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The Shining Girls

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The Shining Girls

By: Lauren Beukes
Narrated by: Christopher Ragland
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Summary

The jaw-dropping, page-turning, critically-acclaimed book of the year: a serial-killer thriller unlike any other from the award-winning Lauren Beukes. ‘GONE GIRL has not exactly gone. But THE SHINING GIRLS have arrived’ (The Times).

THE SHINING GIRLS is now streaming on Apple TV+, starring Elisabeth Moss and Jamie Bell

“It’s not my fault. It’s yours. You shouldn’t shine. You shouldn’t make me do this.”

Chicago 1931. Harper Curtis, a violent drifter, stumbles on a house with a secret as shocking as his own twisted nature – it opens onto other times. He uses it to stalk his carefully chosen 'shining girls' through the decades – and cut the spark out of them.

He’s the perfect killer. Unstoppable. Untraceable. He thinks…

Chicago, 1992. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Tell that to Kirby Mazrachi, whose life was shattered after a brutal attempt to murder her. Still struggling to find her attacker, her only ally is Dan, an ex-homicide reporter who covered her case and now might be falling in love with her.

As Kirby investigates, she finds the other girls – the ones who didn’t make it. The evidence is … impossible. But for a girl who should be dead, impossible doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…

©2013 Lauren Buekes (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Action & Adventure Crime Fiction Crime Thrillers Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Suspense Exciting Scary Murder
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Critic reviews

‘A powerful thriller – imaginative, disturbing, tense, compelling reading’ The Times

‘I’m all over it’ Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

‘Brilliant. A book about the duel of two fabulously realized characters. A triumph’ Independent

‘Clever story, smart prose’ Stephen King

‘Extremely creepy’ Mail on Sunday (‘Must Reads’)

‘Very smart, wholly original, completely kick-ass’ William Gibson

‘Engrossing as it is original, as rewarding as it is challenging. Superb – a beautifully layered work of fiction. Take the time to read this, it’s mesmerizing’ Sun

‘Utterly original, beautifully written. This is something special’ Tana French, author of In The Woods

‘Brilliant. Forget GONE GIRL, now it’s all about THE SHINING GIRLS’ Observer

‘Disturbing, smart and beautifully written’ Erin Morgenstern, author of The Night Circus

‘This year’s must-read’ Stylist

‘A new kind of thriller. A dark, relentless, time-twisting, page-turning murder story. It shines’ Matt Haig, author of The Humans
All stars
Most relevant
Novel somewhat in the style of Stephen King (I mean that in a good way): supernatural, slow-burn but well-paced and interesting. Not outstanding: neither powerfully gripping, nor beautifully descriptive, nor intellectually intriguing. But a rewarding listen nonetheless. Oh dear, feels like I'm damning it with faint praise: not my intention, it's just that this book is neither "meh" nor "wow", it's simply a good read. And boy, there are plenty of very BAD reads out there, right Harlan?

Interesting read

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

The story itself is enjoyable enough but with an unsatisfying ending. However, the narration is dreadful. Christopher Ragland is a fine narrator when he sticks to his own voice but his male characterisations are bad and the the female ones are appalling. Every woman/girl whether she is a child, an architect, a transsexual, a drug addict or the sole survivor of a serial killer sounds like a cross between Mariliyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr President and a muppet baby!

Completely awful characterisation.

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This is an interesting take on the serial killer theme but I had to give up part way in because I couldn’t stand the simpering voices allocated to the female characters. I may have to get the book to finish it. Lots of male readers just soften their voices a bit and that’s usually enough. You can allow the listener to use their imagination.

Gave up

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this is an excellent and gripping book, with characters you'll love and hate with a passion. however, the narration is a bit too much, very over the top and almost silly voices.

loved the book, didn't love the performance

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What made the experience of listening to The Shining Girls the most enjoyable?

This book is totaly absorbing from the very first chapter. Its hard to stop listening too, i was unsure about it and decided to go for it after reading other reviews and seeing how long it was (the longer the better for me). The brutal scenes in it aren't as horrific to listen to as they are to read and are pefectly in context with the story. The narrator does a fantastic job, bringing scores of characters to life and really sucking you in. You really get two threads to the book. One of the time-traveling murder element,of a man driven to horrific acts being thrown through the years addicted to murdering beautiful, strong women and then the story of the survival of one of his victims. Both are as compelling as the other. Also each of the murder's other victims is beautifuly written, a real rounded character that you feel for and i found that quite astounding as some of them feature very briefly.Infact every character comes roaring to life, due to some superb writing and some excellent acting skills from the narrator. I was expecting the end to be a let down, because it built so beautifully, but it isn't. Clever, moving and make an impossible situation completely believable.To listen to all the time jumping back and forth through the decades can be confusing, but i dont think it really made any difference , you can tell where you are from the context of the story itself. Really worth the credit, even if sci-fi or detective storys aren't you thing, its got such a lot of weight to it that those points aren't even the main focus, the characters are and their story just has to be heard, it stayed with me for days after and i found myself re-playing chapters afterwards.

So much emotional value for your credit!

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