession with the Red Lady is driving force in the development of Becca’s character and the overall narrative and leads to some unnerving scenes.

I also loved the way Walters handled Heather’s character. As her past comes back to haunt her through increasingly frequent references to that summer, she finds herself slowly descending into paranoia. She begins to distance herself from her loved ones and becomes obsessed with uncovering the source of the mysterious packages.Her role as a psychologist also gives her a level of self-awareness, as she often speaks about the malleability of our memories, which adds another layer of mystery to The Dead Girls Club. She’s also incredibly resourceful as proven multiple times throughout the course of the book in terms of her investigation tactics. It’s impressive, but also seems cold and calculated. I can’t get too deep into specifics, but it does raise some interesting questions about Heather, and I’m curious to see if other readers have similar reactions.

It’s an interesting tactic, but a lot of the narrative is driven by her inner thoughts, whether its adding context to the events that occur during the present day or her reflecting on the events of that fateful summer during her adolescence. At times, it’s like she’s speaking to the reader, sort of like the narrative approach of shows like Fleabag or Peep Show. I thought this was an interesting way to approach the narrative, because it creates a sort of fragmented approach where it assumes the reader has the same knowledge and memories as Heather. It easily could have been confusing and muddled the story, but Walters is able to avoid those pitfalls by using parallel narratives – one set in the present and the other from the summer when Becca died. The initial mysteries hook the reader and get them invested in the story, allowing their imagination to run wild about what happened between Heather and Becca. Then, throughout the different narratives, answers are slowly revealed as the reader joins Heather in revisiting the memories of that summer.

I loved the way Damien portrayed their friendship of The Dead Girls Club and the morbid basis for the group. The focus on the group in the flashback chapters creates a realistic portrayal of their friendship and a “coming of age” story-line that is both engaging and unique. This isn’t just a group of friends that stay tight knit throughout the hardships they face. They fight and the nature of their relationship is constantly in flux. Those shifting dynamics plays a large role in what ultimately leads to the girls becoming estranged. The Dead Girls Club is a fast-paced read and Walters does a masterful job of cultivating a growing sense of dread throughout the novel. Right from the opening chapter, Walters grabs the readers attention and makes it damn near impossible to put The Dead Girls Club down. Trust me, I know from experience.

I’ve mentioned numerous times that I love horror novels that bring elements of other genres in and Walters does that expertly. Make no mistake about it, The Dead Girls Club is a horror novel through and through and parts of it reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe. The depiction of the Red Lady and her backstory is pure nightmare fuel and her presence is felt throughout the entire narrative, even when the characters aren’t talking about her. That being said, it’s also a well-crafted thriller that toys with the reader’s expectations of whats real and what isn’t. How much of what happens is because of the Red Lady? Is the Red Lady even real? Part of the fun is trying to figure out those mysteries as the novel unfolds. There’s just enough ambiguity there to keep the reader off-kilter but without frustrating them. I have my own opinions on the Red Lady, but you’ll get no spoilers from me. You’ll have to read for yourself and see what you believe.

I wasn't initially impressed with this story, but about 2 chapters in, I was hooked. In some ways this reminds me of the "Slender Man" stories. But I really enjoy how the story goes back and forth between the present and past, and how you see Heather beginning to mentally unravel. I had a hard time putting this down and doing other things that I needed to take care of. Excellent story!
I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A truly addictive mix of mystery and the supernatural, The Dead Girls Club hooked me from page 1. We know from the start that Heather murdered her best friend when she was a teenager, but why or how and who is terrorizing her in the present? The ending surprised me, but the clues were all there. Heather starts off as a very competent woman, a child psychologist with a good husband and a past she’s doing her best to forget. As her history comes back to haunt her-literally, she starts becoming more and more erratic. I was aggravated at times, yelling at her to stop and think, but Heather wouldn’t listen and I was so invested in the story that I was biting my cuticles in sympathy. The story is revealed in alternating chapters: some that tell the story of how Heather murdered her best friend Becca, and the others show what’s happening in the present. Being in my forties, Heather’s childhood reminded me a lot of mine (Be kind, rewind… I hadn’t thought about that in decades!) and her friendship with Becca was very familiar (though that may not be so much of a generational thing, but the same to all girls, everywhere). As the story becomes darker, a supernatural element is introduced. Is The Red Lady that Becca’s obsessed with real or just a story that she made up? I know what I’d say in real life but in the story, I wasn’t quite sure. I’m surprised that there aren’t more 5-star reviews here, because this is really a great read.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, Crooked Lane Books!

