... excellent ... Lifelong New Yorker Alger describes the atmosphere of the area’s parks and beaches well. She captures the social dynamics of Suffolk’s eastern extremes perfectly. The first-person narrative is appropriately terse—Nell delivers a thorough report—but it occasionally surprises with a gripping depth ... Highly recommended, although perhaps not as a beach read.
Fans of murder mysteries packed with action and plot twists will be satisfied by this edge-of-the-seat adventure ... is a little weak on certain details--the way a deadbolt works, the difference between prostitution and pandering charges, how a field agent might tell a suspect was dead. But its plot drives with such momentum that these details may be overlooked. With violent action and split-second turns, this is not a book to put down easily: plan accordingly. Alger's thriller is emphatically plot-driven, but her characters hold their own ... Nell is a quintessential damaged cop, even if she is FBI...Her personality serves as backbone to the electric plot of Girls Like Us, and the reader trusts that she will follow through to the truth, no matter how much it hurts.
In Cristina Alger's brisk thriller...Nell’s work on the case is smart and efficient, which gives the book a crisp tone and pace. Her final discoveries startle her and the reader ... Readers will hope to savor more of her gimlet-eyed takes in any season.
This fast-paced psychological thriller by Alger will intrigue mystery readers as they shadow Nell’s precarious quest for the truth at all costs, despite the consequences.
Nell carries a palpable sadness and is still haunted by her mother’s murder and her complicated relationship with her father. She has a vulnerable, empathetic core that will pull readers in, and Alger has a feel for small-town dynamics. The tension becomes nearly unbearable as Nell realizes she truly can’t trust anyone. Readers can expect a few genuine surprises, and the light Alger shines on society’s most vulnerable members is an important one ... Melancholy and addictive.
