Andy's world is turned upside down on her 31st birthday when her mother, Laura, tackles and kills a gunmen who begins to shoot in a cafe they are in. Laura sends Andy away with details of a storage facility in another state and so begins the unravelling of Laura's past. . The story follows the discoveries that Andy makes and details she uncovers and she begins to question who her mother really is. We flit between the present and a period of time in the past where a murder takes place by what appears to be a cult which made me, as the reader, also begin to question who Laura and Andy really are. I enjoy a good puzzle and this one reeled me in to desperately seek the answers. My one criticism is that at time the story appeared elongated and could have been more concise as at times I flicked through unnecessary text. Having said that I found it a brilliant read and a gripping story.

Written by Karin Slaughter — Do you remember much about your 31st birthday? No? Me neither, but Andrea ‘Andy’ Oliver’s 31st is about to stick in her memory forever.

Andy is a pretty ordinary woman. She tries, but usually she fails. In fact her life is littered with things she tried to do but didn’t quite manage. She is now back living at home with her mother Laura, a 55-year-old speech therapist who works with people recovering from strokes.

Laura’s pretty ordinary too, but she’s recently been battling breast cancer and Andy came home from New York to Belle Isle, Georgia, to give her mother support. An excuse, really. Andy was failing miserably in the Big Apple and it was the perfect opportunity for her to get away from the place.

They are having a quiet birthday lunch in a local diner when all hell breaks loose. A young man dressed like a western gunslinger appears in the restaurant and shoots and kills the two women who have come over to speak to Laura. What happens next will change Andy’s perception of life – and of her mother – forever. As Andy lies cowering in a corner, Laura springs into action. She grabs the knife which the shooter is now wielding after his gun has run out of bullets, turns the blade on him and, suddenly, the man is lying dead on the floor. It’s a deft move that looks well-practised. How on earth did Laura learn such things?

Up until now, Andy has led a pretty sheltered existence, but her mother’s actions have suddenly put them in the spotlight. The drama and violence in the diner set off a train of events that will eventually see Andy on the run from… somebody. The question is, can this little mouse of a woman find the courage to get her through what lies ahead?

This compelling plot strand in interspersed with a second, which is equally as dramatic and confounding. The year is 1986, location Oslo, and a high-powered international finance and business conference is about to take place. The main speaker is Lee Iacocca, the real-life CEO of Chrysler. All tickets have been sold for a panel which will see the outspoken Martin Queller, creator of the controversial Queller Correction, which is built upon the theory that economic growth is more important than the welfare of the poor and disadvantaged, pitted against his greatest naysayer, Professor of Economics Alex Maplecroft. But the woman sitting opposite him is an imposter, and Laura Juneau has another agenda altogether. What happens during the panel discussion has worldwide ramifications, but what could be the connection to Andy and her mother?

Pieces of Her is a book which contains a plethora of puzzles, and just when you think you’ve slotted all the pieces into place and the picture is becoming clearer, Slaughter tips the table and you have to start all over again. She can also conjure up a place and a period is surprisingly few words. Small-minded, small-town USA lives and breathes within these pages and the 1980s sections of the story are equally well rendered. This author feels right at home in the past, as evidenced in her 2014 novel, Cop Town, which was set in the 1970s and the Oslo scenes feel comfortable in their appointed decade.

Not content with creating the crime fiction version of the Cowardly Lion in the shape of permanently nervous Andy, Slaughter throws in another set of flawed but perfectly pitched cast members in the shape of the Queller family and their hangers on. There are not that many people to like in this book, but you’ll still find yourself rooting for quite a few of them as time passes.

This author has gained a reputation as a teller of tricksy tales and Pieces of Her is right up there with the best of ’em. There’s a fair chunk of death and desperation to be found within its pages, but also a surprising amount of lighter, laugh-out-loud moments to balance things up a little. A super standalone.

A special celebration turns sour in Sue Fortin’s The Birthday Girl, while pursuit is at the heart of Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton.

