Pretty Girls is the story of a family who has lived with the grief and terror that resulted from the disappearance of the oldest daughter, Judith, from a family of three pretty girls. The story is set 20 years after Judith's disappearance and circumstances result in the reuniting of the estranged family members. In the course of the story the reader learns about the dark side of the youngest sister Claire's husband. This is where the book becomes graphic and grisly as the author repeatedly takes the reader through the horrific torture and mutilation of innocent and pretty young girls. Redeeming features of the book are the actions of the female characters in bringing justice to their small town and the respite the reader experiences through the diary entries of the grieving father. Our club would not recommend this read which should be rated "X" as a warning to future readers.

Hooked from the start. It kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat the entire time.

The book was not what I expected at all! Although fiction, the dark world is a reality some places and it's a horrible thought. The book contained a lot of unnecessary details, but I found it insightful reading about each character and how the story developed between Claire, husband Paul, Claire's sister Lydia, and missing sister Julia. Their parents were described in gory details. Each of the families had some form of dysfunctionality, including drug or alcohol abuse, infidelity, rape, murder. It was hard getting through the description of rape, torcher, mutilation of young women, filming and selling in the dark world. My favorite character was Lydia. She endured at lot through her life, including the sexual encounter with Claire's husband, Paul. When Lydia told Claire and her mother about the incident, they didn't believe Lydia because of her previous theft and lies due to drug abuse and Lydia disappeared for 18 years. Lydia eventually got herself together, raised a daughter and living a normal life, that is until she was abducted by Claire's husband who faked his murder previously. Paul did some very awful things to Lydia including waterboarding her with his piss. After it all, Lydia was the hero in my opinion. There were so many twists and turns in this book, it was graphic, scary, but insightful in the dark world.

If you enjoy Jillian Flynn, then Karen Slaughter may be your next author of choice. She takes graphic scenes to a new level with gut wrenching details of horrific acts.

The author grabs you on the first page and doesn't let go. A lot of interesting characters, but the content of the crimes is very disturbing.

Very well written. Couldn't put it down.

I found a new author that I love! Hope all her books are as good. The twists and turns are fabulous. I found I didn't want to put it down. She makes you feel like you are in the book with the characters.

This is a very graphic novel, with disturbing scenes of rape and murder. However, it is well written and deals with social issues and psychopathic killing that lead to interesting and lively discussions. This is not a book for every book club. Know the sensitivities and limits of your members.

Of the Karin Slaughter books I’ve read, PRETTY GIRLS is by far the best. For that matter, PRETTY GIRLS is one of the best books I’ve read this year.

The pretty girls in PRETTY GIRLS are three pretty sisters. When the book begins, one of those sisters, Julia, has been missing for almost 20 years. The family, including her two younger sisters, Lydia and Claire, and her mother and father, have never felt closure. Lydia and Claire, as a matter of fact, have felt ignored by their parents as a result.

Eighteen years ago, Claire married Paul, a genius-level architect. They are rich and happy together. That happiness is not to last. First, Paul is murdered. Then, when Claire is going through his personal belongings, including his home offices and computers, she finds evidence that Paul had been leading a hidden life. And she is to discover much, much more. Paul had been committing and was responsible for horrors.

Since Julia went missing, Lydia became addicted to drugs, let herself go fat, and is estranged from her family. But when PRETTY GIRLS opens, she has gone straight, has a daughter, now a teenager, and has an ongoing relationship with the man who lives next door. Claire involves Lydia in the horrors.

I will say no more about this story. Doing so would deprive readers of learning what Claire and Lydia do while they are doing it. If readers don’t know their discoveries ahead of time, most will find this book can’t-put-it-down good.

To contradict myself, I should say this much more: some scenes involving torture are hard to read. But they are not gratuitous; they ensure that readers feel as horrified as they should.

The stage of the book is set in the south; Alabama and Georgia. It describes how a family can be ripped apart by tragic disappearance of the oldest daughter Julia. The parents get a divorce, Lydia (middle daughter) becomes a drug addict and theaf, while Clare goes to college in Auburn where she meets her future husband Paul. Most of the family ties fall apart after the tragedy they endured after the disappearance of Julia.
My thoughts here are that it takes so little to change family dynamics; this family is torn apart rather than finding the strength to stick together.
Then each character I'd described as they go through live for next two decades. The father living alone unable to connect with his daughters as he did before but constantly keeps looking for his lost daughter. He writes letters to his lost daughter exposing his true feelings and later dyes of what is thought to be suicite, the mother re-marries, Lydia struggles as a single mother raising her daughter and Clare lives the lifestyle of the wealthy with her husband Paul in Atlanta. Paul is described as the perfect husband, kind, loving and attentive to Clare. After a staged death of Paul. Things start falling apart all around Clare when she finds out her husbands alternative dark lifestyle so in her devastation contacts her sister Lydia.
The sisters continue to discover political corruption, police and FBI involvement and are meeting challenges and obstacles wherever they turn to report their findings. They feel they can't trust the authoritys. To the reader the story it is a true suspense, with many twits and turns and unimaginable suffering of mutilation, branding, beating, rapes and killings of young girls to support lucrative filming business of sex trafficking. This is something I cant wrap my arms around knowenly that this is fictional. My question still is; Does this really happen? I know there are many sick psychopaths doing the unimaginable out there.
The mother comes in the picture towards the end. The two girls, the granddaughter and the mother are trying to live a normal life after all that has happen. My thoughts are that their life's have been scared forever, but the trauma fades as time passes with support of good people around. This book still lingers in my thoughts with my question stated above.

Well written, but a dark subject matter.

We simply selected this book based on someone's recommendation to read this author. The subject matter was too dark for most of our members. Wish we would have picked a different Karen Slaughter book.