Book Review: The Silent Girls

The Silent Girls

By: Eric Rickstad

Published By: Witness Impulse

Publication Date: November 25, 2014

Page Count: 416

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: Kindly Provided by Publisher

Audience: Adult - Mystery

Rath was once a police detective but turned in his badge to become a private investigator so he could raise his daughter. Now she's off to college and he's again been called in to help the police with the disappearance of Mandy, a 16 year old girl emancipated teenager. 

 While investigating her disappearance, the police are lead to the discovery of several other disappearances that may possibly be linked to Mandy. Rath and the members of Canaan, Vermont's small police department must try to find a link to these grizzly murders before anyone else disappears. 

This is my first Eric Rickstad novel. The Silent Girls was well written and it kept my attention. I was anxious to see how the mystery played out in the end. There were lots of twists and turns in the book, including a shocking and disturbing ending. I did not see that one coming at all! 

 Rath's character was great. I loved his dedication to his daughter and his profession. The members of the police force weren't all that impressive. I originally thought Sonja might have some promise, but she kind of dropped out of the storyline after the first 2/3 of the book. 

 My biggest issue with the book was that each time a disappearance seemed to have been solved, there seemed to be more questions than answers. It eventually felt like the last few chapters were just tying up loose ends. I usually love a great mystery novel. While I enjoyed The Silent Girls, there were a just few too many mysteries contained in this one for me to rate it more than 3 birdies. 

Content: Violence, language

Summary:

With the dead of a bitter Vermont winter closing in, evil is alive and well …

Frank Rath thought he was done with murder when he turned in his detective's badge to become a private investigator and raise a daughter alone. Then the police in his remote rural community of Canaan find an '89 Monte Carlo abandoned by the side of the road, and the beautiful teenage girl who owned the car seems to have disappeared without a trace.

Soon Rath's investigation brings him face-to-face with the darkest abominations of the human soul.

With the consequences of his violent and painful past plaguing him, and young women with secrets vanishing one by one, he discovers once again that even in the smallest towns on the map, evil lurks everywhere-and no one is safe.

Morally complex, seething with wickedness and mystery, and rich in gritty atmosphere and electrifying plot turns, The Silent Girls marks the return of critically acclaimed author Eric Rickstad. Readers of Ian Rankin, Jo Nesbø, and Greg Iles will love this book and find themselves breathless at the incendiary, ambitious, and unforgettable story.