# Piece of Her # Netgalley
Wow this has got to be the best book Karen Slaughter has ever written. I have loved every book she’s wrote. Been gripped to all of them. This one is extra special. It’s a full on book that you are living inside with the characters. I could feel the tension build, as it was building with the characters. I have definitely been on the edge of my seat on many occasions m, gripping so much so I could feel my heart racing, I don’t know how long for but I was curling my toes with anticipation of each pager you think you know know what’s coming yet things change so so quickly just by turning that Paige. I found myself on a state of shock a couple of times, I was absolutely desperate to finish. It’s not just because I wanted to know how it was going to end it was a need desperately needed to know. I only wish I had have read it at a slower pace and savoured every word. You genuinely can not the book pulls you in so hard and fast, all you do is live and breath this book. If you do not read this. Then you are missing out on a truly masterful piece of Art, I am definitely going to watch the series once it comes out, not expecting it to be as good as this nook is to read. Series based on books are ever as good as the book. Wow just waiting for the next instalment of Karen Slaughter. New book, if you read only one book this year make sure it’s this one.... phenomenal

Karin Slaughter is 1 of my favourite authors. I was hooked on the Will Trent series, very excited to start this book!!

Laura and her daughter Andrea (Andy) have become close after Andy returns home from New York to look after her mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She breezes through life without any real ambition and lives in the apartment above her mother’s garage.

Whilst they are in a diner celebrating her birthday a shooter Jonah Helsinger opens fire killing a mother and daughter, when Jonah turns the gun onto Andy, Laura steps forward calmly telling him to shoot her, what happens next is recorded by a bystander and shows Laura killing Jonah, the press name her the “Killing Machine”.

What happens next is a roller coaster of a ride as Andy goes on the run trying to piece together who her mother really is.

The story is told over 2 timelines which Karin does beautifully. We have the present time and we go back to 1986, the timelines run parallel to one another and fuse together seamlessly.

This book has everything I love in a Karin slaughter story,great storyline, gory, full of twists and totally engrossing.

A thrilling read. I cannot wait as this is going to be a series on Netflix next year, going to clear my diary and binge watch it!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

I have read and enjoyed several books by this author. I received this book via net galley in exchange for an honest review.

Laura Oliver and her daughter Andrea are having lunch in a local restaurant when a gunman enters killing 2 people. Laura then kills the gunman but rather than the police taking this as self defence they are leaning towards a murder charge.

The opening section of this book really did grab my attention and seemed to be the start of an interesting storyline.

At this point we are taken back in time to witness the development of an almost anarchist group attempting to right social wrong with terrorist style actions.

I struggled with the two settings and the way they interlaced. There simply wasn't enough in the earlier plot line to hold my attention and unlike other books by this author I found myself keep putting the book down. There were parts that pulled me into the storyline but just not enough. The whole felt forced and unnatural, at times almost unbelievable.

Whilst the Will Trent series is my favourite series from Karin Slaughter, I also always enjoy her standalones. Pieces of Her was no different, with a gripping and twisty story that kept me turning the pages. The main character was a little frustrating at times but her behaviour was understandable and I slowly became invested in her quest to discover the truth about her mother's life. I'd definitely recommend this to thriller fans and those wanting to try Karin Slaughter for the first time.

I think I liked this book but I did find it disjointed. Many books move backwards and forwards in time and I am not sure this always works but that is maybe because I read mainly at night when I am tired. On saying this I did find it interesting in as much as Nick could manipulate people to do the sort of things that made this book what it is. Even towards the end he was still trying to get Laura on his side but thankgoodness she had other ideas. It was also interesting to see Andy grow up and realising that she was capable of living her life as she needed to grow up. Laura came across as a tough cookie until people messed with her family and she came into her own in a way unexpected but that opened a can of worms. Book worth a read

"She had always believed—vehemently, with great conviction—that the only way to change the world was to destroy it."

Andrea (Andy) lives in Belle Isle with her mother Laura. Her doptive father, Gordon lives around the corner. She is struggling as an adult living with her mom when they are both involved in a vicious crime, where her mother saves her life. Then a man breaks into Laura's house, threatening her and Andy kills him. Laura tells her to run and gives her a 'go bag' and keys to a lock-up. It seems Laura is not the ordinary mom Andy thought she was. Who is Laura, hero, liar or killer, and what did she do?

