The Quarry Girls: A Thriller

Written by Jess Lourey

Narrated by Jess Nahikian

Killers hiding in plain sight. Small-town secrets. A girl who knows too much. From the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline comes a nerve-twisting novel inspired by a shocking true crime.

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games.

Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.

She also knows she’s next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781713656135

Jess Lourey

Jess Lourey is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things, The Catalain Book of Secrets, the Salem’s Cipher thrillers, and the Mira James mysteries, among many other works, including young adult, short stories, and nonfiction. An Agatha, Anthony, and Lefty Award nominee, Jess is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology and a leader of writing retreats. She is also a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a Psychology Today blogger, and a TEDx presenter. Check out her TEDx Talk for the inspiration behind her first published novel. When she’s not leading writing workshops, reading, or spending time with her friends and family, you can find her working on her next story. Discover more at www.jessicalourey.com.

Reviews for The Quarry Girls

[Nadja Kirillova · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great book! The characters are complex and developed, narration is also good.

[Emma Kennedy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everything about this book was great, a full-bodied story that was really complimented by the narrator. I couldn't wait to listen each day. I'll be searching for more by this author ?

[Abigail Key · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listened to it in 2 days, found it very engaging!!

[Sharon Tokarz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was written extremely well and the narrator was perfect. I was hooked fairly quickly and enjoyed every twist and turn!

[Angi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is kind of a slow build but not dry and I enjoyed the end results. Good details and the narration was good as well. Would recommend!

[Wesley Lang · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a good read. It wasn’t my favorite book I’ve listened to recently, but I would recommend.

[Yvette Bonett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good story! especially since it's inspired on similar sad truths. A few details left me slightly peeved, including the cabin search and the explanation on the 2 friends.....but anyway, don't want to reveal too much. The story keeps you on edge and is very well narrated, with a good ending. Would recommend.

[Alexis Compton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the BEST books I have ever read! I can’t recommend this book enough.

[cathyskye · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When you need to read something that takes your mind off the fact that you're lying in an emergency room bed waiting for test results, pick up a copy of Jess Lourey's The Quarry Girls. In reading the history of "Pantown", Minnesota, I learned that a factory owner built his factory as well as a town for his workers to live in. To prevent any work stoppages during the often brutal winter weather, he also built a series of tunnels between the factory and the housing development. I don't like being underground, so that was the first time my mental "red alert" siren went off. Then I learned that an "underground maze connected everybody's basements." With the addition of a few more little tidbits, my imagination went to town, and I read the rest of the novel feeling-- for the lack of a better term-- creeped out.The Quarry Girls is told from the point of view of teenage Heather, who has a twelve-year-old sister, Junie, a manic-depressive mother who's zoned out more than she's zoned in, and a father who's the district attorney and spends most of his time at work. Heather has been the real caregiver of the family. She makes sure meals are on the table, the laundry is done, and Junie is doing what she should be, as well as keeping an eye on her mother. This young girl is not only the caregiver of her family but she also feels the need to protect her friends. That's an awful lot of responsibility for such young shoulders.When her friends go missing, Heather waits for the police to do their job, but when they don't, she starts searching for answers. She must save her friends. The truth that she finds isn't very palatable. The people she thought she knew and could trust aren't who they seem to be. She learns that Pantown is the type of place where "If we didn't like something, we simply didn't see it." The more she learns, the more she realizes that "You can't live in the dark and feel good about yourself." The moment she weighs everything she learns and decides enough is enough almost made me cheer. Heather is that kind of character.However, The Quarry Girls isn't only about Heather. Throughout the story, readers catch glimpses of a young woman named Beth, who's been kidnapped and knows her time is running out. With the underground layout of Pantown, Heather's search for the truth, and Beth's desperate situation, there were times that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Lourey did an excellent job of keeping me guessing-- and I didn't always guess correctly. If you're in the mood for a thrill ride of a novel, The Quarry Girls just may be the answer for you.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It is the summer of '77, and a teen waitress, Beth, goes missing. Teens Heather, Brenda, and Maureen are best friends and in a band. Heather notices that Brenda and Maureen seem to be growing up without her, and their interest in sketchy boys concerns her. Her 12 y.o. sister, Junie, also is becoming interested. Heather is taking on a lot of responsibility at home, with her mother very depressed. Her dad, is the district attorney, but when Heather and Brenda witness their friend Maureen doing something questionable, Heather and Brenda don't mention it to her dad. Then Maureen goes missing at the quarry. What follows is a tense thriller about town secrets, family secrets, growing up and losing your innocence in the saddest way. Enjoyed this novel, and will read more by Lourey.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on ebook through Amazon First Reads.Thoughts: This was an interesting read. I am not generally a huge fan of serial killer/thriller types of books. I was intrigued by the Minnesota setting here and I really did end up enjoying that Minnesota setting. There is a lot of background here on the late 1970's in the St. Cloud area, particularly Pantown. I had no idea that so many awful things were happening in that time frame in St. Cloud. I also didn't know the urban myths around the Pantown tunnels.The story follows Heather as she and her two girlfriends get an amazing opportunity for their all girl band to perform at the county fair. This is overshadowed some by the fact that a girl named Beth has recently gone missing. Their first performance at the fair goes awesome and they are pumped for their next until one of their band members, Maureen, goes missing. Heather is smart and she is sure that Beth isn't a runaway and neither is Maureen, so Heather starts digging. What she finds reveals a nasty underside to their idealistic small town.This was a well done story. I enjoyed Heather as a character, although her home life was seriously messed up and got more so as the story continued. It was an interesting look back in time and really drove home how in a lot of ways a "woman's" place in society has improved. However, it also drove home how far we still have to go. It was scary how easily society accepted the disappearance of these girls and how readily trusted figures in society accepted and even participated in what was happening.This was easy to read and hard to put down. It is definitely a page-turner and the story kept me guessing. The conclusion wasn't as surprising as I had hoped, but I did enjoy how the story wrapped up. It ends on a hopeful note and I really admired how Heather and Beth handled everything.My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed learning about the history of the St. Cloud area and enjoyed the mystery behind this story. This was well written, easy to read, and not too scary. Will I pick up more Lourey books in the future? Well, as I said, I am not a huge fan of this genre but if another Lourey book comes up in a Minnesota setting and it sounds intriguing I would definitely consider it. This was an interesting read and very well written.

