All The Missing Girls

Title: All The Missing Girls
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Thriller
Source: Paperback
Rating: 4 out of 5 paws


Nic hasn't been home in ten years.  Ten years since she left everything behind.  Ten years since her best friend Corrine disappeared.  But when Nic returns home to help with family ties, the past is dug up and another girl has gone missing.  The past comes back to life as a town relives the ordeal from ten years ago to find a connection.  Nic and her family struggle to stay out of the investigation, but every turn leads them right back into it.  Right back to where they were ten years ago.  All eyes are pointed at Nic and her high school boyfriend. Can they figure out what happened to Corinne and Annaleise.  Too many things are a coincidence, too much familiarity.  Will it all end?

The cover is gorgeous and is what originally grew me to the story.  I couldn't take my eyes off it whenever I seen it in the book stores.  Everything about the story hinges on one night ten years at a local fair.  Nic is encouraged by her best friend to climb over a Ferris Wheel and jump down to her boyfriend.  Once on solid ground her brother hits her and everything else spreads into chaos.  Corinne disappears and everyone becomes a suspect.  Afterwards Nic leaves town only to return to help with her ailing father.  The night she arrives, everything is opened all over again.  Another girl has gone missing and no one knows what happened to her.  The last person to talk to her, and the prime suspect is her boyfriend, who happens to be Nic's high school sweetheart.  And everyone's alibi from ten years ago. How crazy is that!!

It took me a few chapters to get into the story, and when I did, it took a few more to get used to the backwards telling of the story.  It starts the night Nic arrives then jumps to 2 weeks since Annaleise goes missing.  At this point it begins to backtrack back to the beginning filling in small details at a time until we get to that fateful night and find out exactly what had happened to the girl.  I found it an interesting way to tell the story, and it is explained a little bit as to why it was done this way.  But it is confusing and difficult to get used to.  It may even turn a few people away from the story.  Hopefully it doesn't because it is a good story.

The characters were interesting enough, and seemed typical of your small town people, where everyone knows everyone's business.  Nothing is private and rumors fly faster than Superman.  At times I found Nic to be reckless in running through the woods at night following shadows, not knowing what was out there. I liked that everyone seemed to have a little something to hide, past and present.  Something they didn't tell others, something that made up the skeletons in the closet. I loved the mystery of the monster in the woods and allows the reader to come up with their own ideas of what the monster in the woods could represent.  The looming past, teenagers having a good time, neighbors spying on each other, one's own fears. It could have been anything and I loved that feel added into the book.

I also like the mystery of the caverns.  They loomed in the background, a dangerous place to be, yet so innocent in being barred.  I kind of wish more was done with the caverns, they seemed to be the perfect thing to add a little more mystery, such as the police finding the lock broken or like signs that someone lived there (maybe a homeless person or something) or was camping leading suspicion to one of the girls hiding in the caves.  I just feels like more could have been done with the caverns, or else why mention them other than to say it was a place some one died or things get lost (perfect to add a different twist to the ending).

I did get lost in it and finished it in about 6 hours or so, I feel I may have even ignored the boyfriend a little bit because I was so lost in the story.  I couldn't go to bed until I found out what happened next.  Miranda flawlessly executed her story-telling skills in this novel, and makes me want to read more from her.  I happily recommend this book to people who like thrillers and suspense novels, but be ware, there storytelling is unique and out of the norm: Beginning, end, middle, beginning, end of sorts.

Where The Lost Girls Go

Laura is a rookie cop trying to show she is capable of doing her job despite her small stature and meek manner.  She obtains her first investigation when a car crashes into a tree and goes up in flames.  Clues point to a homicide, possibly involving the daughter of a famous local author.  As Laura digs for clues and interviews the family she is convinced she knows who the killer is.  But then the identity of the Jane Doe is revealed to be a missing girl, the investigation takes a different path.  How did the missing girl find her way into the Jameson estate and eventually one of their cars?  How did she meet her end and why?  Admist this investigation is another bigger one into the corruption of the police force and how deep does it go.  Why are some officers given special duty, while others are hung out to dry?  Get ready for an action packed novel that will keep you guessing until the very end.


I had the honor of receiving this book from the publisher/author via NetGallery.  I could not have been more excited for the opportunity to read this book.


It starts out with excitement with the fiery car accident and the mysterious driver, but as the story goes on it deeper into a homicide and keeps you guessing at what will happen next.  There seemed to be a lot of premature theories and jumping to conclusions, but I guess that would come from the main character being new to the force, just off her training.  There was another sub-plot about corruption in the force that I think was unnecessary, the story stood well on its own without that added tidbit.  It almost feels a little too overdone - corruption in the force, but the main character and a few secondary ones are working to expose it as they are the only good ones.  I hope there is a bigger story that come from that, but at this point it is still a mystery why that was included. 




There are still a few questions within this story as I got to the end that leaves the book feeling almost unfinished. The moments of Laura expressing feelings for her neighbor felt more like fluff than anything else especially after he "sort of is seeing someone,"  that left me with a let down as there was a build up of possibly them getting together or a huge surprise twist him being the mastermind behind it all, but no.  Again something else that could have been left completely out of the story and it would not have made much of a difference.  I highly enjoyed the story and liked the added touch of "squatters" in the woods that was something different added to the story. 


It was a mixture of predictable and unpredictable, if that makes any sense.  There were parts I was able to figure out while others were a complete surprise.  It held my attention throughout the story, I couldn't wait to find out who was the mastermind behind the murders.  There were a few things that I was surprised wasn't revealed earlier such as the gravesite, I think having someone find it earlier and finding the girls already in it would have added to the story and suspense of who was killing these girls.  I could almost see this plot reflected in a crime drama or movie.


I would highly recommend this book to mystery lovers of all sorts, as well as general fiction, suspense fans.  I think there is a little of something everyone can enjoy in this book.  I give this a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.