Review: Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

Title: Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Contemporary, Historical 80s, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 480 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

The #1 internationally bestselling author returns with a new novel in the vein of the New York Timesbestsellers Pretty Girls and The Good Daughter—a story even more electrifying, provocative, and suspenseful than anything she’s written before.

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

Andrea Cooper knows everything about her mother Laura. She’s knows she’s spent her whole life in the small beachside town of Gullaway Island; she knows she’s never wanted anything more than to live a quiet life as a pillar of the community; she knows she’s never kept a secret in her life. Because we all know our mothers, don’t we?

But all that changes when a Saturday afternoon trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one will ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.

Twenty-four hours later Laura is in the hospital, shot by an intruder who’s spent thirty years trying to track her down and discover what she knows. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumbs of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. .

Review:

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter is an even-paced, intriguing mystery that weaves back and forth between events in the present and the mid-1980s.

The story opens with Andrea “Andy” Oliver is celebrating her 31st birthday at a diner in a local mall with her mom Laura. Just as Laura is chatting with a former patient’s daughter, a gunman opens fire, killing two people. As the shooter aims his sights on her and Andy, Laura calmly attempts to prevent him from harming Andy. As the situation grows more tense, Laura saves herself and her daughter, but her actions place her at the forefront of the police investigation and ensuing media frenzy.  As Andy is soon to discover, Laura is not who she seems. After a stunning turns of events, Andy’s quest for the truth is about to put herself and others in danger.

Andy is drifting through life aimlessly after her return to Belle Isle from New York. Working as a police dispatcher, she lives in an apartment over Laura’s garage and she has no real plans for the future.  Andy freezes in the face of danger and finds it virtually impossible to focus on Laura’s commands. However, after another menacing situation arises, Andy forces herself to act and soon finds herself on a collision course with Laura’s secret past.

Events from the 1980s unfold in a series of well-place flashbacks. As Andy picks through the detritus of her mother’s life, the two story arcs gradually converge in the present. Andy has no idea she is about to set in motion a harrowing series of events that will endanger herself and others. How will Andy deal with the shocking answers she learns about herself and Laura?

Pieces of Her is an engrossing mystery with a storyline that feels familiar since many elements are reminiscent of true life events. Andy is initially a frustrating character who is helpless in the face of danger. Fortunately, her quest to uncover the long buried secrets of her mother’s past turns into a life-altering journey of self-discovery.  With a few unanticipated twists and turns, Karin Slaughter brings the novel to an action-packed conclusion that is quite satisfying.