Pieces of Her

By Karin Slaughter

Now a major Netflix adaptation: The #1 Australian bestseller from the author of The Silent Wife

'A novel that sets the standard for psychological thriller writing. Rarely in fiction have the past and the present collided with such force and in such a distinctive and compelling voice' Jeffery Deaver

What if the person you thought you knew best turned out to be someone you never knew at all?

Andrea Oliver's mother, Laura, is the perfect small-town mum. Laura lives a quiet but happy life in sleepy beachside Belle Isle. She's a pillar of the community: a speech therapist, business owner and everybody's friend. And she's never kept a secret from anyone. Or so Andrea thinks.

When Andrea is caught in a random violent attack at a shopping mall, Laura intervenes and acts in a way that is unrecognisable to her daughter. It's like Laura is a completely different person - and that's because she was. Thirty years ago. Before Andrea. Before Belle Isle.

Laura is hailed as a hero for her actions at the mall but 24 hours later she is in hospital, shot by an intruder, who's spent decades trying to track her down.

What is Andrea's mother trying to hide? As elements of the past return and put them both in danger, Andrea is left to piece together Laura's former identity and discover the truth - for better or worse - about her mother. Is the gentle, loving woman who raised her also a violent killer?

'A nerve-shredding psychological thriller that will keep readers guessing to the very last page' New York Journal of Books

'A frenetic, stay-up-all-night kind of read' Good Reading

'Filled with Slaughter's trademark twists' Entertainment Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Aug 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781460706626

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 Pieces of Her

[simplykelina · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Well, that was disappointing! This started off so strong. I was flying threw the beginning and was hooked. As the story continued on and jumped back in time, I started to lose interest. I kept pushing through as I still wanted to know what was going to happen. I ended up getting so bored, I skipped ahead. I had no clue what was going on and had no desire to go back where I left off. This one just did not work for me.

[featherbear · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Karin Slaughter’s Bronx cheer to Millennials. It takes quite a push to get Laura’s 30 year old offspring Andrea out of her parent’s house, it appears. Andrea is the dorkiest creation since The New Girl. However, as we look into Laura’s past, one sees that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Passivity seems to run in the family. She’s been seduced by the left wing of the Boomer Generation. You can’t escape the past, including earlier fictional iterations of the Patty Hearst saga. One nice touch. Laura dispatches the mass murderer with the seeming efficiency of a trained killer. It turns out she was mimicking the futile gesture of a hostage from a past escapade. Also, we learn that she was at one time a piano prodigy, so getting a knife through her hand is a way of cutting the apron strings from her long dead Daddy who forced her to learn the piano when he wasn’t … well I won’t give it away. I regularly use the website fivebooks.com for reading suggestions. Summer Reading 2019: Thrillers, had recommendations by Anthony Franze, organizer of the International Thriller Awards for 2019, and this was one of them. Got the book from the New Haven Public Library. Jacket blurbs were all by fellow thriller writers. You scratch my back, I guess. Not a diss on fivebooks; just don’t trust thrillers solely blurbed by others in the profession.

[johnfishlock · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always enjoy Karin's books. This one is a fabulous read. It is told from two different viewpoints. Then and now which is a common technique used. Really great writing and a lot of hard work I am sure.

[susan0316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my first book by Karin Saughter and after reading this, I am going to check out some of her older books. This was a roller coaster ride of a book that kept me turning pages until 2 a.m. just to find out how it all ended. I had a few things figured out before the end but there was still a lot of surprises that I never saw coming.Andrea is 31 years old and living with her mother. She had lived in NYC but came home to help her mom through her cancer scare and never went back. She is a dispatcher at the police department and lives a pretty basic life without any close friends or family other than her mother and her step father who are divorced. Andrea is socially awkward and can't has trouble speaking at all in social situations. Her mom, Laura, has always been the strong person who helped her through her life. When Andrea and Laura are caught in a random violent attack at a shopping mall, Laura intervenes and acts in a way that is unrecognizable to her daughter. Andrea begins to question who her mom really is and when he mom tells her to run and hide, she is determined to find out about her mom's past - for better or worse. This is an incredible book about the love between a mother and a daughter and how far a mother will go to protect her child. I thought that Laura was a wonderful multi-layered character who had a lot of secrets and Andrea, despite her social awkwardness, showed a lot of strength to help her mom. This is a fast-paced thriller, well-written, with solid characters that will keep readers guessing until the end.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

[decaturmamaof2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really different and very compelling.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good read. A little unrealistic but I liked the way she managed to live.

