Friday, August 28, 2015

REVIEW OF Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes: Karin Slaughter



VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR:
blonde hair, BLUE eyes
BY Karin slaughter


  
Fiction / Thriller / Suspense
Date Published: 8/18/2015
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers

A beautiful young girl was walking down the street―when suddenly
Julia Carroll knows that too many stories start that way. Beautiful, intelligent, a nineteen-year-old college freshman, she should be carefree. But instead she is frightened. Because girls are disappearing.
A fellow student, Beatrice Oliver, is missing. A homeless woman called Mona-No-Name is missing. Both taken off the street. Both gone without a trace.
Julia is determined to find out the reasons behind their disappearances. And she doesn't want to be next…
Michael Connelly calls Karin Slaughter "unrivaled among thriller writers." This gripping, unforgettable short story proves why.
And be sure to order Karin's new novel,
Pretty Girls, on sale September 29, 2015.

REVIEW
Can You Ever Be Too Paranoid? Evidently, not!
Julia Carroll finally has an official boyfriend, and losing her virginity has never seemed so attainable. But then a missing coed happens, and Beatrice Oliver’s description matches Julia’s to a T. Nineteen, beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes, is it a mere coincidence that the girls have this much in common? Or is something more sinister afoot? Julia is determined to find out and pitches doing a story on Oliver to her school paper, but her superiors wonder whether covering the details of this one insignificant statistic is even worth the bother. Julia thinks it is, but then she’s taking this disappearance personally. Too personally? That’s what we turn the pages to find out.
Karin Slaughter has a winning way with putting her touch on complex subject matter, and sexual crimes against women are that, but it all works in this smart little twister of a tale. Her choice in making Julia a journalism student is a good one. It allows for plenty of opportunity for venting perspectives on this charged topic.
I especially loved the way Ms. Slaughter uses Julia’s daily schedule to slide in all the times women suppress their instincts about acting on unwelcomed sexual advances. While there are different reasons for not shouting, “Get your filthy hands off me!” the idea that it’s commonplace for females to subjugate what’s in their own best interests sets up an interesting dynamic when juxtapositioned against a sexual assault. For instance, does Julia’s constantly talking herself out of being proactive about implied threats lead to nurturing a submissive attitude? And is a submissive attitude needed when one finds themselves in danger? It’s an extremely clever observation and leads to some pretty awesome layering of emotions and psychology in how a person will react to a given situation.
Yes, there is all that, but rest assured, at its heart, Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes is a fast-paced, downright creepy thriller. And because of the fleshing out of these characters, we are right there with Julia in being suspicious of every acquaintance and situation she encounters. The tension is ratcheted up high and every squeak of a rubber-soled sneaker on a tiled floor will have you jumping. Guaranteed that you’ll have a hard time putting this one down.  

AUTHOR BIO
Karin Slaughter is the #1 internationally bestselling author of more than a dozen novels, including the Will Trent and Grant County series and the instant New York Times bestseller Cop Town. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print around the world.

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