The Shining Girls

Hardcover, 298 pages

English language

Published April 15, 2013 by Umuzi.

ISBN:: 978-1-4152-0397-2

(6 reviews)

"A time-traveling serial killer is impossible to trace-- until one of his victims survives. In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back. Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery"--Publisher's web site.

9 editions

patchworkbunny reviewed Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Review of 'Shining Girls' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Chicago 1931: Harper Curtis is set on a path of murder when he walks into the House. A house that calls out to him to kill the girls who shine. In 1992 Kirby Mazrachi starts an internship at the Chicago Sun-Times, shadowing the man who covered her attempted murder in 1989. Dan now works on the sports section, a subject Kirby has no interest in, but the job lets her get close to the files that could lead her to the man who tried to kill her.

It’s an interesting take on a time-slip novel; for it is not just the reader that is going back in forth in time, but a character too. Chicago’s history from 1931 to 1993 is shown through the short lives of the shining girls; their jobs, surroundings and the objects Harper takes. For a story with an element of time travel, I loved that …

Chicago 1931: Harper Curtis is set on a path of murder when he walks into the House. A house that calls out to him to kill the girls who shine. In 1992 Kirby Mazrachi starts an internship at the Chicago Sun-Times, shadowing the man who covered her attempted murder in 1989. Dan now works on the sports section, a subject Kirby has no interest in, but the job lets her get close to the files that could lead her to the man who tried to kill her.

It’s an interesting take on a time-slip novel; for it is not just the reader that is going back in forth in time, but a character too. Chicago’s history from 1931 to 1993 is shown through the short lives of the shining girls; their jobs, surroundings and the objects Harper takes. For a story with an element of time travel, I loved that it didn’t go into the future. There is a vintage feel to it and the 90s setting feels more natural for a newspaper investigation, reminding me of the cases where newspapers were at the forefront. The house, with its wall of shimmering objects interconnecting the murdered girls, is creepy and feels like a controlling presence.

The description of Kirby’s attack is a powerful piece of writing. Her awareness coupled with the horror, make it difficult reading but will stick with you long after. And despite everything, it is heartbreaking that her first thoughts are to the treatment of her wonderful, loyal dog. The dogs get me every time.

The Shining Girls is a genre defying novel; something we are starting to see a lot more of these days and that can only be a good thing. It is solidly crime but with an SFF element, weaving through periods in recent history as well as being a gripping thriller.