Bad Girls by Laurel HeidtmanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I began reading Bad Girls I knew that it was a crime thriller, but when Marnie appeared I feared that it was going to be another variation on a “girl with a dragon tattoo”, so my heart sank. Although this is the second book in a series it quickly became intriguing and compelling on its own merits and I forgot all about that other goth-girl and her tatts! Ms. Heidtman has written a remarkable, fast-moving, character and event driven thriller. I was completely hooked from chapter 2 and had to resist constantly reading the book when other parts of my life beckoned. It is definitely a page-turner with excellent characters, both good and evil, and a plot that became quite harrowing to read at times, while containing all of the twists and turns you hope will be unpredictable.
The author presented a wonderful balance of horrific incidents against relatively normal domesticity chapter by chapter. My heart went out to Marnie in her “situation” together with large measures of respect for her courage and ingenuity. The reader is allowed into the minds of Marnie and Cal, her devoted, long-suffering uncle and “surrogate dad”. The reader also looks into the mind of the perverted kidnapper and so experiences many of the doubts, fears and hopes that go on in all three heads at different times – skilfully done by Heidtman. Her descriptions of places and times are well written with enough detail for the settings but without too much so as to make those passages boring or tedious. I wound up loving the writing of Ms. Heidtman enough to overcome my anger and sorrow with the very real and difficult-to-read descriptions of cruel brutality suffered at the hands of the serial “sicko” in the book. I can highly recommend this excellent thriller to fans of the genre and to those wishing to try out a new example of it.
I was given a copy of the book in exchange for an honest and objective review.
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