Harper Collins
Print/iBook/Kindle
£9.99

CFL Rating: 5 Stars

Pieces of Her is a very accomplished novel, as you would expect from such a renowned author. It wasn’t really like the Karen Slaughter books I’ve read previously but I enjoyed it just the same. The story was pacy, characters well developed and interesting and the sections relating to the past were very skill fully integrated. Definitely to be recommended.

I really enjoyed this book very much. With lots going on it kept me reading and wanting to find out what happened in the end quickly.

So first of all I am a HUGE Karin Slaughter fan and was giddy with excitement to receive an ARC of her latest novel "Pieces of Her". My initial impressions of this standalone read were that this did not "feel" like a Karin Slaughter book and I felt that I wasn't racing through it as I usually do but this is a terrific read nonetheless.
The story centres around Andrea 'Andy' Cooper and her speech therapist mother Laura. Andy is a rather unfulfilled young woman who has a track record of a lack of commitment in all areas of her life - she dropped out of college and moves from job to job and her personal life is non-existent. Following her move back to her home town to nurse Laura back to health from breast cancer treatment Andy and Laura are having breakfast in a local mall diner when all a gunman begins shooting at customers in the diner. Andy is in the gunman's line of sight when Laura intervenes and blocks the gunman's view of her daughter whilst calmly instructing Andy to take cover. Andy watches in horror and confusion as Laura proceeds to disarm the gunman and kill him with his own knife in a professional, composed and ruthless manner leaving Andy to question whether she truly knows her own mother. The resulting media storm sets off a chain of events that takes Andy across the country, running for her life and trying desperately to unravel the mystery and danger of her mother's past which may be the key to saving both their lives.
I very much enjoyed this book although as previously said, it felt very different from the tried and tested Slaughter-formula. The story flicked from present day to events 30 years previously but I found it easy to follow and all helped to build to the climax of the story. I loved the character of Laura however found Andy's character to be rather irritating at times and came across as a lot younger than her 30-odd years.
All in all a great read but I look forward to a return to business as usual with the forthcoming next instalment in the Atlanta Will & Sara series - 4.5 stars and huge thank you to Ms Slaughter, Netgalley UK & the publishers for the ARC.

I am such a big fan of Karin Slaughter and this does not disappoint! A really interesting plot that differs from most other options on the shelves at the moment. I think the character of the daughter needs tweaking a little - she's not massively believable but it doesn't ruin the story.

This started out sounding like something you would find under 'Womens Fiction' and I wondered if I had made a mistake. Andrea had chased her glamorous dreams to New York City and failed, winding up waiting tables. When her mother telephoned her with disturbing news, she leaves New York without looking back to go home to small town Georgia and help her mother through a fight with breast cancer.

After taking a job fielding 911 calls for the emergency services, her life looks very ordinary and at a dead end. However, when a crisis situation arises, some real drama enters the story and by the end of the first chapter, Andrea finds out there are aspects of her mother that she's never known and the story becomes very interesting indeed!

This is a Mystery story. I didn't like Andrea because she just freezes up in situations when a stronger person would react and she makes some seriously stupid decisions, like just kill her now and put her out of all of our misery stupid. The other female characters were also either pathetic or psychotic, yet for the most part it worked in the story. Paula got on my nerves pretty quick, not least of all because she reminds me of someone I met once, and Jane was too much like Andrea. To be fair, the male characters were mostly unpleasant as well, apart from Gordon, her step-father.

All this adds up to a pretty twisted situation that begins to get explained about a third through. There's a time flashback that takes us out of Andrea's story and gives us the background behind her mother's actions. Then it moves forward again to resolve the situation she manages to get herself into.

The characters do develop and the reason they had to be so weak becomes essential to the plot, so they're forgiven. I actually enjoyed the story quite a lot, despite the weaknesses in the main characters. I would read something else by this author.

