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The Good Girl
Cover of The Good Girl
The Good Girl
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Over a million copies sold.
"A twisty, roller coaster ride of a debut. Fans of
Gone Girl will embrace this equally evocative tale." —Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will."
One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.
When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.
An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.
Don't miss Mary Kubica's chilling upcoming novel, She's Not Sorry, where an ICU nurse accidentally uncovers a patient's frightening past...
And look for the new editions of Pretty Baby, Don't You Cry, The Other Mrs. and Every Last Lie featuring brand new covers!
More edge-of-your-seat thrillers by New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica:
  • Pretty Baby
  • Don't You Cry
  • Every Last Lie
  • When the Lights Go Out
  • Local Woman Missing
  • Just The Nicest Couple
  • The Other Mrs.
  • She's not Sorry

  • Over a million copies sold.
    "A twisty, roller coaster ride of a debut. Fans of
    Gone Girl will embrace this equally evocative tale." —Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author
    "I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will."
    One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.
    When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.
    An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.
    Don't miss Mary Kubica's chilling upcoming novel, She's Not Sorry, where an ICU nurse accidentally uncovers a patient's frightening past...
    And look for the new editions of Pretty Baby, Don't You Cry, The Other Mrs. and Every Last Lie featuring brand new covers!
    More edge-of-your-seat thrillers by New York Times bestselling author Mary Kubica:
  • Pretty Baby
  • Don't You Cry
  • Every Last Lie
  • When the Lights Go Out
  • Local Woman Missing
  • Just The Nicest Couple
  • The Other Mrs.
  • She's not Sorry

  • Available formats-
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    Excerpts-
    • From the book

      EVE

      BEFORE

      I'm sitting at the breakfast nook sipping from a mug of cocoa when the phone rings. I'm lost in thought, staring out the back window at the lawn that now, in the throes of an early fall, abounds with leaves. They're dead mostly, some still clinging lifelessly to the trees. It's late afternoon. The sky is overcast, the temperatures doing a nosedive into the forties and fifties. I'm not ready for this, I think, wondering where in the world the time has gone. Seems like just yesterday we were welcoming spring and then, moments later, summer.

      The phone startles me and I'm certain it's a telemarketer, so I don't initially bother to rise from my perch. I relish the last few hours of silence I have before James comes thundering through the front doors and intrudes upon my world, and the last thing I want to do is waste precious minutes on some telemarketer's sales pitch that I'm certain to refuse.

      The irritating noise of the phone stops and then starts again. I answer it for no other reason than to make it stop.

      "Hello?" I ask in a vexed tone, standing now in the center of the kitchen, one hip pressed against the island.

      "Mrs. Dennett?" the woman asks. I consider for a moment telling her that she's got the wrong number, or ending her pitch right there with a simple not interested. "This is she."

      "Mrs. Dennett, this is Ayanna Jackson." I've heard the name before. I've never met her, but she's been a constant in Mia's life for over a year now. How many times have I heard Mia say her name: Ayanna and I did this...Ayanna and I did that.... She is explaining how she knows Mia, how the two of them teach together at the alternative high school in the city. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she says.

      I catch my breath. "Oh, no, Ayanna, I just walked in the door," I lie.

      Mia will be twenty-five in just a month: October 31st. She was born on Halloween and so I assume Ayanna has called about this. She wants to plan a party—a surprise party?—for my daughter.

      "Mrs. Dennett, Mia didn't show up for work today," she says.

      This isn't what I expect to hear. It takes a moment to regroup. "Well, she must be sick," I respond. My first thought is to cover for my daughter; she must have a viable explanation why she didn't go to work or call in her absence. My daughter is a free spirit, yes, but also reliable.

      "You haven't heard from her?"

      "No," I say, but this isn't unusual. We go days, sometimes weeks, without speaking. Since the invention of email, our best form of communication has become passing along trivial forwards.

      "I tried calling her at home but there's no answer."

      "Did you leave a message?"

      "Several."

      "And she hasn't called back?"

      "No."