Switching between present day and a group of terrorists in the 1980s, the links narratives between the narratives slowly come together. Not as pacy as Slaughter's usual books, this is still a good thriller. I found the present day plot and characters more engaging than those in the past. There are plenty of plot-twists as Andy meets new characters and makes new discoveries whilst on the run. An intriguing and startling thriller.

It’s been several years since I’ve read a Karin Slaughter book so I was looking forward to trying this stand alone story. What started out as intriguing and having me excited to continue reading, turned into a bit of a bore. I enjoyed the characters in the story, the disjointed family setup that added to the drama. However I didn’t enjoy it as much as her previous stuff that I’ve read. Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I absolutely adore Karin Slaughter and have read all of her books but I did not enjoy this standalone. It switches between the past told from Janes POV and the present which is told from Andy’s POV. The past chapters were so long-winded and boring that I could feel myself switching off. They could’ve been a lot shorter and still got all the information need across. I was constantly dreading the past chapters coming up.

The present chapters were slightly better as they were faster paced and were more interesting. However, Andy’s character was so painful to read. She’s in her 30s but you would think she was a teenager. She’s so naive and childish. The whole storyline switched between boring and unbelievable.

This hasn’t put me off Karin Slaughter’s other books and I will continue to read her work I just wish I had skipped this one. The Good Daughter was so much better and I expected more from this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

This author never fails to deliver a brilliant book. This has such a twist through it that you cant believe but keeps you totally lost in the book. Its fast, tightly written, enthralling and creatively written. A wonderful stand alone to keep you company on your holidays, as long as you don't want to take part in any activities as its so blooming addictive. Don't believe me then try it for yourself you wont be disappointed.

Andrea Oliver's mother, Laura, is the perfect small-town mum. Laura lives a quiet but happy life in sleepy beachside Belle Isle. She's a pillar of the community: a speech therapist, business owner and everybody's friend. And she's never kept a secret from anyone. Or so Andrea thinks.

When Andrea is caught in a random violent attack at a shopping mall, Laura intervenes and acts in a way that is unrecognisable to her daughter. It's like Laura is a completely different person - and that's because she was. Thirty years ago. Before Andrea. Before Belle Isle.

Laura is hailed as a hero for her actions at the mall but 24 hours later she is in hospital, shot by an intruder, who's spent decades trying to track her down.

What is Andrea's mother trying to hide? As elements of the past return and put them both in danger, Andrea is left to piece together Laura's former identity and discover the truth - for better or worse - about her mother. Is the gentle, loving woman who raised her also a violent killer?

My thoughts:
Ratings :4
Would I recommend it ? Yes
Would I read anything else by this author?yes because I'm slowly getting into one of her other series.
Andrea thought she knew every thing about her mother 's life as well as her own but when a random violent happens right in front of her ,she begins to see a side of her mother she didn't know ,which takes her down a dark path to secrets that wasn't ever to be knowing or out in the open. This book had me question stuff about Andrea's mother like is she really a hero or a murder that needs to pay the price , the more you read the more you find out about her mother's life and the lies she told , it will keep you pulled into the story and your want to keep reading it to find out , how far will someone go to keep these dark series as secrets . And is her mother a hero or a murder . With that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it .

I found this book quite confusing at first but it did become apparent where the story was going half way through. For me it wasn't an amazing read but okay. It is the first book that I have read by this author so perhaps I need to get use to the style of writing.

This is the first book I’ve read by Karin Slaughter and it definitely won’t be the last. This is a fabulous thriller with a really clever plot. It’s going to make an amazing Netflix series.

This was not my favourite book by this author The story did other have enough depth for me and felt the characters weren't strong enough to hold my interest It got better in the second half of the story but all in all a disappointing read

What if the person you thought you knew best turns out to be someone you no longer recognise? When Andy's birthday diner breakfast is interrupted by a homicidal shooter, her mother calmly and confidently kills the assailant. It soon becomes clear that her mother, Laura, has been living under an alias, and her violent past has come back to haunt her, after an intruder, recognising her face on the news, makes his way into her home to seek revenge.

Despite Slaughter's fame and well-deserved title as queen of crime thriller, I hadn't read any of her novels until now and what an introduction Pieces of Her was! The opening is a triumph: a riveting, violent episode depicting America's mass-shooting culture; starting a domino effect as Laura's face is put on every news channel due to her heroic and potentially homicidal actions. After she is discharged from hospital, Laura is cold to Andy, kicking her out of her house. That night, Andy witnesses a mysterious man from Laura's past break into their house to torture her mother, an effective and nerve-wracking scene which kept me up until the early hours reading.