As an avid reader of Karin Slaughter I was very pleased to get the opportunity to read this book and provide a review. This book is not like anything I have read by the author previously but that just made it all the better to read. I would absolutely recommend this book to fans and new readers alike, I read it in two days, it really is that good! The changes in timelines were easy to follow and brilliantly written and the characters were very engaging. This book is great

Andrea's mother Laura is a pillar of the community in the well-heeled town of Belle Isle, leading a quiet life and well-respected for her speech therapy career. Staid, reliable and loving, Andrea knows everything about her. Until, celebrating Andrea's birthday with brunch in a local diner, a sudden incident of horrific violence destroys everything Andrea thought she knew and she finds herself running in terror, on a desperate road trip to piece together the truth about Laura.

Like her superb last book (The Good Daughter), Pieces Of Her demonstrates a growing social conscience to Slaughter's writing, which I particularly enjoyed. Strong, too, are the sections of the book dealing with Andrea's terrified flight, in which tension ratchets to unbearable levels. Andrea, however, is flawed as a heroine - not in a literary way, but in a 'oh my f-ing god why are you so bloody wet and passive?' way. I thought that perhaps this irritating passivity would change as the narrative progressed, that the 'point' of the novel would be Andrea learning to stand up for herself... or even just to learn how to respond like a normal person when someone asks her a question. But no, she's content to barrel from one terrifying situation to another, whining all the while, which made it difficult to respect her as a character (despite her reactions probably being exactly how I would cope - or fail to! - in a similar situation).

Pieces Of Her also lacks the big twists we've come to expect from Slaughter, with the sections dealing with Laura's past being especially slow-burning. And while these sections also come with a sense of terrible inevitability, this predictability and lack of twists However, this was not at all to the detriment of my enjoyment of the novel.

Another good read from Karin Slaughter. It is a real page turner and moves along at a pretty fast pace in both the past and present narratives. I was really intrigued to see what secrets were being hidden. I did have an inkling of Laura's true identity part of the way through but that didn't detract from anything as there was still a lot to be uncovered around that. I read it in less than a day, which gives you a good idea of just how fast moving the plot is.

Many others have explained the plot so I won't expand any further. This is a great thriller with so many different characters and facets. Set in two different time periods, the full story does not unfold until the last section of the novel. Be patient as you get into it and you will be rewarded with a complex unfolding life story. Perhaps it is realistic that I didn't really like any of the characters portrayed and therefore for me that aspect, combined with rather a lot of graphic violence, means that I would not give the book 5 stars.

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

It is August 2018 and it’s time for 31-year-old Andrea (that’s Andy to you and me, but not to her mother) to make some decisions about her future. It’s time for her to leave the family home once again and stand on her own two feet. At least that’s what her mother Laura thinks. And it’s right in the middle of their discussion about this in a shopping mall restaurant (surely not the right time or place for this debate, Andy thinks), when a young man walks in and shoots dead another mother and daughter standing nearby. The gun is then trained on Laura and Andy. With barely time for hesitation, Laura kills the boy with his own knife. Andy cannot believe her eyes. She looks at her mother and no longer knows who she is.

And this is just the beginning. As events escalate, Andy has no choice but to go undercover, to run for her life while chasing the truth about Laura. In so doing, Andy will not only learn who her mother is, she’ll also learn lessons about herself. If she can stay alive, that is…

Pieces of Her is the latest stand alone thriller by Karin Slaughter. I absolutely loved The Good Daughter and so I have been really keen to read this, snapping up the rather lovely hardback to supplement my review ebook copy. Once more we have a novel that puts a family under scrutiny – the crime or mystery at the heart of the book secondary to its portrayal of a family divided by secrets and shocked into action by sudden violence and trauma. The premise of Pieces of Her is compelling.

The narrative is divided between the present day adventure of Andy’s cat and mouse chase across much of the United States and another story set in 1986. I’m not going to say anything about that but it is in these sections that the truth can be found. I’m not sure that there are any surprises here in what happens but it’s certainly compelling and the pages fly through the fingers. I love books divided in this way.

