The Good Girl: A Thrilling Suspense Novel from the Author of Local Woman Missing

by Mary Kubica

'A tremendous read' The Sun 'A twisty rollercoaster ride' Lisa Gardner

Now optioned for a major movie by the company behind Winter's Bone, Babel, Being John Malkovich and the TV series True Detective.

A compulsive debut that reveals how, even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems...

I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the colour of her eyes or what they look like when they're scared. But I will.

Mia Dennett can't resist a one-night stand with the enigmatic stranger she meets in a bar.

But going home with him might turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life...

***

Readers LOVE Mary Kubica:

'One of the very best thrillers I've read - ever.'

'Kept me guessing the whole way through. Sheer genius.'

'Messed with my mind (in a good way). I want more!'

'Totally riveting and all-consuming'

'The ending is a real twist of the knife - it doesn't get much better than this.'

'A very fast paced story which keeps you guessing till the end and what a twist!'

'Omg! This is one of the best books that I have ever read! Great thriller, love it!'

• ISBN10: 0778317765
• ISBN13: 9780778317760
• Publish Date: 5 March 2024 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Mira Books
• Edition: First Time Trade ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[maggiefan]

The foreshadowing in this book is the worst. The twist is so predictable it hurts. The mystery is non-existent. I hope other books by the author are better than this one

[Artemis]

The Artemis Reader

First, let me say that The Good Girl is not another Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train. If anything, Kubica’s debut novel is an excellent read and one I found more compelling than either of the books mentioned above. While I understand the marketing technique invoked in the comparison don’t be fooled if you weren’t a fan of either like me.

The story follows the events leading up to, during and after the kidnapping of Mia Dennett. The Good Girl is told from the perspective of three major players – Mia’s mother Eve, the investigating officer Gabe, and the kidnapper Colin, and in two distinct timelines: the “Before” and “After”. Each story unfolds to reveal a complex and emotional journey.

I read a lot of complaints about the three point-of-view strategy, but I think it worked well to enhance the mystery about what happened to Mia during and after the kidnapping. Not only do we witness Mia’s emotional journey through the eyes of those closest to the case but we are able to witness each characters journey, both before and after the kidnapping. My favorite chapters often involved Colin, who comes off brutish (after all he does kidnap Mia) but transforms into a far more caring character towards the end, even though he maintains his gruff and calculating persona throughout most of the novel.

Probably the only aspect I didn’t like was the twist. Going in I knew (thanks to the numerous comparisons to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train) the direction the story was going in. If you read either then you can probably guess where the story is going, but if anything the twist makes you relive the book and its events with a strange clarity. No spoilers but perhaps the most rewarding aspect was going over the events with the twist and mind and realizing the true nature of certain characters.

Recommended to those who like a good slow-burn thriller/mystery.

[mary]

Picked this book up on a whim because I heard it was resembled Stolen and Gone Girl. What I can conclude is that this story is a bit of a mystery and more of a psychological study of Mia. I did like the multi-character point of view of this novel and this is what kept me reading the book. I was disappointed that Mia never had a chapter in the novel though. The reader mostly learns about her character by hearing what other people have to say about her, which made it difficult to connect with her properly. I wanted to feel her pain and read her thoughts through the traumatic event, but that didn’t happen.

Overall this is a story that involves familial problems, independence, self-discovery, and at its heart a love story. However, I don’t consider this to be a truly suspenseful novel nor a thriller like the books it has been compared to. In addition, it seems like a majority of these thriller novels are based in the Midwest too, so it can be quite easy to draw comparisons. The main reason I gave this a lower rating was because of the incredibly predictable twist at the end. For me it was just an okay read, I did read it quickly and didn’t get much from it.

[Sam@WLABB]

I. Loved. This. Book. I found myself thoroughly absorbed, reading past my bedtime and fighting to read just one more page. I absolutely adore when the author flips between before and after, giving me, the reader, the opportunity to make predictions. This was done quite deftly by Kubica. She also did a superb job of painting the whole picture for me. I could see and feel the situation in almost every scene. I felt an emotional connection to Colin, Mia, Eve and even Gabe. And I have to say, with respect to the ending, I did not see that coming. Great read.

[nightingalereads]

Well, that ripped my heart in half. I don't normally physically cry while reading, but...yeah. There're no words.

[Leah]

When I was offered the chance to review The Good Girl, I was quite excited, as it was being outed as this year’s Gone Girl (which I still haven’t read…). I enjoy books with a psychological edge, having read The Accident by C.L. Taylor this year, as well as Keep Your Friends Close by Paula Daly. However, I must confess that the last two thrillers I’ve read haven’t really been on their a-game. First up was Daughter by Jane Shemilt, which bored me immeasurably, and now The Good Girl. Don’t get me wrong, The Good Girl is not a bad novel at all, but it just felt as if there was something missing.

The Good Girl is quite interesting – going into the novel, I didn’t know quite what to expect as the synopsis is written from the POV of the kidnapper. Then the novel itself is told from the POV of Eve, Mia’s mother; Gabe Hoffman, the detective in charge of the case; and Colin, the kidnapper. I was somewhat surprised that Mia does not narrate any of the novel – she’s the focal point! She’s the one kidnapped, why don’t we hear from her? Surprisingly it was Colin’s narrative that was my favourite, but more on that later. I found Eve’s narrative to be deathly boring – if it hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have left anything out of the book, which was really my issue. I liked Detective Gabe, though he, too, was capable of waffling, but he was a solid narrator.

It was Colin’s narrative that was the best, that was the one I kept racing through other chapters to get back to. His offered the best insight into the entire novel, and it made me see things differently. I’m still not quite sure why he did what he did (I must have missed that bit), but it was interesting and it kept me reading more than the rest of the novel did. The Good Girl had an interesting concept (that would have worked better with just Colin’s narrative, in my opinion anyway) but it did seem like there was something missing. It’s really hard to review the book without spoiling it, or giving too much away. All in all, I was quite disappointed with the book. With the triple POVs when I was only interested in one (which was absolutely fasciating, I’d rather have read 370 pages of that), I was disappointed in the mystery aspect (no mystery, the mystery is solved within 10 pages with regards to Mia’s whereabouts)