[ibkennedy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pretty juvenile, a teenager's book.

[celticlady53 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey is the first book I have read of hers. To say the least this was a definitely creepy book. At the beginning, the author goes into a bit of the history of St Cloud Minnesota and the serial killer cases that are currently unsolved.This story is based on real events and primarily narrated by teenager Heather. She and her best friend Brenda do what most teenagers do in a typical summer. Go to each other's houses, party at the quarries and just hang with their best friends. The town has a series of tunnels under a group of houses and Heather and her friends spend time down there. One day, at a door, they see something that is abhorrent to them, especially Heather. What she sees, she can't unsee as it involves her friend Maureen. Right after that Maureen goes missing. She isn't the only one, Beth, a waitress has disappeared. Some of the chapters are narrated by Beth so we know what has happened to her, but not by whom.There are a lot of strange family dynamics involving Heather, her 12-year-old sister. Their mother is a bit on the psychotic side, doing destructive and dangerous things especially to Heather. A lot of the narration reminded me of the 70's I grew up in, not the serial killer part but the music. Heather is a drummer in a band that includes a few of her friends. When the band Cream was mentioned, I perked right up. They were one of my favorite bands. Now back to the story, I found this story to be really creepy, the descriptions of a few of the men that were dangerous, could one of them be the killer? I think I had it figured out pretty early in the book. This book definitely held my attention, read it in a few sittings. The idea that Pantown, a neighborhood in St. Cloud, where the story takes place, seems like a typical small neighborhood in the 70's. It is anything but, secrets abound among the teenagers and adults alike. There are actually tunnels and some of the homes that were built for the employees of the Pan Motor Company still exist. I know a lot of towns in the US have a tunnel system, the town I live in has one that went from a home of the owner of a local brewery to the brewery itself. To me the other part of the story is the quarries themselves. The description of the depth of the water is especially creepy to me. Since I don't swim, makes sense why it is creepy. The quarries in Pantown are where the bodies of the missing girls were found. I like how the author used facts to flesh out the story.I give the book 5 stars!