I really enjoy Karin Slaughter’s writing. Her depictions of these small towns in America, the great distances between them, and the people met along the way, are all done so well. My one issue with the novel was with the character of Andy. I know that she’s trying to find her own voice, to establish her independence, essentially to grow up, but you can see why she annoys one character in particular. She certainly irritated me with her unfinished sentences, her laboured thinking – sometimes it’s as if she has lightbulbs pinging above her head – and her fumbling around. Andy feels very young for her 31 years. I realise that this is all purposefully done, Andy is supposed to be like this, but it does make her a pain to be around. Laura is a much more interesting person to spend time with. She too has her agonising moments of indecision but there’s a good reason for it in her case. I did enjoy the psychology behind Laura’s personality, as opposed to Andy who was just irritating. I also had some issues with a male character who keeps popping up in Andy’s storyline.

Pieces of Her is a substantial novel at over 450 pages but it is such a fast and furious read. I found it very difficult to put down and read huge chunks in one go. I think Karin Slaughter is a fascinating writer. I love her portrayals of (most) people and places, her understanding of both. It all seems very real and it’s engrossing.

Other review
The Good Daughter

Three years ago thirty-one year old Andrea (Andy) left New York and returned home to help nurse her mother Laura, after a breast cancer diagnosis. Andy has no drive or ambition and no meaningful personal relationships to speak of. Her mother has made her life so agreeable that Andy doesn’t know how begin to take control herself.

She and her mother are in a diner at the mall when the unthinkable happens. Andy hears a pop…then another pop..pop. Two people lie dead on the floor. Laura’s reaction to the shooter and the ensuing violence stuns Andy into a terrified state of shock. She can’t equate the woman in front of her, and her actions, with the mother she thought she knew. When Andy is involved in more violence at her mother’s house she embarks on a desperate journey, following clues to her mother’s past, to save herself and discover who Laura really is.

The mystery of Laura is at the heart of the story, a story which leads the reader down dead ends and in many wrong directions. Who is Laura? Certainly much more than the bridge playing, speech therapist and prominent member of the community that Andy thought she knew. The terrible incident in the diner marks the beginning of the end of their life as they know it. The police are involved. Laura becomes infamous and exposed but won’t talk—to anyone, much less Andy.

Pieces of Her is a dual timeline psychological thriller, set in the present day and the mid 80s. Each chapter’s heading is clear so the reader knows the exact sequence as the narrative weaves from one period to the other, exploring the mother/daughter relationship along the way.

The characters are devised extremely well, even though I found myself irritated many times by Andrea to begin with. She seems incapable of uttering a complete sentence and has no get up and go, no direction in life. But now she has no choice and needs to make her own decisions. No-one is going to make them for her….and if she makes the wrong ones her life could be at stake. Laura’s secrets are liable to destroy….one or both of them.

I began to enjoy Andrea more as she begins the search, following the trail her mother left and finding her own strength of character as she goes. It works well, the reader doesn’t really know anything before Andrea and so are following the clues with her, not knowing how anything would unfold. The flashbacks are quite complex and confusing initially but Karin Slaughter ties both stories together smoothly, while including current, relevant issues, and leading to a very surprising conclusion.

This was the first time I had read a book by Karin Slaughter. It took me ages to get used to the characters and found it very difficult to follow the story as it jumped from past to present, however I worked out the connection very early on.
I enjoyed the book but found it a bit too dark.

Karin Slaughter is such a well trusted entity when it comes to writing books. You don't even need to read the blurb about the novel in your hand. You know that, because it was written by this super skilled lady, it is going to be great stuff. The same is true of Pieces of Her. It is well written, well cast piece of fiction that is going to take you on an emotional roller coaster with plenty of stressed tension and moral tightropes to walk. I found it just a titch slow to get up and running but once there it gave the reader no chance to apply the emergency brake. The mystery was established and we were on the road with Andy as she searched for answers to the new, startling developments in her life.

