The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes was the 175th official Sword and Laser Book Club selection.
Reading Period: January 1, 2024 to January 31, 2024
How/Why was this book chosen: Tom: "During one of our episodes this month Lauren Beukes name came up and not only did we learn how to properly pronounce her last name but realized we had not read anything by her! Mark suggested we read Bridge so I brought that idea to the Discord and Tamahome took it to Goodreads.
OK, so back to the selection. There were a lot of suggestions and opinions all across the spectrum but int he end it seemed like Mark's original selection, Bridge was up against what appears to be Beukes' most well-known work The Shining Girls. And the latter was also made into an Apple TV+ series starring Elisabeth Moss.
So I decided to pick The Shining Girls to avoid the pitfall of having not read the most well -known work and realizing that maybe our exposure to Beukes wasn't the most representative. "
Goodreads Group Discussion of The Shining Girls
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes[]
The girl who wouldn't die hunts the killer who shouldn't exist.
"The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own."
Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.
Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens onto other times.
At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable—until one of his victims survives.
Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth. . . .
The Shining Girls is a masterful twist on the serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing heroine in pursuit of a deadly criminal.