However, after Andy goes on the run, much of the tension disappears and the narrative becomes quite slow-paced – at points, the book was a straight out a drag to get through. I think this is, in part, due to Andy as a protagonist. Andy is a timid young woman, an underachiever who has, until now, grown up quite sheltered after having an idyllic childhood, with the knowledge that she can always rely on her mother to always be there for her. While her quite passive temperament and, at some points, lack of any responsivity might be forgiven in a younger protagonist, Andy is in her thirties. I really struggled with her perspective at points because she just seemed to lack any agency, continually reacting to the horrible events around her by shutting down completely. It felt true to the character but it became very draining to read about her.

Interspersed with Andy’s life on the run are flashbacks to thirty years previously, following a young woman entangled in a cult-cum-terrorist organization. Filled with young idealists rebelling against what they see as a corrupt world order, the organization is planning a series of attacks and assassinations. While I did find this setting compelling, the plot quickly becomes convoluted and messy, and I found it a bit confusing. The flashback sections, in particular, struck me as in need of a stronger editorial voice to make the strands a bit tighter. Nevertheless, in many ways, I almost wished the entire novel had been set in the 1980s following the young cult members, as I found it a lot more interesting than Andy’s part of the story.

Overall, I was very impressed with my first Slaughter novel. Not only is she fantastic at writing thriller fiction, her writing and character building really impressed me. She explores themes of motherhood and duplicity in an engaging and provoking manner. I have heard this is considered one of her weaker novels so I cannot wait to see what's in store for me as I explore her backlist.

I really enjoyed his standalone book written by Karin Slaughter. It was fast paced with never a dull moment.

This is the second book I’ve read by Karin Slaughter and I loved it! It follows Andrea who one day sees her mother react in a way she wouldn’t have expected her to be capable of during a shooting and this leads to Andrea’s life being turned upside down as she slowly uncovers her mother’s past. This book has so many twists and turns but all felt believable in the context of the novel. I did have an ARC of this book but I part-read and part-listened to the audio book. It works so well as both but the audio narration really added to the book for me and I highly recommend it.

Karin Slaughter certainly knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat. Andrea Cooper visits a shopping mall with her mum Laura, a woman she thinks she knows well, but does she? When the trip turns into a fatal shooting Andy realises that she may not. Within 24 hours and after another incident, this time at her mum’s house, Andy takes a key to a storage unit her mum gives her and then heads to Idaho, where she is told to wait until it is safe for her to return. But who can she trust and who is her mum scared of? The book goes back to 1986 when Laura was in her twenties and involved in a terrorist group and runs alongside Andy trying to piece her mother’s life together. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for letting me review this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A stand alone from the usual Sara and Will series I was a bit nervous but I needn’t have worried. It was well read, interesting and just brilliant.

I cannot find sufficient superlatives to express the extent to which I have enjoyed this book. The story begins in 2018 with an enthralling hostage situation evolving into mayhem and carnage. Only two chapters in and the reader is thrust into a complex situation attempting to differentiate between whether we have witnessed the retaliation of a witness in a life or death situation or the reactions of a trained assassin. Mother and daughter, previously living a sheltered life in ambiguity are thrust into the limelight of news headlines and infamy. The story then moves back in time to 1986 when a series of events sheds light on the actions of the protagonist and subsequent mysterious events involving friends and familyThis book has numerous twists and turns. Second guessing what is to follow is impossible. Three dimensional characters drawn into a web of intrigue and murder. The writer moves through time adding various dimensions to this story with no let up on heightened tension, enlightenment and gradual exposure of secrets and human frailties to an explosive conclusion. To give this book 5 stars does not do it justice. Every chapter a cliffhanger. If only the story could be transferred to the silver screen. But then who could play the characters drawn with such intensity and accuracy by Karin Slaughter that we the reader can see, feel and anticipate their actions and reactions. This book , in fact every page and chapter was a total joy to read from start to end. I loved it.

Karen slaughter has reached hights far above the normal standard with this book and sets the bar very high for other writers of psychological thrillers I won't bore you with the blurb you can get this of the likes of Amazon and I don't won't to give any spoilers I'll just say it's a brilliant read that grips you from the start to the end so get reading it you know you won't to