ISBN: 1250034582
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 7/7/2015
Format: Other
My Rating: 5 Stars
Chevy Stevens is back with her most powerful, emotional thriller yet— a story of survival…and revenge. Life has never been easy for the three Campbell sisters. Jess, Courtney, and Dani live on a remote ranch in Western Canada where they work hard and try to stay out of the way of their father’s fists.
One night, a fight gets out of hand and the sisters are forced to go on the run, only to get caught in an even worse nightmare when their truck breaks down in a small town. Events spiral out of control and a chance encounter with the wrong people leaves them in a horrific and desperate situation. They are left with no choice but to change their names and create new lives. Eighteen years later, they are still trying to forget what happened that summer when one of the sisters goes missing and they are pulled back into their past. This time there’s nowhere left to run. As much of a thriller as it is a deep exploration of the bonds among sisters,
THOSE GIRLS is an unforgettable portrait of desperation, loyalty, and evil.
My Review
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A long-time fan of Canadian author, Chevy Stevens, my sixth book, and my “go to" author when it comes to riveting suspense thrillers. Her upcoming latest, THOSE GIRLS,will keep you entertained from beginning to end, with this intense, gripping, emotional and powerful page-turner of three sisters' love, loyalty, survival and revenge. Set in rural Littlefield, a small town near the Alberta border, a place without job opportunities, mainly farming or logging since the mill had closed down, pushing men to work in Calgary, a few hours away. The girls’ dad worked three weeks in and one out --typically he would spend most of the off time in a bar, or drinking until his next shift. The three Campbell sisters live with their abusive dad on a ranch, where they work to help pay for their rent, since the bank had foreclosed on their old house. They have had a hard life growing up poor—after their mom died, (truck accident), and their dad lost his job. At the time they ended up in foster homes and was unable to stay together. The foster homes were just as bad, leaving the girls constantly trying to escape more abuse. After five months their dad came back (promising to stay sober). Presently, here they are, barely making ends meet while the girls work on the ranch, having dropped out of school, and hiding out from their abusive dad’s anger—trying to find food and survive. They do not want to be separated or go back into foster care –they are desperate and need to stay clear of social services. As the book opens the dad has arrived home, drunk once again and this time is in full rage. In order to escape, they have to take matters into their own hands when their dad is about to kill their sister — three days later they are on the run. The night the three Campbell sisters ran away, everything changed, including their names. Meet the Campbell Sisters,THOSE GIRLS: Jess (Jamie) is the smart sister. The youngest of three, age fifteen. The one who typically thinks with her head and remains out of trouble. She loves photography. She wants to stay in school, get married, and have a family; however, her dreams do not seem anywhere near realistic. Now, it is about survival. She is forced to do unspeakable acts. Dani (Dallas) The middle sister, age sixteen and the bossy one... She has been angry as long as she can remember. Even before their mother died. Angry at her dad, angry at her mom for not leaving, for always giving her dad another chance. After being slapped around at foster homes, being beaten by her dad, and trying to protect her sisters. She would never be happy, she would never get to marry Corey and have his babies and rock on the porch and laugh. She now is numb and shows no emotion. Courtney (Crystal) is the oldest, age eighteen, pretty, sexy, a wild child and is constantly in trouble. She follows no rules, a free spirit, and acts and thinks later. Currently she is having an affair with a married man and her dad has just received the news. She is highly emotional, impulsive, depressed, and finds herself into trouble with drugs, alcohol, and sex --and you never can predict her next move. She never learns from her mistakes. She has a beautiful voice and has dreamed of moving to Nashville to become a famous singer. That night the abuse was worse, and in order to survive the girls were forced to go on the run, with little money. They want to make it to Vancouver, a larger town, to hide out and start over. They covered their tracks and hit the road, making their way to a small town Cash Creek, where their truck breaks down. The guys (Brian/Gaven) have stopped to help, they are charming and stated they worked at a garage. In order to pay for the repairs, they were told they could find work on a farm. However, out of one fire into another, the three sisters find themselves captured, abducted, and treated like animals once again. How will they escape? From rape, murder, abuse, and torture-these guys, are pure evil and sadistic! When they finally manage to escape they have to establish new names and identities. They know these guys will come looking and will kill them. They are running from not one situation, but two. Just when they are settled in a new town with new lives, the unthinkable happens. Eighteen years later, some new players. Courtney is out of control, risking all their lives. She takes off to get revenge, as she has never forgotten these guys, and one of their own is following her, leading all the girls back to the evil and abuse and the scene of the crime. Now they are forced to re-live their past and try and protect one another from the dangers in Cash Creek, a time when their lives were broken beyond repair. Wow, Chevy always keeps you on-the-edge of your seat with intense twists, turns, and surprises. These poor girls cannot catch a break. One minute you are rooting for them and the next, questioning their actions. More than a suspense crime thriller, THOSE GIRLS plunges into the emotional bonds of three sisters fearlessly protective of one another; a novel of family, desperation, tragedy and love.The novel would make for a chilling suspense movie!
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About the Author
CHEVY STEVENS grew up on a ranch on Vancouver Island and still calls the island home. For most of her adult life she worked in sales, first as a rep for a giftware company and then as a Realtor.
While holding an open house one afternoon, she had a terrifying idea that became the inspiration for Still Missing.Chevy eventually sold her house and left real estate so she could finish the book.
Still Missing went on to become a New York Times bestseller and win the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. Chevy’s books have been optioned for movies and are published in more than thirty countries.
Chevy enjoys writing thrillers that allow her to blend her interest in family dynamics with her love of the west coast lifestyle. When she’s not working on her next book, she’s camping and canoeing with her husband and daughter in the local mountains. Website
