Pretty Girls

As Claire tries to put her life back together after her husband’s funeral, she stumbles upon disturbing videos while going through Paul’s laptop: young women being tortured and murdered by a masked man. One of the victims bears a terrifying resemblance to Anna Kilpatrick, a girl who had only recently gone missing.

While Claire begins to question her entire marriage (and probably her taste in men in general), there is a small glimmer of hope: the perpetrator in the video doesn’t have the three distinctive moles on her husband’s back—so it can’t be Paul… right? When she presents the videos to the police, a detective explains that they are so-called snuff films. Staged recordings for people who find regular S&M porn insufficient. Sure…

At the same time, we get insights into her father’s fate. Claire’s sister Julia disappeared without a trace over 20 years ago, and while the police long ago closed the case (“she probably just ran away”—yeah, right), her father kept writing letters to her until his death. Emotional damage? Check.

Then there’s Lydia. Compared to Claire’s, her life almost seems stable—at least at first glance. She’s a mother, has overcome her drug addiction, and is in a relationship… well, let’s just say it exists. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear: Lydia is Claire’s sister. And their relationship? Let’s put it this way: it’s complicated.

When Lydia once claimed that Paul had assaulted her, the family sided with him. (Yes, I had to put the book down for a moment and take a deep breath at that point.) After Paul’s death, the sisters slowly begin to reconnect—and quite quickly, Claire lets Lydia in on her gruesome discovery. Together, they launch their own little true-crime investigation.

And as any proper thriller demands: it doesn’t stop at a few disturbing videos. Paul’s supposedly burned-down childhood home? Still exists. Under a different name. Completely inconspicuous, of course. When the two search the house, they find all the “equipment” from the videos in the garage. Jackpot… just the absolute wrong kind.

The lowest point: they find footage from the day Julia disappeared. And yes—it’s exactly what you fear. Video material that clearly proves Julia didn’t run away, but was brutally murdered.

And then… Paul suddenly appears in the house. Alive. Not very surprising, in my opinion—but still enough to make me consider throwing my Kindle against the wall.

What follows is a race against time: Paul overpowers Claire and kidnaps Lydia. Since Claire is initially forced by Paul to stay in the house, she decides to search the garage again and comes across raw footage of the videos. And who would have guessed: the killer suddenly has three moles on his back. I had already suspected early on that Paul would play a major role, and his reappearance wasn’t much of a shock—but at this point, my hatred for him only grew stronger, especially since he had previously stood in front of Claire and insisted on his innocence. Men…

However, since Paul was quite young at the time of Julia’s disappearance and wasn’t even in town, there’s only one other suspect left: Paul’s now-deceased father. Because why have one monster when you can have two?

While Paul begins to torture Lydia in the most disgusting ways (yes, this is definitely not light reading), Claire desperately tries to outsmart him. She gets support from her mother—who quietly turns into the MVP of the story. No big questions, no drama, just: “What do I need to do?” Honestly, this woman deserves applause.

The finale takes place in the old house. Claire sets it on fire to lure Paul out—a plan that works, more or less. Instead of killing him outright (which I personally would have found entirely appropriate), she wounds him and first rescues Lydia from the flames. Along the way, she also secures evidence by saving several videotapes. So yes—she can multitask.

In the end, she faces Paul once more and decides against the (in my opinion entirely justified) urge to burn him alive, opting instead for a “relatively” quick death by gunshot. Generous of her… I’m not sure I would have been that merciful.

After everything, the family begins to process their past, bringing at least some truth and closure to other victims.

Conclusion:

I have to admit: this book did nothing good for my feminine rage. I was mostly just angry while reading—angry at how long Paul and his father got away with their crimes, and how many other parties, including the police, were involved or aware. Trust in men is… difficult. Let’s just say: a Paul is definitely not coming into my house again.

Overall, Pretty Girls is a very brutal thriller and delivers exactly what I was looking for in that regard. What I did miss, however, was that big, unexpected twist that completely blows you away. Paul’s return caused a brief moment of surprise, but it was already clear that he would be needed again for the rest of the story.

Nevertheless, the book kept me hooked until the very end, and the tension hardly let up. So if you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller with lots of blood and strong female characters, Pretty Girls might be just right for you.