Best-selling author Karin Slaughter is known for her fearless thrillers and she delivers yet again with her latest novel, The Good Daughter. Slaughter appeared on The Public Library Podcast to talk about this spellbinding thriller packed with so much psychological suspense, you will be on the edge of your seat until the very last page. As little girls, Charlie and Samantha Quinn’s happy, small town life is torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. You don’t have to wait too long to read about the horrifying tragedy, Slaughter jumps right into it in the prologue! Chapter One dives into Charlie and Samantha 28 years later and you’ll instantly see how the fallout from this one unexpected act of violence affects the girls in their adult lives. When violence returns to their small town yet again, Charlie is plunged into a nightmare bringing her right back into the attack from her childhood. The shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago is about to come out, making The Good Daughter one of the boldest thrillers of the year.
As a seasoned writer, Slaughter is an expert on bringing her characters to life. Her strategy for character development is unique since she thinks about the characters years in advance before she even puts her ideas on paper. She actually thought of the character of Gamma, Samantha and Charlie’s mom, before the story came together. “She’s someone I thought about, and I wanted to talk about how she has such a huge impact on her daughters in very meaningful ways without being front and center in their lives,” Slaughter explained. “ I do that in my work a lot, I talk about how family can shape us and direct ourselves in how things that happen to us when were kids can affect us in very real ways when we’re adults if we don’t deal with them properly.”
Slaughter explained that with her novels, "There's not always a happy ending, but there's a resolution that feels organic to the character, and that the choices they make throughout the book makes sense. I want it to be as realistic as possible for the reader because sometimes there aren’t always happy endings in every story.” Even though this genre can be dark, Slaughter loves it and is definitely an expert in her craft. She got into writing thrillers from her early love of crime novels. There's very few things that can scare Slaughter herself, but Stephen King and Mo Hayder get the job done!
The darkness of the past is very present in this utterly chilling thriller. Karin Slaughter's twists, turns, and suspenseful narrative keeps you hooked from the very first page to the last. If you haven't picked up The Good Daughter yet, what are you waiting for?!