I’m starting to really get into my thrillers. I think previously I wasn’t appreciating the connecting plot and the interweaving stories that come with the genre. But as I’ve read more and taken more care to understand them, I’ve really began to appreciate it. The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas is another thriller that absolutely nails it for me with a generous, intelligent story and a cast of characters that do just enough to make me care.
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The Girls Who Disappeared tells the story of an event that happened 20 years ago and how a reporter has been asked to record a podcast of the event and see if she can find out more of what happened by interviewing the town residents.
The town itself is very small so it doesn’t take her long to get herself acquainted and she in fact finds herself more involved than she hoped she would be.
The Girls Who Disappeared plot – 4.25/5
As with a lot of thrillers, The Girls Who Disappeared focuses on a building up its pacing throughout the book. Things start off quickly and then slowly you’re drip-fed clues and more excting plot moments until the final 50 pages or so where you’re being dragged at a real pace through twists, reveals and more.
The Girls Who Disappeared really impressed me as sometimes in thrillers it feels like the author tacks on the ending to a book where they’re never really sure where it was going. However, it definitely seems like Douglas knew how she wanted this to end up from the start and slowly led us there with the rest of the story.
Douglas does a great job in The Girls Who Disappeared of weaving two plots into one and creating a thriller that isn’t predictable at all.
The Girls Who Disappeared characters – 4.25/5
Douglas manages to incorporate a couple of different storylines into The Girls Who Disappeared and manages this has quite a selection of characters to involve in the story.
None of the characters are particularly stand out but they’re still good enough to cause you to become suspicious of them at the right time and to help you remember who is who. When personalities aren’t distinct enough in a book, you can often find yourself losing track of who’s who and then this can cause you to lose interest. Luckily this isn’t the case in this one.
Jenna Halliday is our main character and I became quite the fan of her. I was routing for her relationships with people, she was smart enough that she didn’t annoy me by making poor decisions and in fact I think she’s someone I’d happily read a sequel to.
The Girls Who Disappeared final rating – 4.25/5
The Girls Who Disappeared really impressed me. An interesting setting, some likeable characters and a plot that kept me deeply interested resulted in a thriller I’ll definitely go around recommending to people. I usually start my thriller reviews by stating that I’m not the biggest thriller fan but I’ve read a great selection recently and The Girls Who Disappeared is another in the genre that’s genuinely impressed me. I’m always looking for new authors who are “must buys” and after I enjoyed The Couple at No. 9 by her too, I feel Claire Douglas may be added to this list.
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