[carol420 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really like this author and have read everything she has ever written. I'm especially partial to her Grant County-Will Trent series but have read and enjoyed her stand alone books also. I approached this one with a fair amount of caution and tried not to form any opinions based on some really low ratings I had seen. Even though the book started out rather slow it soon picked up with the two main characters, Andrea and Laura. I truly couldn't work up much compassion for Andrea. She was like and android on Ritalin and she has raised a 31-year old who is going on 15. The redeeming feature of the book was the story in itself. Who was this woman and what had she been running from for most of her life? If you are a Karin Slaughter fan you will more than likely find enough to carry you to the conclusion. if you are a new reader to this author you may want to start with a few Will Trent series before this one.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Karin Slaughter book, and as I've been really picky of late as to which thrillers I will read, I took a chance on this one. So many popular thrillers just don't live up to the hype for me. This one did though. It's an edge-of-your-seat book that will have you wildly turning pages or flipping screens as the case may be. It all starts with a bang when Andrea (Andy) is with her mother Laura having lunch in a diner that they frequent regularly in their southern home. A young man walks in with a gun and starts shooting up the place, killing a mother and her teenage daughter right in front of Andy's eyes. But what stops her heart is the way that her usually calm and serene mother handles the situation. She confronts the shooter, putting herself between Andy and him. Andy's whole world changes from this day forward. She discovers "pieces" of her mother as each day passes as she's on a cross-country road trip trying to find out more about her mother. She even confronts a killer in mother's home, and deals with him in a way she never thought she could. As we read we go back and forth between the 1986 and 2018, and from the southern states to Texas and Indiana and all places in-between. There is a lot of blood and guts, and numerous dead bodies along the way, but apparently that is Ms. Slaughter's signature, and the way she handles it in her writing makes it not just "shock-value", but intricate pieces to the puzzle. There are lots of intriguing twists in both timelines, but we grow with Andy as she learns about her mother's past life. My only complaint is that there were a lot of dangling strings in the plot. Some were tied up nicely, others were tied up messily, and some that were not tied up at all. But this is a great thriller, and I recommend it for anyone who likes this genre. I may have to read more of Karin Slaughter's work.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you never knew at all?" Andrea thought she knew her mother but did she really? This book pacts a powerful punch and Karin Slaughter is the best writer out there to throw that punch. She is one of my favorite writers and I have read all her books. The book is filled with intrigue, surprise and an excellent cast of characters. It hooks you from the start and does not let go. The unraveling of Laura, Andrea's mother, and her secrets bring forth pieces of her that would scare any daughter. This is Karin Slaughter at her best and should not be missed! Recommended for those who love mystery thrillers.

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This edge-of-your-seat thriller goes back and forth in time between 1986 and 2018. Stunning revelations punctuate the story from the very beginning, set in August, 2018. Andrea (“Andy”), 31, is living at home with her mother in Belle Isle, Georgia. Andy’s life has pretty much been a failure up to this point, and Andy lacks confidence and quick-wittedness, especially in comparison to her popular and competent mother Laura. Laura Oliver is 55, and works as a speech therapist. As the story opens, the two are at a diner at the mall when a killer comes into the diner and starts shooting. Andy is paralyzed with fear, but her mother takes matters into hand. Afterwards, although her mother is injured, she roughly tells Andy to move out that very night. It’s all very bizarre. Andy wonders, who was this woman who could do what she did? Who was her mother? The shocks are only just beginning for Andy. She left to go stay at her dad’s house, but decided to go back for her bicycle. She discovers Laura in yet another life-or-death situation. This time Andy reluctantly helps, with horrendous consequences. She is forced to flee - her mother gives her money and an address for a storage facility in a small town hours away. Andy realizes she has never known her mother; she has only seen pieces. She knows only that she might be followed, and the level of tension is almost unbearable.Then the narration switches to 1986 and we find out a bit more about Laura’s life. This doesn’t mean the action slows at all, however. The twists and turns on the road to enlightenment for the reader seem like driving on narrow switchbacks over the mountains. I admit to doing what I rarely do, which is occasionally paging ahead so I could breathe sufficiently to make it through the next segment of the story.In the end, a final twist caught me totally unawares.Evaluation: I’ve read a great deal of Karin Slaughter’s books, and this one felt very different than the others. But I’m not complaining!

[kathl33n-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is my third Karin Slaughter and it was a decent read but not a show stopper for me. I know she is a very popular author so maybe it's just me that doesn't seem to jive. This was an interesting story but something kept me from be completely enmeshed in the experience. Maybe it felt a bit long? Maybe it was the completely inept MC? I'm not sure. But, in the end, it was a good plot, well written and kept me interested enough to keep reading and find out what happened. So - job well done! I would like to thank Jellybooks and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read.