It's possible that since reading The Good Daughter not that long ago, and having expended my emotional empathy for the sisters of that novel, I had nothing left for Jane. Or, that she just cried too much and wrung her hands too often for me to feel pity for her. Her agonizing did linger a wee bit too much for my liking but not so much as to detract from the book by any margin. Beyond that I really liked Andy and Laura. Their mother/daughter relationship was straight out of the parenting playbook. I enjoyed the chemistry between Andy and Mike and all the sharp sarcasm sprinkled liberally throughout the novel. Ms. Slaughter is flawless when writing this kind of book about emotional turmoil and complex interaction between people. Folksy people are her bread and butter and no one does them better. A good read is to be found here, with Pieces of Her, and it was a joy to track Andy as she unraveled the mystery of Laura.

This is very different from previous books I’ve read by this author. . For me it was very much a book of 2 parts and to be honest, I found the first half a tough slog. After the initial excitement dies down, the reader spends a lot of time alone with Andy & I found her a tiresome travelling companion. Her chapters consist of very little dialogue as she interacts with few people. Instead we listen in on her every thought & emotion. She covers the same ground over and over again in an endless loop of fear and despair. I had to keep reminding myself she was 31 as her behaviour & emotional maturity was more in keeping with those of a teenager. I'd give this book a 3 stars. I miss the Will Trent series.

I love the Sara / Will series and the Good Daughter was one of my top reads last year. Pieces of her is good but just doesn't seem to hang together as well as Karins other works. I found Andrea's character a bit annoying and the whole premise a bit fanciful.

I found the prologue unnecessary as it underlies the whole concept of this book and felt that, for some, the beginning might be a little dull. However, it does mean we feel we know the two main characters reasonably well before the action starts. And when the action does begin it runs like a roller-coaster. The bumpy ride takes us along many twists and turns, with an untold number of surprises and false guesses.
Although we think we understand how some people can be overwhelmed and controlled by others, Slaughter's characters really had me horrified at the possibility of just how easy it is for one person to manipulate the thoughts and actions of others. Just as you think you can predict the characters and the plot you are confronted by something different.
Overall, to be highly recommended for lovers of modern-day action thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pieces of Her is a dual timeline thriller. Our focus is mainly on Andy who finds herself thrust into danger when she is caught up in a shooting incident. Andy and Laura, her mother, come face to face with the gunman – they are the last two standing but Laura steps in front of her daughter to confront the shooter.

She tries to persuade him to shoot her in order that Andy may go free. As she speaks to the gunman Laura is also urging Andy to run for freedom. There is a flurry of activity and before Andy can know what is happening the shooter is dead and her mother stands over his body. Self defense she claims yet the incident has been caught on film and any suggestion that Laura may have been a vulnerable victim is gone – it looks like she has used combat skills to eliminate a threat.

This all takes place very early in the story but Andy finds herself querying if she even knows who her mother is. There are clearly secrets which Laura has buried deep and of which Andy has no knowledge. Andy’s story is uncovering the pieces of the puzzle as to who her mother really is.

I mentioned this was a dual timeline story. Alongside Andy’s flight from a crime scene on a quest to understand Laura better there is also a story thread running which introduces new characters – this part of the tale is set in 1986.

Readers will know that the two story threads will eventually intertwine and that there will be some overlap to explain why an industrial accident in the 80’s has an impact on a random shooting in the present day.

While you read it can be perplexing to randomly spring to a different story and you have to trust in the skill of the author to know that everything shall make sense in the end. But when the author is Karin Slaughter you know that the author has all the skills to weave a deft tale which rewards the reader.

Pieces of Her was often surprising and a highly enjoyable reading experience.

I was hooked from page one and had started to clear my diary for the following 24 hours so I could follow Andy and Laura’s journey after their unfortunate wrong place wrong time encounter with a gun man. But then the book shifted to Laura’s back story which went on for just a little bit too long that I just wanted it to end so I could see what Andy was doing in the present. This went on throughout the book but I accepted the style of writing and again couldn’t put the book down. Excellent writing and characters that are perhaps a little bit unbelievable at times but are full of endearing traits. Can not wait for Karins next book.