#BookReview: GIRLS LIKE US by Cristina Alger @cristinaalger @MulhollandUK

Publication: 11th July 2019 – Mulholland Books

FBI Agent Nell Flynn is about to work the most personal case of her life.

When her father Martin dies in a motorcycle accident, Nell returns home to Long Island for the first time in a decade.

Martin, a homicide detective, left one piece of unfinished business. He was investigating the murders of two undocumented Latina girls. Now his partner wants Nell’s help to find the killer.

But Nell soon realises that Martin should be the prime suspect, and that his friends on the force are covering for him.

With no idea who she can trust, Nell also starts to question events that took place when she was a child – when her own mother was murdered. Could her father really be a killer?

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GIRLS LIKE US is one of these novels that I pick up because I find the blurb intriguing and then it engrosses me so much that I don’t put it down until I finish reading. It’s a domestic thriller, fast-paced and full of suspense, keeping you always on the alert.

Nell Flynn is an FBI agent who had it rough in the last months. First she was injured during an arrest and now she is back in her childhood home, where she hasn’t been for the last ten years, to attend to her father’s funeral. She is supposed to organize her father’s estate and then go back to Washington DC, but she finds herself involved in the murder of a young woman. This brutal homicide seems linked to another one her father was investigating before dying and it leads Nell to a ring of prostitution and human trafficking in the area. However, the more Nell investigates the more her father’s involvement becomes suspicious. Did he have anything to do with the girls’ murder? And did he really die in a motorcycle accident?

The novel really captivated me. There is the story of young prostitutes being killed which is dark and disturbing, but there is also the story of a woman and her complicated relationship with her father. Her flashbacks introduce us to an ex-marine, alcoholic, a bit abusive and, for the last ten years, Nell and her father have barely talked to each other. His possible involvement in the murders lead Nell to wonder about her mother’s murder opening up the novel to more twists and suspense.

Nell is quite an interesting character. She is likable, super-smart, a brilliant FBI agent, she acts rough, but she also shows her emotion and her pain. She is haunted by her past and by her complicated relationship with her father, but she keeps always her head on the job.

As the novel ends with a few unanswered questions, I really hope it’s going to be a series and that soon there is going to be another novel featuring Nell Flynn. If you are looking for a fresh and thrilling novel that keeps the tension always high, then GIRLS LIKE US is the right read for you.

A huge thank you to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of the novel.