Narrator: Stephanie Cannon
Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN: 9781982199050
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 10/29/2024
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
The acclaimed author of the “tour de force” (The New York Times Book Review) Before You Knew My Name returns with a fresh suspense novel about a woman haunted by a serial killer and the ghosts he left behind.
Ruth-Ann Baker is a college dropout, a bartender—and an amateur detective who just can’t stay away from true crime. Nineteen years ago, her childhood friend was murdered by suspected serial killer Ethan Oswald. Still tormented by the case, Ruth can’t help but think of the long-dead Oswald when another young girl goes missing from the same town. And when she uncovers startling new evidence that suggests Oswald did not act alone, she is determined to find his deadly partner in crime.
Embarking on a global investigation, Ruth becomes close to three very different women—one of whom might just hold the key to what happened to the missing girl. And her childhood friend, all those years ago.
From an author who “pushes the boundaries of crime fiction in all the right ways” (Alex Finlay, author of The Night Shift), Leave the Girls Behind is another spine-chilling thriller that will linger long after you finish the last page.
My Review
Internationally bestselling author Jacqueline Bublitz returns with her latest riveting thriller, LEAVE THE GIRLS BEHIND —a woman is traumatized and haunted by a serial killer and the ghosts he left behind.
About...
Nineteen years after the murder of her childhood friend, Ruth-Ann Baker wants to know the truth.
Ruth-Ann is a 26-year-old New York bartender. Back in 2010, she was a 21-year-old college dropout. She had been studying forensics and wanted to become a criminal profiler. But all that changed before the episode.
In 1996, Beth Lovely disappeared from the children's playground across from the high school in Connecticut. Her dead body was found eleven days later buried in a shallow grave in the woods six miles away. She was only seven and a half years old. Her friend.
Ethan Oswald, a 31-year-old popular music teacher, murdered her and was arrested the same day. He also led the choir at the town's largest church. The parents of Beth attended the church.
He has been dead since 2002. So this means he cannot be responsible for the disappearance of another little Hobel girl (Coco Wilson) all these years later, in 2015.
After two decades of wondering, the disappearance of another girl from her hometown sparks Ruth's mission to uncover the killer's unknown partner and three different women. She thinks one of them may hold the answers she is searching for. Ruth intends to find everything she can about the Connecticut cold cases.
My thoughts...
LEAVE THE GIRLS BEHIND cleverly blends psychological, crime, suspense, and thriller with a supernatural element with an amateur detective haunted by murdered girls (Beth and the others).
Ruth is an unreliable narrator and amateur sleuth who embarks on an investigation that takes her worldwide and into the lives of three women with connections to Oswald.
Psychologically rich, dark, and disturbing, the author explores the scars, traumas, and the aftereffects violence leaves on its victims.
Recs...
For fans of true crime and authors Alafair Burke, Megan Collins, J.P. Pomare, Megan Goldin, Hannah Morrissey, Jean Hanff Korelitz, and Katherine Greene.
Thanks to Atria Books for a digital advanced review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Oct 29, 2024
Praise for
Before You Knew My Name
"BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME crackles with life and energy. It is a tour de force of imagination, empathy and righteous fury."
― The New York Times Book Review
"A brave and timely novel which will fuel the debate on women's rights to walk safely through our streets. I raced through the pages, anxious for resolution, yet at the same time not wanting this beautiful writing to finish."
-- Clare Mackintosh, author of I LET YOU GO
"A furiously feminist breath of fresh air."
― Paste
“Unflinching and heartbreaking; powerful and empowering, the story of Alice and Ruby is our story, the story of every woman, everywhere. I know I’ll be thinking about it — and them — for a very long time to come."
-- Carole Johnstone, award-winning author of MIRRORLAND
"BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME will make you cry, make you angry, make you think. Jacqueline Bublitz pushes the boundaries of crime fiction in all the right ways. It’s a deeply moving, deeply original, story that, hands down, is one of the best novels of the year."
-- Alex Finlay, author of THE NIGHT SHIFT
"The most wonderful book. Unusual, beautiful, feminist, gripping, deserves to win prizes. I loved it so much."
-- Marian Keyes, internationally bestselling author of GROWN UPS
"I fell head over heels in love with this heartbreaking, beautiful and hugely important novel. Jacqueline Bublitz's prose is luminous and the up-all-night, just-one-more-page plot is brilliantly clever and original. Everyone should read this book."
-- Rosie Walsh, author of THE MAN WHO DIDN'T CALL
"An astounding debut novel that every woman will feel in their bones. At last, a whodunnit, where the victim is the front and centre of the story. Beautifully written, real, feminist and properly haunting, it deserves all the awards."
-- Lizzy Dent, author of THE SUMMER JOB
"An unputdownable debut - striking, moving, gripping throughout and so sharp on the things that unite us."
-- Elizabeth Kay, author of SEVEN LIES
About the Author
Jacqueline Bublitz is a writer, feminist, and arachnophobe who lives between Melbourne, Australia, and her hometown on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island. She is the author of Before You Knew My Name and Leave the Girls Behind. Find out more at JacquelineBublitz.com.
