The Quarry Girls - by Jess Lourey (Paperback)

About the Book

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it's not all fun and games. Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can't forget. They've decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears--the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate. Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can't stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger. She also knows she's next.

Book Synopsis

Killers hiding in plain sight. Small-town secrets. A girl who knows too much. From the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline comes a nerve-twisting novel inspired by a shocking true crime.

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it's not all fun and games.

Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can't forget. They've decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears--the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can't stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.

She also knows she's next.

Review Quotes

"[The Quarry Girls is] one of the most anticipated thrillers of the fall season...[The] novel is about innocence lost, the unwritten rules of silence in small towns, what 'broken men' do to others, and what boys growing into men do in packs that they would never do alone. And then there's the courage of one woman who will not allow herself to be killed." --St. Paul Pioneer Press

"Like Unspeakable Things and Bloodline, Jess Lourey's The Quarry Girls is ultimately a morality tale--almost a dark fairy tale except that the plots are rooted in reality and the danger is all too real. The sad fact is that there is no shortage of past crimes to prompt Jess Lourey's creative mind, but readers can rest easy knowing that this author will approach every idea with deep reverence for the victims and a goal of providing a healing and heartfelt journey--for both the characters and their readers--within the pages of some truly exceptional crime fiction." --BOLO Books

"Jess Lourey's new novel The Quarry Girls is a love letter to Gen-Xers and Murderinos everywhere." --The Big Thrill

"The Quarry Girls is true crime told as fiction and most certainly will cause readers to have some sleepless nights." --Bookreporter

"Few authors can blend the genuine fear generated by a sordid tale of true crime with evocative, three-dimensional characters and mesmerizing prose like Jess Lourey. Her fictional stories feel rooted in a world we all know but also fear. The Quarry Girls is a story of secrets gone to seed, and Lourey gives readers her best novel yet--which is quite the accomplishment. Calling it: The Quarry Girls will be one of the best books of the year." --Alex Segura, acclaimed author of Secret Identity, Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, and Miami Midnight

"Jess Lourey once more taps deep into her Midwest roots and childhood fears with The Quarry Girls, an absorbing, true crime-informed thriller narrated in the compelling voice of young drummer Heather Cash as she and her bandmates navigate the treacherous and confusing ground between girlhood and womanhood one simmering and deadly summer. Lourey conveys the edgy, hungry restlessness of teen girls with a touch of Megan Abbott, while steadily intensifying the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small 1977 Minnesota town where darkness snakes below the surface." --Loreth Anne White, Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Patient's Secret

"Jess Lourey is a master of the coming-of-age thriller, and The Quarry Girls may be her best yet--as dark, twisty, and full of secrets as the tunnels that lurk beneath Pantown's deceptively idyllic streets." --Chris Holm, Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind

"Lourey nails the sights, music, and culture of the 1970s through the lens of teenagers in The Quarry Girls. Lourey's skillful plotting illustrates how powerless the girls feel when confronted with the actions of older teens and the town's powerful men." --Oline Cogdill, Sun Sentinel