A twisted tale that is hard to believe. Two children play a game that turns deadly. Secrets hidden for decades slowly begin to come to light and Heather’s life and marriage to Ryan begins to fall apart. The life she has carefully constructed is coming apart with each new bit of information revealed to her about the murder of her best friend Becca. The author uses a masterpiece of plotting to bring the characters to life and ensures that the reader stays glued to the pages. The end is unexpected but shows the depth of a parent’s love.

Heather Cole and three other girls form a club they call the Dead Girls Club. Basically they sit around and tell each other serial killer stories. Typical teen stuff until Heather's best friend Becca tells them about the Red Lady. Becca is determined that the Red Lady is real and sets out to prove it to everyone. Becca ends up dead.

30 years later, Heather receives a necklace in the mail. A necklace she hasn't seen since the night Becca died.

This book was amazing, I can usually figure out twists and turns but this book kept me guessing. I'm a horror and thriller fan and this book really delivers on both! It reached out and grabbed me at the start, and did not let go until I had finished the book in one sitting!

I recommend this book to all horror and thriller fans.

Absolutely amazing. I have heard alot about this book and it was everything i heard it would be, if not better.

I found this book to be very easy to read and I throughly enjoyed it. It’s about a women who receives an envelope containing her former best friend’s half of a bff necklace and things begin to spiral out of control. We then go back to when she was 12 and learn about the Dead Girls Club and slowly figure out what’s going on.

It is written in the first person from Heather’s perspective and goes from present day to “then”. I related to Heather completely from her anxious cuticle biting/picking to her unreasonable interpretations of things due to feeling like she was losing her mind but knowing something was really going on. Although there were a few times I was yelling at her like “really Heather are you that dumb” and then the author usually addressed this later on.

I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys creepy thriller/horror type books. It is very suspenseful and for me, not predictable at all.

Det här är spänning på hög nivå!
he Dead Girls Club är inte bara fantastiskt välskriven, den helt omöjlig att lägga ifrån sig.

Det här vet vi.
Heather och hennes bästa vän Becca skapar The Dead Girls Club när de är 12 år. Klubben för blodiga och kittlande berättelser om verkliga seriemördare som Ted Bundy och John Wayne Gacy blandat med påhittade spökhistorier. Klubben består av fyra tjejer som träffas i en källare i ett övergivet gammalt hus. Men under sommaren förvandlas leken till allvar.
Närmare 30 år senare får Heather ett brev med posten. I brevet ligger halsbandet Becca hade på sig den kvällen då Heather dödade henne.
Men ingen vet vad hon gjorde. Åtminstone är det vad Heather tror.
The Dead Girls Club lockar fram den vetgiriga och blodlystna 12-årigen i mig igen. Som Heather läste jag också alla Stephen King-böcker som gick att få tag i (på stadsbiblioteket i Ö-vik) och inget var för läskigt förrän alla hårstrån på kroppen rest sig upp. Det finns en allvarlig underton i The Dead Girls Club, en påminnelse om barns utsatthet, men framförallt är det non stop spänning som gäller. Hjärnan jobbar på högvarv. Vem kan det vara? Hur hänger allt ihop? Vem är den röda damen? Särskilt njutbart är beskrivningen av de unga tjejerna. Dom är precis så utsökt egensinniga och mångfasetterade som unga tjejer faktiskt är och det är en njutning i sig att läsa om Heather, Becca, Rachel och Gia. Och om den röda damen..

Holy wow! This book……what can I say about this novel? Well, for starters, it is absolutely a fantastic, thrilling, often times downright twisting, mind screw. That’s right. I can’t say the word I really wanna use, so we will just say mind screw. That made this book absolutely phenomenal. Walters is a new-to-me author and this book now has me hooked on her writing style!

Childhood friendships, one deadly night, and many haunting years later, this story will twist you up, make you think, give you chills all while keeping you up at night. Reading Heather’s story, of wondering if the Red Lady is really real, or if it’s a just a story she told as a kid with her friends in the Dead Girls Club, really messed me up inside…..in a good way! Especially after reading about one fateful night. I’ll admit that Heather was……..well, she took getting used to because she just didn’t do things like I would have done! But, that’s okay. Because she was perfect for role.