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A smart new thriller by Karin Slaughter. I had previously read her book COPTOWN and loved it, so was expecting that style of writing again. Boy, was I wrong! With PIECES OF HER Ms. Slaughter takes on a more complex story. What hasn’t changed is her superb storytelling.Andy, 31, meets her mother Laura for breakfast at the mall diner. Like most daughters, Andy thinks she knows everything about her mother. But she is about to find out how wrong she is. A gunman enters the diner and starts shooting. When he threatens Andy, Laura turns into a fighting machine. As Laura is being taken to the hospital she tells her daughter to say nothing. When Andy sees her mother then in the hospital Laura tells Andy she must leave town and gives Andy some very clandestine-type instructions. Is this now a spy novel?Like most mothers, Laura did have a life before motherhood. But her life was definitely not the norm. She has worked hard to keep her previous life a secret, totally unknown to her daughter. Andy is stunned by this side of her mother that she had never seen before the incident. She has no idea what is going on.This is a story of the bond between a mother and a daughter – what depths a mother will go to in order to protect her offspring. It is told in alternating story lines – the daughter in present, alternating with the mother’s past life. The story is intense – dark, at times. I found it an interesting read but couldn’t lose myself in it. Even though Laura and Andy were such strong female characters I really did not find any of the main characters very likeable.I would like to thank William Morrow Books for the advance copy.

[teenie1k · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So you think you know your mother?

Andrea "Andy" Cooper, thought she knew everything there was to know about her mother Laura - a mild mannered speech pathologist and cancer survivor, living in a small seaside town.

One day while on a lunch outing with her mother, a random act of violence and chaos shakes Andy's world, and leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about her mother. How did her mother remain so cool and calm in such terrible circumstances? Why is her mother so suddenly cold and withdrawn from Andy? Suddenly Andy is on a cross-country road trip - but is she looking for answers, or running from danger?

This book will have you holding your breath on the edge of your seat. It is difficult to talk about this story very much without spoilers, but it is an exciting and enjoyable book for those that love a good thriller!

[techeditor_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I always like Karen Slaughter's novels. Sometimes, though, I love them. And this is one of those times. PIECES OF HER is one of her best.First is the story of Laura and her 31-year-old daughter, Andrea. After Laura is attacked by a stranger wearing a hoodie, Andrea goes on the run. During her travels, she learns more and more about Laura, and the immature Andrea starts acting her age.Every other chapter is another story, 32 years earlier. Mainly, this one deals with Jane and Nick and the cult-like group of anarchists that Nick leads.Watch as the two stories become one.This book isn't just another thriller. Slaughter obviously did some research and presents real facts along with her fiction. Plus, it's unputdownable.I won an ARC of this book from the publisher, William Morrow.

[swibells · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pieces of Her is the first book I read by Karin Slaughter and I loved it. The book wasn't exactly a mystery in most parts, except for some tricky revelations throughout, like Laura's true identity and some other things which I can not reveal because of SPOILERS!


I loved watching Andy transform from a thirty years old girl who hates her job to a mature headstrong woman. The way she handles everything with as much clarity as she can, given the circumstances, made me appreciate her a lot. 


While on the other hand, Laura , or the girl she used to be, seemed somewhat totally opposite of her daughter and yet the same. Following in the shadows of someone she desperately loves, she makes a lot of mistakes. 


The two stories are narrated to us simultaneously, until they merge into one near the end. 


There were a lot of historical references and textbook talk that I had to skip past, because they bored the hell out of me. But the story and the thrill of it kept me going. 


I think I'm a Karin Slaughter fan in making—I already ordered one of her previous books!—and I'm thankful to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for the review copy! 

[susan.macura · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Andrea Oliver who left her life in New York City to return home to nurse her mother through her breast cancer. One day at a mall Andrea discovers a different side of Laura as her mother ends up killing a man. After this, Laura tells Andrea to just leave, but provides her with enough clues so Andrea starts to learn more about her mother and her history. In the end Laura still has some secrets but it is a fascinating look at militant groups, who joins them and why, as well as how they work. There were some interesting insights and some compelling drama, making it an enjoyable read.

[pennsylady · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pieces Of HerIt's Andrea's Cooper's 31st birthday and she and mother, Laura are celebrating with lunch.The most descriptive word for Andy (at this time) is mousey.She's a timid, colorless night shift police dispatcher.She almost seems incapable of leaving her mother's side andfinding a life route of her own.After all, her mother's breast cancer diagnosis had given her the opportunity to leave New York and return to a complacent small town life.Laura by contrast is a self assured speech therapist.A violent episode in the lunch area ignites a trained killer response from Laura as she faces the assassin and a cell phone video of the interaction goes viral.Who is Laura? Where did this behavior originate?Andy is sent running with some puzzling instruction and beginsher journey of discoveries.This is the August 2018 timeline.In the alternating 1986 timeline we explore Laura's hidden identity.

