This book is intense and packed with non-stop drama. It is so dark and has some really tough content so it is not for the sensitive at heart. But, I absolutely recommend it. I think it is over 500 pages and I blew through it.

Charlie (Charlotte) and Sam (Samantha) are sisters who experienced tragedy early in their lives, losing their mother and so much more. Their father, Rusty, is a criminal defense lawyer. Charlie and Sam are estranged. Charlie is separated from her husband. Rusty and Sam do not keep in touch. But, then, a school shooting happens and it brings them all back together for a ton more drama, and resolution of past hurts as well. There is one scene that will not leave my mind, but I won't say it because I don't want to spoil anything. I will definitely read more by this author!

The Good Daughter was very, very Good. It was full of suspense and had an intricate plot- not to mention some very gruesome moments that just made your heart sink into your stomach. The characters, specifically the Quinn family, were very well developed. Actually, as I write this review, it occurs to me that this book was the perfect combination of family drama and mystery/thriller. Slaughter builds the suspense of the mystery that is yet to be solved but also entices you to know more about this family and this backward's town. I particularly enjoyed that she started to take me down one path and then suddenly veered towards another, "ah, so that's not exactly what I was expecting." I will most definitely be venturing on to book #2.

I listened to the audiobook (GR didn't have that edition to select?) and the narrator was riveting and did a great job.

Karin Slaughter's THE GOOD DAUGHTER is so absorbing and unputdownable, I cannot recommend it highly enough. So how can this review do it justice? I’ll try.

Certainly, the most important factor is that this is both a character-driven and plot-driven novel, not one or the other. Although Slaughter has written plenty of great books with that characteristic, this one may be her best or at least one of.

Two sisters, Charlotte (Charlie)13 and Samantha (Sam) 15, and their mother are involved in a home invasion. The mother is killed, and the daughters endure horrors that affect the rest of their lives. Therefore, although the story continues with the aftermath and the sisters’ lives 28 years later, that one event stays with them and affects nearly everything they do.

When Charlie and Sam are in their 40s, both lawyers but in different states, they are again brought together. Their father Rusty, also a lawyer, has been stabbed, probably because of a case he is working on. Sam temporally takes over.

There has been a school shooting. Rusty’s client is the apparent shooter, and Sam and then Charlie discover more about her and about the case. Can it be somehow tied to their own home-invasion case of years earlier?

There is so much more to this story and to the characters, but this is the general plot. Remember, though, that THE GOOD DAUGHTER is character driven as well. They are mysteries as much or more than the circumstances.

This short review doesn’t do justice to such a great book. Maybe that’s because I’m always careful to not include spoilers. But do yourself a favor: read it.