“Teenagers believe they’re invincible—nothing bad can happen. It isn’t until later that we realize that bad things do, in fact, happen.”

Like I said earlier, I’ve been on quite the mystery/thriller quick lately so I was stoked when I got my hands on The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. It’s a story of a girl kidnapped during what she thinks will be a one-night stand, but it turns out to be much, much more than that. And it was fantastic.

The book is written from the back-and-forth perspective of three influential characters: the kidnapper, the kidnapped woman’s mother and the detective trying to find her. Hearing the various stages of the story from these three very different people with three very different intentions is… well ‘emotionally chaotic’ might be the best way to put it.

Colin Thatcher is paid a hefty chunk of change to kidnap Mia Dennett, the daughter of a prominent Chicago judge. But instead of handing the young woman off to his employer, Colin takes her to a secluded cabin in Minnesota until he can figure out his next move. You really want to hate Colin because what kind of dirtbag kidnaps a woman? But hearing a third of the story from his perspective makes hating him an uncomfortable task because maybe he’s not so bad after all (even though he’s still kind of a dirtbag).

Eve Dennett, Mia’s mother, just wants her baby back, even though Mia moved out of the house the minute she turned 18 and Eve hasn’t had a ton of contact with her since. A large portion of Eve’s third of the story revolves around flashbacks to when Mia and her sister when children and the regrets that Eve has about how their childhood played out. You can’t help be feel for her because we’re all doing the best we can, aren’t we? Also, her husband is a jackass, which tends to complicate things even more.

Gabe Hoffman, the detective assigned to Mia’s case, is the final third of the story. While he’s the least emotional of the three (four if you’re considering Mia), he still pulls some heartstrings during his search for the kidnapped woman and his interactions with her devastated mother.

I love, love, loved this story because the continual switches in narrator kept things fresh and the pace of the story kept you on your toes. And the Scorsese-esque twist at the end really put the nail in the “I love this” coffin for me. All in all.. Get this, read this, love this. You won’t be disappointed.

Grade:★★★★★

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