"The Girl Who Lived" by Christopher Greyson

The Girl Who Lived by Christopher Greyson

Warning: spoiler alert!

Small towns. It’s great when you are in a bind and because everyone knows you they help out. However, when everyone knows your history, it’s not so great. That’s how “The Girl Who Lived” plays out. Even before Faith returns to her hometown, everyone knows. Everyone she runs into knows her past and exactly who she is. She is the girl who lived. The girl who survived a horrific crime when four others didn’t.

I wish I could say I was a fan of this book, but I just wasn’t. The premise was great and I was very interested after reading the synopsis. However, it mostly just annoyed me.

First, the resolution of the story had so many twists and turns, I felt like I was on a tilt-a-whirl that was out of control. I enjoy a novel with lots of twists and turns that all click into place at the end, but not just for the sake of confusing the reader. That is how this book felt to me.

Second, I find it hard to believe that Beverly lived believing that Faith and her father were a “mistake” her entire life and never felt it.  I would think that would have been hard for Beverly to hide and that Faith would have felt that and the book would have been full of examples of Beverly loving Kim, Faith’s sister, more and treating her better.

Third, I find it hard to believe that Beverly did not enact revenge against Hunter and Woods for killing her “precious” Kim too, which was never part of the plan. Kim was her baby with the man she truly loved.

Additionally, the spouse/parent is always the first suspect. Did nothing turn up during the initial investigation to point the finger at Beverly? It seems like Faith’s father was found guilty far too easily and that no one, including Kim, thought that two people might be involved in the initial murder. The police did not investigate enough to find out that Kim’s father did not have Fabry disease and could not be Kim’s father.

I did love Mrs. Henderson’s character. Was she crazy, physic, or communicating with her dead son? What the heck was going on with her? I liked how that part of the story played out.

Publication Date: November 4, 2017

Genre:  Thriller, suspense, mystery, crime, conspiracy

Cover:  OK