The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

Title: The Good Girl
Author: Mary Kubica
Page Count: 352
Rating: A
Keywords: Missing, PTSD, Entitlement
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Narrators: Lindy Nettleton, Johnny Heller, Tom Taylorson, Andi Arndt
Duration: 10 hours and 38 minutes
Younger Readers: NOT for children. Language, sexual content, mature situations.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

"I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will."

One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.

An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.

My Review if You Have Not Read This Yet:

Know that this is a bit of a difficult one to get into initially. If you can stick it out, do it. I really enjoyed this one and the best way to go into it is not knowing much past the synopsis. I went in not knowing much and it was great.

If you listen to this as an audiobook PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHAPTER TITLES. This tripped me up a bit when I first started reading. Specifically, if it says "before" or "after". If you do this it will be a much smoother reading experience with less confusion.

If You Want to Ignore My Above Advice or Have Read it, Continue Here:

Still going to be a bit vague here...

I know this was highly recommended for fans of Gone Girl, but I noticed more of a similar tone to an older version of Everything I Never Told You. It is a very reflective and wistful novel where characters react to events in the face of crisis, all while being flooded with emotions and memories. This makes for a bit of a slow novel at first. It is intriguing enough to keep you going though. Around the half way point I noticed it picked up considerably as the two time frames began to converge.

Colin is creeeeeepy when we first meet him. Yet so much happens that he is easily my favorite character, followed by the very down to earth Gabe.

Eve is the typical mother from this genre, wants so much for her daughter yet does not take an active part in her life. She seems afraid to upset her daughter and lose her. I did enjoy as the reader is carried beyond the first impression of her though. Her backstory and a closer look at her thoughts reveal a much more interesting woman.

Solid narration all around. A had a hard time not giggling when the voice of Colin was reading what Mia was saying. It almost sounded mocking at times, the high girlish voice. The reading was a bit slow for my tastes so I set it to 1.5x speed. At this speed I didn't have any issues understanding what was being said. Became a bit muddled around 2x.

If you are interested in thrillers at all or a cat person, this is an amazing read. The ending was completely shocking and the buildup to it was thoroughly emotional. Overall, not at all what I was expecting but completely addicting. Highly recommend checking it out.