The Good Daughter

Written by Karin Slaughter

Narrated by Susie James

The stunning No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling thriller from the critically acclaimed author. One ran. One stayed. But who is…the good daughter?

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's childhoods were destroyed by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father – a notorious defence attorney – devastated. And it left the family consumed by secrets from that shocking night.

Twenty-eight years later, Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer. But when violence comes to their home town again, the case triggers memories she's desperately tried to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime which destroyed her family won't stay buried for ever…

Praise for the Number One bestselling author:

‘Passion, intensity, and humanity’ Lee Child

‘I’d follow her anywhere’ Gillian Flynn

‘One of the boldest thriller writers working today’ Tess Gerritsen

‘Her characters, plot, and pacing are unrivalled’ Michael Connelly

‘A writer of extraordinary talents’ Kathy Reichs

‘Fiction doesn't get any better than this’ Jeffery Deaver

‘A great writer at the peak of her powers’ Peter James

'Karin Slaughter has – by far – the best name of all of us mystery novelists' James Patterson

‘With heart and skill Karin Slaughter keeps you hooked from the first page until the last’ Camilla Lackberg

‘It’s big, dark, rich, satisfying, and bloody – like a perfectly cooked steak’ Stuart MacBride

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jul 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9780008150808

Karin Slaughter

Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular storytellers. She is the author of more than twenty instant New York Times bestselling novels, including the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and standalone novels The Good Daughter and Pretty Girls. An international bestseller, Slaughter is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. Pieces of Her is a #1 Netflix original series, Will Trent is a television series starring Ramón Rodríguez on ABC, and further projects are in development for television. Karin Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.

Reviews for The Good Daughter

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father; Pikeville's notorious defense attorney; devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.I found Karin Slaughter's new book to be a brilliant story that exceeded my expectations. The fascinating characters of Charlotte, Samantha and Rusty are wracked with pain and their family life is torn apart by tragedy. The powerful, disturbing scenes in the beginning of the novel are not for the faint of heart. Slaughter's excellent descriptions allow you to feel what the characters are feeling. It is a fast-paced read with lots of twists and turns. I have read every book that Karin Slaughter has wrote and I would have to say that this may be the best book she has written so far. Hopefully, she will turn it into a series as I would love to revisit these characters. I look forward, as usual, to the next book she writes and I would highly recommend her books to those who love psychological thrillers with lots of suspense.

[Edith Njage · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Damn!!!! Another 5 ✨!!!! 5 freaking stars! ⭐️

This was sooooo good! A thriller and mystery around two murders! I am shook! The plot twists caught me completely off guard! Karin I knew you had it in you! I am beyond impressed ??????

This was over 600 pages but I never wanted it to end. I was basically a zombie turning page after page.

P.s: I did a mix of physical copy and audio book and I will say both are just as good. The mix allowed me to listen when I was doing mindless work and read at the end of the day.

[Riya Grace · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was ok. The plot didn't really pick up until the last 200 pages and so.

[Nicola Rogers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy books by Karen Slaughter but I found this so dark it left me feeling quite depressed. The characters all had so many problems and issues it was a continuous onslaught of sadness. The storyline was good and it had a twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

[Karin Kvist · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it! A complicated story with loads of layers. So well worth your time and Susie James keeps it alive and very enjoyable to listen to

[susan.h.schofield · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was just an okay book for me. It started out promising enough but quickly lost steam. It got a little confusing as the chapters jumped from Dahlia to Quinn to Aella to Memphis. I figured out the 'mystery' pretty early on and it was just a matter of waiting for the characters to put the pieces together. The characters didn't have a lot of depth to them and the book itself was pretty slow. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

[Rachael · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant read, enjoyable book that held suspense throughout the story

[texasbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MYSTERY/SUSPENSEAlexandra BurtThe Good Daughter: A NovelBerkley Publishing GroupPaperback, 978-0-4514-8811-4 (also available as an e-book and on Audible), 400 pgs., $16.00February 7, 2017 “The dead sometimes remain and nothing good has ever come from sticking around.” Eighteen-year-old Dahlia Waller left the small East Texas town of Aurora right after high school graduation and never looked back. Fifteen difficult, disappointing years later she returns, moving in with her mother, Memphis, determined to finally get some answers to her past. Who is Dahlia’s father? Why did she and her mother move so often, usually in the middle of the night (“another one of her cloak-and-dagger operations”)? Why did Dahlia not attend school until the eighth grade? Why did Memphis never sign a lease or take a job that required paperwork? “This child [Dahlia] has called on fate to stomp its foot, determined to resolve itself.” When Dahlia discovers the body of a woman half-buried alive in what locals call the “Whispering Woods,” she sets a series of events in motion that upend her life and the lives of everyone around her. The secrets her mother has kept for half a lifetime begin to emerge and unleash a chain of events that we’re not sure they can survive. The Good Daughter: A Novel by Alexandra Burt is an eerily atmospheric blend of mystery, suspense, and the paranormal. The Good Daughter is an exploration of how the brain functions—the generation and assimilation of emotions, the interpretation of sensory impressions, the power of suggestion, and the processes of memory, and asks, What do we owe the living and the dead? What is freedom, and does the truth truly set you free? The narrative moves between Dahlia’s first-person account and the third-person accounts of three other women: Memphis, her fragile mother (“Memphis Waller is no longer a Pollock painting, full of vibrancy and complex colors. She is a mere watercolor image, watered down so much that she almost vanishes”); Quinn, a damaged, unhappily married woman (“infertile … as if she were a stretch of land without any rain, and littered with rocks”); and Aella, a reclusive woman who lives in the woods “with potions and salves and bottles containing strange things.” Well and intricately plotted, usually moving quickly, Burt’s story spends as much time in the past as in the present. Subplots enrich and inform the main narrative, and well-placed clues (including the structure of the narratives themselves) tantalize. Burt occasionally strays into the purple (“her pores fecund with the scent of transgression”), but not often enough to distract. There’s something about East Texas. If you’ve spent time in the Big Thicket, or wandered off the trails around Caddo Lake, you know what I’m talking about: a sometimes unsettlingly feeling of the primeval, of something gathering itself, of being observed by hidden eyes. This atmosphere inspires a subgenre I call East Texas Gothic. The Good Daughter joins the ranks of Cynthia Bond’s Ruby and Keija Parssinen’s The Unraveling of Mercy Louis as a great example of this. The Good Daughter had me listening more closely to the sound of my home contracting in the cool of the night after a particularly warm February day, and doing double-takes at movement caught by the corner of my eye. Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.

[Satina Anziano · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am getting hooked on Ms Slaughter's books. Deftly crafted tale that spins out at a mesmerizing pace. I know I should stop listening and do my chores, but I want to know what that shadow is, on the security tape.

A tale of a gifted family shattered when tragedy struck in the daughters' teen years. The aftermath almost thirty years later. The gruesome details finally exposed. A tale of survival.

[Shalane Du Preez · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a great book, heavy - emotionally ripping and moving.

[Eedge Eeva · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This probably was the longest time I spent with a book - 16 days!!. Interesting enough to make you continue but boring enough to not spend your spare time with a book. So many times I wanted just to give up but the same time I wanted to know who will be the guilty one. Technically I would say it's a 2 books: one about the two sisters and what's happened to them and other one about the actual main crime. Definitely will not rush back to this author any time soon...

[pootlesuzie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A bit gory but a good read. Opened up something within that began to heal while reading it.

[magickislife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had trouble getting into this at first because of how it bounced around but once I hit the halfway point I really could not put it down.

Not a light fluffy read or something that I will read again but a good read all the same.

[Margaret Williams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very good book enjoyed it so much. Karin Slaughter is a good author and the way this is told is brilliant

[tina1969_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Twenty eight years ago Samantha and Charlotte's life is torn apart when something horrific happens to their family. Twenty eight years later the estranged sisters are back together and have to deal with their past.This is the first book I have read by Karin Slaughter. I decided to try a stand alone rather than a series. First impressions are that I enjoy the book to a degree.The story begins with the family tragedy and then does return to the events through out the story. The story is very gritty and hard hitting with graphic details of violence and gore. I quite enjoyed the story as a whole and was satisfied with the twists and the ending. What I did find however was that I found the story overlong. At times I was ready to either give up or flick pages when something would happen and my interest was drawn back in.I can't say that is book is the authors best or not as it's my first read. However there was enough that I did enjoy for me to pick up another at a later date.

[Rizki Novianti Utami · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The audiobook was awesome. I could feel the tension. The story was good and captivating.
Warning : Rape and Violence

[amcheri-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read a Slaughter book in a while and am very glad I got around to reading this one. Some good twists and turns and I couldn't help but like Rusty, Charlie, and Sam. The only thing that bothered me was the repetition involved with the "what happened to X" bits. I think it that had been done differently, I probably would have gone with a solid five stars. I liked the shit out of this book.

[amy_webb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read a 700 page book in 2 days, if that doesn't tell you how good it is, nothing else will!

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So far the best Karin Slaughter book I've read. I was surprised to find out all the players actually involved. It's nice not to guess everything early on.

[tonifgmamtc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is about so much. It's a mystery on top of a mystery. It's about family relationships. There are terrible tragedies. It has tons of heartstring pullers. The Good Daughter kept me 100% interested for the entire read. I definitely recommend it.