      I'm listening only halfheartedly to the woman on the other end of the line. I stare out the window, watching the neighbors' children shake a flimsy tree so that the remaining leaves fall down upon them. The children are my clock; when they appear in the backyard I know that it's late afternoon, school is through. When they disappear inside again it's time to start dinner.

      "Her cell phone?"

      "It goes straight to voice mail."

      "Did you—"

      "I left a message."

      "You're certain she didn't call in today?"

      "Administration never heard from her."

      I'm worried that Mia will get in trouble. I'm worried that she will be fired. The fact that she might already be in...
    About the Author-
    • Mary Kubica is a New York Times bestselling author of thrillers including The Good Girl, The Other Mrs., Local Woman Missing and Just the Nicest Couple. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Her novels have been praised as "hypnotic" (People) and "thrilling and illuminating" (L.A. Times). She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and children.
    Reviews-
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from May 12, 2014
      At the outset of Kubica's powerful debut, free-spirited 24-year-old Mia Dennett, an art teacher at an alternative high school and a member of a well-heeled, well-connected Chicago family, goes missing. As puzzling as Mia's presumed kidnapping initially appears, things turn infinitely stranger after her eventual return, seemingly with no memory of what happened to her or, indeed, of her identity as Mia. Key characters share the narrative in chapters labeled either "Before" or "After," allowing the reader to join shattered mother Eve and sympathetic Det. Gabe Hoffman on their treacherous journey to solve the mystery and truly save Mia. Almost nothing turns out as expected, which, along with the novel's structure and deep Midwestern roots, will encourage comparisons to Gone Girl. Unlike that dazzling duel between what prove to be a pair of sociopaths, this Girl has heart—which makes it all the more devastating when the author breaks it. Agent: Rachael Dillon Fried, Greenburger Associates.

    • Library Journal

      May 15, 2014

      Mia, the daughter of a prominent judge, has vanished. Her mother and a detective, working together, do everything possible to find her. When she is eventually recovered, Mia remembers little of what happened to her. She calls herself Chloe instead of Mia. Is she suffering amnesia as a result of post-traumatic stress disorder? So, what did happen? Three main characters narrate their versions of the story, from before and after. One narrator, the kidnapper who was hired to seize Mia as part of an extortion plot, justifies his actions in hiding Mia as protecting her. Kubica's carefully constructed, character-driven plot propels the reader through a kidnapping, a recovery, and some difficult family dynamics. VERDICT Similar in tone to William Landay's acclaimed Defending Jacob, this excellent debut is compulsively readable and highly recommended for anyone who loves a mystery, a suspense tale, or a psychological puzzle. This could also be recommended for those who enjoy suspense, but don't care for graphic depictions of violence or sexual intimacy: these elements are mentioned, but not detailed. [Previewed in Kristi Chadwick's Mystery Spotlight feature, "Pushing Boundaries," LJ 4/15/14.--Ed.]--Elizabeth Masterson, Mecklenburg Cty. Jail Lib., Charlotte, NC

      Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author "A twisty, roller coaster ride of a debut. Fans of Gone Girl will embrace this equally evocative tale."
    • Publishers Weekly, starred review "Kubica's powerful debut...will encourage comparisons to Gone Girl."
    • Heather Gudenkauf, bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and Little Mercies "Psychologically rich and pulse pounding, The Good Girl had me hooked from the very first sentence and didn't let go until the final word."
    • The Columbus Dispatch "[Kubica's] masterful handling of plot makes The Good Girl hard to put down."
    • Florida Times-Union "The Good Girl has everything going for it. A fresh new style...the denouement will stun. I look forward to Kubica's next novel."
    • Chicago Tribune, Printer's Row "A cleverly constructed suspense thriller."
    • Minneapolis Star Tribune "The Good Girl provides a very good mystery."
    • Chicago Book Review "Mary Kubica's The Good Girl will surely captivate."
    • Huffington Post "There are lots of twists and turns in this novel, but I really didn't see the last one coming. Its comparisons to Gone Girl and The Silent Wife are deserved."
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      MIRA Books
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