She Treads Softly: The Lost Girls

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

The Lost Girls

The Lost Girls by Jessica Chiarella
7/6/21; 336 pages
Penguin Publishing Group

The Lost Girls by Jessica Chiarella is a recommended psychological thriller.

Twenty years ago when Marti Reese was eight-years-old, her teenage sister Maggie got into a car and disappeared. Since that time Marti has been searching for her sister. When the true crime podcast about the case and her search wins her an award, it also propels her Maggie's case back into the news, which results in people contacting her. A woman, Dr. Ava Vreeland , contacts her with information that might have a tie to Maggie's case. It involves a young woman, Sarah Ketchum, who disappeared in the same area as the Reese family home and the similarities between the two cases. The only problem is that Ava's brother, Colin McCarty, was convicted for Sarah's murder, but Ava knows he is innocent. Marti sets off to tell Ava's story on her podcast in a search for the truth about Sarah's murder, which seems to have ties to Maggie's case.

Marti, as a character, is highly driven in her search for her sister but she also has self-destructive tendencies which are clearly displayed in the plot. You will have sympathy for her and her obsession with finding her sister while drinking too much, sabotaging her marriage, and making poor choices. She really is a tortured soul who needs some counseling. This makes her ripe for jumping on the information Ava provides her and using the case for the next season of their podcast. Personally, I actually didn't trust any of these characters because they all seemed self-serving.

This twisty case is compelling, however, you need to get through the opening pages which set up the story. After that the novel is fast-paced and will keep you reading to reach the shocking conclusion. I did successfully predict a major part of the plot, but there were still several surprises. This is a novel almost written for true crime podcast enthusiasts. Alas, I'm not one, but it is a very good psychological thriller. I was unsure about the slam near the beginning over other online talks shows. It's always best to keep the focus about your book.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group via NetGalley.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.