[darcia_10 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the interest of full disclosure, I admit to being a total Karin Slaughter groupie. I have mad respect for her writing skills. So maybe I'm a little biased - but that doesn't mean I'm not right.This story is told in two timelines. First we have the present, where Andrea is struggling to make sense of events and the sudden change in her mother. In the second timeline, we go back to the eighties to witness Laura's life and to learn her secrets. This method is difficult for an author to pull off. Too often the timelines compete with each other. Here, though, Slaughter manages to fully capture both timelines in a way that ensures the stories complement each other, and I was totally committed to both.Slaughter excels at characterization, capturing the essence of personality and portraying characters that are unique but also recognizable. The characters are never stagnant. We watch them evolve as the story moves on, and we also learn the hidden motivations driving their choices. One of my favorite aspects was how Slaughter expertly captures the magnetic personality of a sociopath, who so easily draws others into the swirling vortex. The plot is complex and masterful, beginning with a slow burn and gradually building intensity. Don't get too comfortable, because Slaughter gives us a couple of her trademark twists. Then I got to the last line, which I read three times, because it threw me off yet again and, really, it was just perfect.*I received an advance copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine, in exchange for my honest review.*

[twink_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Karin Slaughter's latest is Pieces of Her.Her own life has had its ups and downs, but the one person Andrea could always count was her mother Laura. Laura has lived in the same city for over thirty years, she's recognized as a community leader, speech pathologist, reliable, kind, generous and more. But when Laura and Andrea are caught in the middle of a shooting, Laura reacts unexpectedly. And after the event, she won't talk about it and tells Andrea to leave - now. Andrea procrastinates and again witnesses her mother in another unthinkable situation. A cryptic set of instructions send Andrea on a search for the past.Who is her mother - or rather who was she? What a great premise!Pieces of Her is told in alternating POV's from Andrea and Laura, both past (1986) and present (2018). The beginning belongs to Andrea and the tension of those first chapters is almost unbearable - I was tempted to commit the sin of peeking ahead and then going back. And where Slaughter takes her story next is completely unpredictable - I did not see what was coming at all. Laura's history was genuinely a surprise. But you know what they say - you can't keep the past buried. Past and present have collided and how it plays out is a non-stop, action filled read. I did find some of the plot a bit improbable and needed to take it with a few grains of salt, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.My feelings for both women changed over the course of the book many times. Andrea is an immature whiner in the beginning, but grows as she pursues her search for answers. And I'd have to say the same for Laura. Present day Laura is kick-butt, but the Laura of the past is weaker as well.Pieces of Her was a good, albeit somewhat different read from Slaughter. I enjoyed it, but am hoping Will is due for a new book next up.

[grandmacootie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pieces of Her asks: What if everything you thought you knew about your quiet, middle-age mother was wrong? What if she has spent the past 30 years hiding in plain sight? What if, when violence erupts at your local mall and a shooter goes on a rampage, the person who stops him, dead, is your mother? What if everything you thought you knew changed in an instant? Pieces of Her follows Andrea, a woman who thought she knew everything about her mother, Laura, until the moment she realized she didn’t, and their world unravels.We know all about our parents, especially if they are staid or boring or conventional, predictable, successful in ways that we are not. At least we think we know all about them. Andy certainly thinks she knows her mother, Laura. Laura has survived cancer and a divorce and has a successful career. She’s supportive of Andy but Andy always feels she’s disappointing her mother. And Andy, frankly, is pretty much a loser, a misfit, a slacker who by the age of 31 still can’t stick with anything and is back home living over her mother’s garage. Her thoughts and actions seem like those of a whiny, insecure teenager. And then suddenly nothing is the same, nothing is as Andy thought it was. This new Laura, this new mother, is someone Andy doesn’t know at all and she is hiding things or lying. The first part of the story is fast-paced, exciting and scary. But when things become even worse (how can that be?) and Laura tells Andy to leave town, the story takes on another aspect entirely and now in addition to being fast-paced, exciting and scary, it’s supremely intriguing with endless twists and turns and hints and clues. When Andy goes “on the run” you expect her to fold, to make mistakes. And she does make mistakes. Her actions cause a lot of dangerous, unexpected reactions, but we also begin to see a stronger side of Andy. She is fiercely determined to find out just who her mother is, or was, and she is not happy with this new, secretive Laura she is learning about. Laura’s past life and secrets go way beyond “my mother was kind of wild in her youth, drinking and fooling around.” The more she learns the less she likes, but Andy must find the truth about Laura, and about herself.Pieces of Her opens with a short prologue, specific enough to pique your interest but vague enough that you don’t know who “he” and “she” were and can’t imagine what happened. And so the tension and suspense build, page by page, until you almost want to stop, close the book, cover your eyes, take a breath, because you are on edge fearing what Andy will stumble upon in the present or what will be revealed from 1986. It’s a fast paced page turner with an intricate plot, mixing clue upon clue with stunning twists & events, and a cast of characters you love and hate and feel sorry for and suspect. Events from 30 years ago are still as important and critical and dangerous today as they were then.Pieces of Her is a compelling story that pushes you to the edge of your comfort zone. There are so many personal and family secrets, lies and deception that it’s hard to know who is good and who is evil, and what can be justified in the name of family and human nature.Thanks to William Morrow Harper Collins Publishers for providing me with an advanced copy of Pieces of Her. I was not required to provide a review; my opinions are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it without hesitation – and I was thrilled to learn that Pieces of Her is currently in development for film and television.

