I was kindly invited to take part in the Tandem Collective Global Readalong of Karin Slaughter’s latest book, ‘Girl Forgotten’, and gifted a copy of the book. I was incredibly excited about this, as Karin Slaughter is an author who has been on the list to try for quite some time, so this was the perfect opportunity to be introduced to her books.
Now, ‘Girl Forgotten’ is at times not an easy read, and I would say that it carries an awful lot of trigger warnings as this is a crime novel – but definitely not cosy crime. So, please keep this in mind if you decide to pick this book up after reading this blog post.
I was engaged from the very first page and, as crime is one of my favourite genres, I do expect to be hooked from the first word otherwise it is likely to be DNF for me. However, there was no risk of that with this book. Told with dual time lines, we have a cold case of the girl forgotten (Emily – although will she ever be forgotten?), and we have Andrea, a new US Marshal on her first case protecting Judge Vaughan (mother of Emily), but also seeking the truth of what happened to Emily 30 years earlier.
Now, I am not going to reveal any spoilers in this post, so it may be rather short and sweet. All I can say is that you will certainly be invested in finding out the truth about Emily, and seeing how the repercussions of such a tragic event can haunt a town for so long and really impact the path taken by those who are touched by it.
Throughout this book, there is also a clever examination of relationships and power. That almost becomes as central to the story as the crimes that take hold of the narrative – and that study of human nature is fascinating.
So, if you are yet to try the books of Karin Slaughter, I would highly recommend ‘Girl Forgotten’ – please remember to check the themes first, but it is a must for crime fans.