Book Review The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes

Synopsis

“It’s not my fault. It’s yours. You shouldn’t shine. You shouldn’t make me do this.”

THE GIRL WHO WOULDN’T DIE

Kirby is lucky she survived the attack. She is sure there were other victims were less fortunate, but the evidence she finds is … impossible.

HUNTING A KILLER WHO SHOULDN’T EXIST

Harper stalks his shining girls through the years – and cuts the spark out of them. But what if the one that got away came
back for him?

The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes
First published: 2013
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: 4 Stars
Find it/Buy it here: The Shining Girls: A Novel

So where to start with this one? The book is about a time travelling serial killer. When you say it out loud it either sounds silly or fantastic depending on if time travel is your thing. Guess what? It’s mine, even if the outline sounds silly to you, I would recommend you pick up the book and read the first few chapters. You may find yourself hooked.

So without giving away too many spoilers, Harper is man who discovers a house that allows him to travel in time. He then feels compelled to murder a series of girls, who in his own words, shine. He meets them when they are children and then hunts them down years later when they are adults to kill them.

From the start we know Harper is the murderer. We know the names of the shining girls but we don’t know the details of when he will kill them, or how he will choose to link them all together. As the story progresses, we leap around forward and backward in time with Harper as he sets up his kills, and as he discovers that there can exist a place outside of time.

I love the ideas of time in this story and how we are given hints and clues not to guess the murderer, but to connect the victims. It  makes you want to shout at them when you know what is coming, and they remain blissfully unaware.

If you fancy something different, give this a try. You can find it here: The Shining Girls: A Novel