I’ve caught the thriller bug. And I’m so happy that I picked up Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, because this psychological thrill ride had me glued to its pages.

I will give one warning, that wasn’t anywhere on the book – it’s pretty graphic. As in, I physically covered my face at a few points while reading it. Which makes it challenging to read, but that’s the reaction I had. I couldn’t stop myself.

I don’t do horror movies anymore. Especially the ones that get into your head. Blood and guts are just that, but the ones that hook you somewhere deep, the ones that stay with you, are usually off-limits.

And this book does just that.

But for some reason, I can read about it in a book. I just don’t want to see it on the screen before me.

The story connects two women, who have disappeared twenty years apart, while we follow two estranged sisters who need to come together to resolve the past, search for peace and find the truth.

Told from these two sister’s points of view, along with diary entries from their father, Slaughter is an excellent story teller. The sisters, who couldn’t be more different from one another, uncover truths about the disappearance of their youngest sister as they get closer to the answers, the darker the book gets. Their missing sister tore their family apart, and when another girl goes missing twenty years later, they can’t help but relive that horror all over again.

It’s riveting and disturbing. It’s violent and sexually graphic, and yet none of it seems out of place in the context of the story. It’s sad and yet the reader rides a roller-coaster of emotions along with the main characters.

This is the first book I’ve ready by Slaughter, and I already have two others in line to read at home. I tore through this book, passed it on to my mother and sister-in-law (with the warnings clearly made up-front), and they both had the same reaction to this book I have.

That’s the sign of a good book, isn’t it? That the story keeps its grip on you, that it stays with you and that you can’t help but pass it on for everyone you know to read.

So I pass it along to you…

Read. This. Book.