[prairieblossom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an excellent novel. It is a stand-alone story so if you have not previously read any of Karin Slaughter's work don't worry there is nothing to catch up with, no need to know background standing in the way of simply enjoying this fantastic novel.This is a powerful story, defining the meaning of good and evil. Questioning the deeper motives of people and examining the reasons why people do as they do.The same set of circumstances viewed by different people can have very different outcomes. As a reader, it is necessary to be paying close attention to the smallest of detail in this closely plotted story but the reward is a total involving, thoroughly gripping novel which lingers in the mind a long time after reading it is finished.

[booklovers2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great Legal Thriller! Although very graphic, it was a total winner. A real page turner!

[techeditor_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[devendradave-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent twists and turn but half way through the book I can guess who is the real shooter in school.

[olivermagnus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Twenty-eight years ago, two masked men broke into defense attorney Rusty Quinn’s home with a plan to kill him and steal the money he allegedly had hidden there. Rusty wasn't home but his wife and two daughters were. Things take a turn for the worse when they shoot Gamma Quinn, Rusty's wife. Charlotte runs for help but the killers shoot Samantha in the head and bury her alive.

Fast forward to modern times where Charlie is still living in the same town and working as a defense lawyer alongside her father. When a series of events lead her to be at the school at the same time an active shooter is there, she is forced to remember the emotions and memories of her own decades old tragedy. A security video recording seems to suggest the shooting itself was not what it first seemed to be and Charlie needs some help to mount a defense on behalf of 18-year-old Kelly Wilson, the girl who is charged in the shootings.

While Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series is one of my favorites, you just can't go wrong by picking up any of her books. This one is full of twists and turns, but is still an intriguing story filled with fascinating characters. Slaughter brilliantly alternates chapters between time periods and perspectives and expertly clears up the events in both tragedies. The Good Daughter is a stunning work of psychological suspense by an expert in the field, Karin Slaughter.

[amandanan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Slaughter never ceases to amaze me. There's just so much death in this book, and you will NEVER guess the ending.

[gakgakg-887519 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a 500-page book that could've/should've been a 250-page book. There were just so many details that went nowhere, except to reinforce the cleverness of the characters and they ended up dragging the book down.

For example, when looking around her father's hoarded office, she notices that his chair squeaks and is a little wobbly. Is that enough? Nope. We have to read, "Sam sat in Rusty's unsteady chair. The squeal from the height actuator assembly was loud and completely unnecessary. A simple can of spray lubricant could eradicate the noise. The arms could be tightened down with some Loctite on the bolts. Replacing the friction rings on the casters would probably improve the stability." AAARRRGH. Enough already!!! Just look through the damn office!

One of the sisters, Charlie, jokes about the possum that likes to hang out at her house. She jokes with her sister, "That's Bill. He's my lover." The other sister, Sam, is ready with the usual buzzkill, "Possums can transmit leptospirosis, E. coli, salmonella. Their scat can carry a bacteria that causes flesh-eating ulcers." Would a girl from a small town in rural Georgia really say that? Or do we just have to get constantly dragged through the pages with more examples of her superior intellectual capacity? I guess us dum reeders knead the remindin!

A tiny annoyance that for some reason I could just never get over, not even after 500 pages, was that they all called the mother "Gamma." Supposedly, it was because they could not say "mama" (?????) and also because she was a brilliant physicist/scientist/gamma-rays-and-all-that. I just for the life of me could not stop reading it as "Gramma" or as a nickname for Grandma. (I've also studied linguistics and don't believe for one second that any infant could make a G sound before learning how to say M.)

Ok, so I've been harsh. Karin Slaughter is actually a very good writer-- this book was just not my cup of tea. I will say that one hugely redeeming quality of this book was that there was no "miracle baby" at the end, even though all signs were pointing to the magical-redemptive-vagina. THANK you for that! It earns one more star for not taking the cliche way out.

[vickimarie2002 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely, 100% amazing! So much action and twists and turns in this book! I was completely enthralled the whole time! There was never a boring moment!

[elainedav · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of a terrible childhood incident which is re-told as an adult. Something happened to Charlie and her sister on the day their mother was murdered. Their adult lives follow very different courses and they come back together again only because their father is unwell.The full details of the childhood incident are not revealed at the time. But the story gradually unfolds as it is tied up in another terrible situation. It is complex, but reasonable easy to follow. I liked the characterisation and especially the way that the sister's lives turned out to be very different.I expected to like this book because of the author, although I have only previously read the Grant county series.Thank you to Netgally for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[addunn3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two sisters witness the murder of their mother and then are near victims of the killer. 20+ years later there is a shooting at the middle school that brings the estranged sisters back together to solve the crime, as well as uncover the truth about the death of their mother.