If you scare easily, or if you just don’t like disturbing reads, then do not get this novel. This novel is one that you will absolutely not be able to put down. You’ll crave knowing what happened to Heather’s friend Becca. You’ll find yourself needing to know who sent Heather something from that one awful night. You’ll find yourself up late, into the eerie night, turning page after page of this 5 star psychological mind blowing novel! Pre-order your copy today!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

First, I want to thank Crooked Lane Publishing for a review copy of this novel for review. All opinions are my own.

We start this journey off with a mystery right off the bat. We follow Heather and her friends that have a Dead Girls Club where they like to talk about serial killers and true crime, but then the storyline gets so much deeper. You really can't get into much detail without giving away things, but that ending - with! Knocked me out, never seen it coming. These characters are relatable and there's just something you feel for them as the storyline goes back and forth from the THEN & NOW. Let me tell you I gave it a solid 4 stars, but as I sat on this review.... I had to give it a solid 5 just with this being one of the best psychological thillers I've read. I will tell you this now...cone January - BUY IT I highly recommend it!!

cover165462-medium I recently got really into Marianne on Netflix. I binged the entire series in a weekend and was superbly creeped out the entire time. I loved the idea of a centuries old demonic witch having controlled a young writer into telling the world of her stories so that she could use the magic of influence to continue to kill and mame through brutal accidents each time the woman wrote a book. It was really well done and if you have a weekend where you just want to binge something creepy, I highly recommend it.

Similarly, Damien Angelica Walters takes us on a journey through the past and present to bring to life the story of a decades old murder and the tale of The Red Lady. Years ago, Heather was part of a club with her friends. They called it The Dead Girls Club because they would sit around and tell stories about death, the macabre and serial killers. Somewhere along the line, one of the girls, Becca, introduces the story of The Red Lady, who is a witch that was killed centuries ago.

After the story is shared, strange things start happening to the girls and ultimately tragedy strikes that summer when one of the girls is killed. Was it really The Red Lady or was it just hysteria among a group of 12-year-old girls? Years later, Heather is bent on finding the answer as she takes us back through her story and we weave into the past and present trying to put the pieces together. As Heather gets closer to the truth, mysterious threats and clues arrive, bringing Heather into a panic...who could really know what happened that summer? Who would know and why are they coming forward now? Heather becomes lost in a sea of time and regret, unable to distinguish between what is real and what is not, leaving us readers in just as panicked a state as we try to reach our own conclusions on whether or not Heather had killed Becca 30 years ago or if The Red Lady is, in fact, very real.

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters is the kind of horror thriller that will keep you reading until the early hours of the morning. This is a book that will keep you on your toes and won't let you go until it's done. Walters crafted a solid plot that immediately pulls you in and drives you through a roller coaster of events and moments before reaching it's inevitable end. Just be sure to read this one with your lights on and your husband near by because you will feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and little noises will send your book flying across the room-- a wonderfully written thriller.
Book Information

The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters is scheduled to be released on December 10, 2019, from Crooked Lane Books with ISBN 9781643851631. This review corresponds to an advanced electronic galley that was supplied by the publisher in exchange for this review.

The long-awaited The Dead Girls Club by horror author Damien Angelica Walters has the same crackling energy as the film, The Craft but also Heathers, with this book featuring even more sinister characters. The protagonist, Heather, was part of a Dead Girls Club with her best friend, Becca, Gia, and Rachel. They used to read from true crime books about serial killers and imagined what it would be like to be killed in a horrific way, “The bloodier, the better.” They used to be obsessed with serial killers, such as Ted Bundy.

Years later, someone knows about Heather’s secret and is after her for it.

I find this book to be noir mixed with horror--a crime fiction thriller more along the lines of The Girl on The Train and Gone Girl. The horrors come from the serial killer/true crime aspect.

If you enjoyed the same structure of the ‘now’ and ‘then’ as The Haunting of Hill House adaptation on Netflix, you’ll really enjoy The Dead Girls Club, which has the same episodic quality.

There’s an urban legend about the Red Lady who is like a Salem Witch (except in this case, actually was a bona fide witch, and it causes huge issues with her community and young girls. That's all I can say without going into major spoilers. The closest comparison of what the girls do when they find out about this urban legend is to try to summon the Red Lady, similarly to Bloody Mary.

The twist, when it does come, is not a shocker, but it’s still executed very well, so bonus points to the author on that. The book builds up on a tension that permeates throughout the book. I found it a compelling read for several reasons, and think fans of the author's short work and other books, such as Paper Tigers will enjoy it, as well as those who are newer to her work. If you're looking for a wonderful gift for someone who loves this type of book, with the holiday release timing pretty close, I think it would a great choice.