The Good Daughter: A Novel By Karin Slaughter

This was my first book by the author and I am stunned by her talent! Her story, characters, command of words & unique way of delivering- wow… just wow! This plot will keep you guessing right to the end! I highly recommend this novel!

I literally devoured this book on vacation, and have read three more of her books since returning home just over a month ago, starting my fourth now.

Muy bueno, entretenido.

Reading now and it’s a very intriguing story about a teenager who is arrested for a school shooting. Did she really do this or was she framed.
At an amazing story of two young girls who go through so much.
I like Karen Slaughter’s books. They are great from beginning to the end. I would recommend this book if you like starting off with action and continue through to the end. The story is very well written and characters are great.

The story begins with a look back in time as we discover the devastating events that shaped the lives of two sisters, Samantha and Charlotte Quinn, fifteen and thirteen respectively. Their father, Rusty Quinn, is a defence lawyer who takes on very controversial cases, representing murderers and rapists. This doesn’t sit well with many people and death threats are routine. After an accused rapist was acquitted and the victim killed herself the family have been ostracised making life at school very difficult for Charlie and Samantha. The family house was petrol bombed as a result and burned to the ground, all their possessions destroyed. Rusty, his wife Gamma and the two girls moved into a ramshackle farmhouse that belonged to an old farmer before he died.

One night of unimaginable violence changed their lives irrevocably. Two masked men forced their way into the farmhouse, leaving the girls’ mother dead, Charlotte and Samantha traumatised and Rusty shattered.

The story is set in Pikeville, Georgia and twenty-eight years after the tragedy, Charlotte has followed in her father’s footsteps as a defence lawyer, although she has no intention of representing the same kind of people her father does. But once again Charlotte is exposed to horrific violence when she witnesses a shooting which brings the horror of past events to the fore, highlighting just how much those events are still affecting the sisters. Charlie and Sam haven’t spoken in years, neither have Rusty and Sam and Charlie’s marriage is at stake. Emotional pain, secrets, anger, all suppressed for so long, have to be dealt with before either can learn to love, forgive and move on.

Karin Slaughter has delivered a very dark, emotional and powerful story, peopled with complex but realistic personalities who drive the plot. The violence Samantha and Charlotte suffered as teens is recounted during the course of the narrative, and although in part it’s a repetition, it’s necessary for the story. Not everything is as it seems with accounts that differ, and those passages serve to deepen the characterisations and draw the reader, or in this case listener, in even more. Both timelines are woven together as the story progresses. The intricate and tangled relationships are compelling, an integral part of the story, and as the layers are peeled away, buried secrets are revealed.

Wonderful writing and twisty plotting, and in the main the fascinating characters are superbly crafted and developed. An intense and gripping story with an unexpected conclusion. A word of warning – the vivid and graphic imagery may not be for the faint hearted!

Susie James’ narration is spot on, her characterisations are distinct and enhance the emotions, tension and drama of the family’s complicated dynamics.

Sam (Samantha) and Charlie (Charlotte) are the daughters of Gamma, a brilliant scientist, and Rusty, an idealistic criminal lawyer. When the girls were teenagers, a tragic and violent home invasion changes their lives forever. Both girls follow in their father’s footsteps and become lawyers, but they are estranged from each other. Their father’s health scare temporarily brings them back together, and Samantha agrees to help with a school shooting case in which her father is defending the teenage girl accused of killing a school principal and an 8 year old girl. Charlotte, separated from her husband, Ben, a district attorney, is also involved in the school shooting case because she was there the day of the shooting, meeting with a teacher who happened to also teach the young shooter. There are a number of unexpected twists and turns before the story comes to a conclusion, making this a very worthwhile read. I highly recommend The Good Daughter as it will keep you engaged until the last page.