[tottman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nobody has the ability to take your breath away as shockingly and suddenly as Karin Slaughter. She can menace you with a slow buildup of dread or she can spring violence on you suddenly and intensely. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that she pairs the action with characters that are heartbreakingly, chillingly real. Pieces of Her is her latest impressive stand-alone novel.Andrea has been drifting along for 31 years. Her mother, Laura, has spent her quiet life as a speech therapist in the beachside town of Belle Isle. As the two are having lunch at the mall, violence erupts right in front of them. A very different, very brave Laura emerges right in front of Andrea’s eyes, and it’s all captured on cell phone video. Andrea is a puddle of fear, but Laura very calmly confronts a killer. Now the police have questions and people from Laura’s past are very interested. Because Laura hasn’t always been Laura. Andrea winds up on the run, trying to put together the puzzle of who her mother really is. Both of their lives may depend on it.Slaughter manages to marry, complicated, nuanced characters with breakneck plotting and intense, in-the-moment violence that draws you as the reader into its midst and doesn’t allow you to view it from a detached distance. The story alternates between Andrea in the present and Laura 30 years in the past. After a start that is a little slower than her previous novels, the story quickly picks up the pace and will have you reading it in big gulps if not all at once.As great as the action is, the characters are equally memorable. Slaughter takes the time to flesh out her characters without sacrificing pacing. We see that Andrea is kind of a mess and when she winds up on the run her need to get her act together is not just an existential thing but a matter of life and death. Likewise, when we first meet Laura from 30 years earlier, we see how she was molded into the woman she would become. Along with some twists and surprises, you see some parallels between mother and daughter.Setting a plot in two different timelines that eventually merge is tricky to do well, but Slaughter does it flawlessly. There is not the sense of loss as you move from one timeline to another, but an urgency as each timeline informs and builds on the other. A good book will have you tearing through the pages and enjoying every minute. A great one lets you enjoy it even more as you reflect and relive it. Karin Slaughter has written a great one. Pieces of Her is one of the best books of 2018. Highly recommended.I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

[Claire Wood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It took a little time to get into due to the change in time periods fragmenting the plot a little but I really enjoyed it.

[rkaye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoy this author's writing and she writes a very compelling story. Despite everything, I just couldn't connect at all with Laura and I really wish that Gordon had moved on from the woman who had pretty much used him for her own purposes.
As for Andi, I liked her well enough. I got frustrated that she was so timid but it made sense considering how she lived her life. But the overall story had me unable to put the book down!

[auntieg0412 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A unique and interesting plot! I enjoyed the suspense.

[purplepaste-311796 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Really not my cuppa, but I finished it. It took me foreverrrrrr.

[sallyelizabethmurphy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Disappointed.

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read this before I watched the series on Netflix. It really held my interest from beginning to end!

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I feel so far behind on reviews. I have not read much of Karin Slaughter, but this was enjoyable. I am enjoying stories that don’t follow the normal pattern and aren’t the same type of story told in a different way. This was sort of a new idea and kept me guessing until almost the end.

[amandanan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Solid 3.5. Definitely different than her other stand alones, but it had a nice slow burn feeling to it.

[tjsjohanna_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Andrea doesn't quite work as the character described - she doesn't act like a 31 year old. But I do think that the sense of unreality and fear that Andy experiences rings true. The backflashes, while effective in revealing the truth slowly, got annoying - maybe I'm just tired of the technique. The theme of honesty and the past was interesting - and the idea of how much someone can be hiding. But overall I didn't get captured by the characters.