Good Girl, Bad Girl
“Good Girl, Bad Girl is a gripping and eerie read. You won’t be able to look away.” —Karin Slaughter, #1 international bestselling author
From the bestselling author of The Secrets She Keeps, the writer Stephen King calls “an absolute master…with heart and soul,” a fiendishly clever suspense novel about a dangerous young woman with a special ability to know when someone is lying—and the criminal psychologist who must outwit her to survive.
A girl is discovered hiding in a secret room in the aftermath of a terrible crime. Half-starved and filthy, she won’t tell anyone her name, or her age, or where she came from. Maybe she is twelve, maybe fifteen. She doesn’t appear in any missing persons file, and her DNA can’t be matched to an identity. Six years later, still unidentified, she is living in a secure children’s home with a new name, Evie Cormac. When she initiates a court case demanding the right to be released as an adult, forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven must determine if Evie is ready to go free. But she is unlike anyone he’s ever met—fascinating and dangerous in equal measure. Evie knows when someone is lying, and no one around her is telling the truth.
Meanwhile, Cyrus is called in to investigate the shocking murder of a high school figure-skating champion, Jodie Sheehan, who dies on a lonely footpath close to her home. Pretty and popular, Jodie is portrayed by everyone as the ultimate girl-next-door, but as Cyrus peels back the layers, a secret life emerges—one that Evie Cormac, the girl with no past, knows something about. A man haunted by his own tragic history, Cyrus is caught between the two cases—one girl who needs saving and another who needs justice. What price will he pay for the truth?
Fiendishly clever, swiftly paced, and emotionally explosive, Good Girl, Bad Girl is the perfect thrilling summer read from internationally bestselling author Michael Robotham.
Title: Good Girl, Bad Girl
Author: Michael Robotham
Genres: Thriller / Mystery / Crime
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Scribner (July 23, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1982103604
My Review
A psychological slow-burn thriller with several narratives fueling the plot in perplexing ways revving up its momentum to a satisfying end.
In a close-knit community, a High School figure skater champion, Jodie Sheehan goes missing. Her body is found by in a park, near a bed of water, with traces of sexual assault.
Cyrus Haven, a Forensic Psychologist is called in to help investigate the murder by interviewing plausible subjects as well as the friends and family of the found victim. His thorough investigation leads him to believe that things don't add up and something is being covered up as the police blame a young man to be the murderer.
At the same time, Cyrus is working on the case of "Angel Face", the name given to a girl, Evie Cormac, that was held captive for many years before she was found. Her case at the time made big headlines, and in the last few years, she has been given a new identity while living in a care home. With Evie not being the most cooperative and forthcoming person, Cyrus is aiding in the determination of her release into the real world.
As these two cases play out, there is a third narrative added to the mix, and that is Cyrus's tragic past that has led him to his profession. With his intuitiveness and experience, it makes him an expert in his field whilst OCD tendencies are part of his coping mechanism.
There is something about Evie he discovers, that hits very close to home. As this girl becomes part of his personal life and turns it upside down, Cyrus's cases seem to spin out of control and become intertwined. A circumstance that will put them in grave danger as a blessing in disguise that helps solve the tragic case of the dead figure skater.
***
This novel starts intriguing right away. Evie's character is somewhat haunted and a riddle to solve. As much as I wanted to pay attention to all the interviews that Cyrus held in both cases to figure it all out, I did not come to find a slip up anywhere that could have predicted this outcome.
Cyrus's character was very likable to me yet damaged too. I enjoyed his calm intuition and heightened senses with which he solved the cases. Perhaps at another point in the series, we can find out even more about his tragic past with a direct link and Evie's aid to solve.
Super twisted and eerie, I thought this book was a worthwhile read and I'd give the next one a try.
