Title: Pieces of Her
Author: Karin Slaughter
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: Aug. 21, 2018 (first published 8/9/18)
Purchase Link: Amazon
My Rating: 4 Unsettling Hearts
*Many thanks to publisher William Morrow for an arc copy of this book via Edelweiss+.
Synopsis:
What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all . . . ?
Andrea Cooper knows everything about her mother Laura. She’s knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Gullaway Island; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?
But all that changes when a Saturday afternoon trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one will ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.
Twenty-four hours later Laura is in the hospital, shot by an intruder who’s spent thirty years trying to track her down and discover what she knows. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumbs of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . .
Review:
A quiet birthday celebration at a local mall turns deadly in the opening pages of Slaughter's new standalone book, Pieces of Her. A gunman opens fire, killing one woman and then turning his sights on mother, Laura Cooper and her 31 year old daughter, Andrea (Andy). In the middle of the ensuing chaos, Andy watches, paralyzed by fear and shock, as her mother calmly and coldly not only faces down a killer but overcomes him. Like most of us, Andy thought she knew everything there was to know about her mother, but in the aftermath of this tragedy, she's left scared, confused, and devastated . . . wondering who this woman she calls "mother" really is.
Pieces of Her explores Andy's search for the truth, as she goes on the run and begins digging into her mother's past - uncovering deadly secrets that threaten several lives. The story unfolds through dual timelines, affording readers an opportunity to witness events as they happen in both the past and present. I've come to really enjoy this method of story-telling as it makes me feel present in the moment and thus more vested in the character's lives. As always, Slaughter delivers an intricately woven plot with some twists and turns that will leave you reeling even as she maneuvers the sometimes unsettling minefield of mother/daughter relationships. The mystery and deadly secrets cast an immense shadow of imminent doom over the characters and story. I found the "past" chapters to be intriguing and fast-paced, while the "present", much of which places the reader in Andy's head, was a bit convoluted and slow moving for me. Having read most of this author's work, I can say that I didn't find this book to be as dark and graphic as many of her other books. For some readers that may be a plus, for others a minus. While it won't make my Favorite's List from this author, I still found Pieces of Her to be a complex, compelling thriller that mystery/suspense/thriller fans will enjoy. A Must Read!
My Rating: 4 Unsettling Hearts . . . And that's the truth!
Pieces of Her explores Andy's search for the truth, as she goes on the run and begins digging into her mother's past - uncovering deadly secrets that threaten several lives. The story unfolds through dual timelines, affording readers an opportunity to witness events as they happen in both the past and present. I've come to really enjoy this method of story-telling as it makes me feel present in the moment and thus more vested in the character's lives. As always, Slaughter delivers an intricately woven plot with some twists and turns that will leave you reeling even as she maneuvers the sometimes unsettling minefield of mother/daughter relationships. The mystery and deadly secrets cast an immense shadow of imminent doom over the characters and story. I found the "past" chapters to be intriguing and fast-paced, while the "present", much of which places the reader in Andy's head, was a bit convoluted and slow moving for me. Having read most of this author's work, I can say that I didn't find this book to be as dark and graphic as many of her other books. For some readers that may be a plus, for others a minus. While it won't make my Favorite's List from this author, I still found Pieces of Her to be a complex, compelling thriller that mystery/suspense/thriller fans will enjoy. A Must Read!
My Rating: 4 Unsettling Hearts . . . And that's the truth!
Cross My
Heart . . . xxx
Sandra
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