What do you think?
Rate this book
The Girls Before
Not yet published
Expected 24 Feb 26From the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods, No One Can Know, and A Killing Cold, a new novel about a search & rescue expert, a kidnapped woman, and the lost girls who haunt them both.
There is a girl in a basement.
The door has stopped opening.
The light is gone.
Stranger is trapped in the dark, with only her imagination and the scribbles on the wall left by long-dead girls to keep her company. Nearly out of food and water, she makes one last attempt to escape. But if the door opens at last, will it mean salvation, or only the beginning of her fight to survive?
Audrey is a search and rescue expert who never stopped looking for her ex-best friend, Janie, who disappeared when they were teenagers. Janie used to love the local legend of a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but Audrey knows now that for every one saved, there’s always another one lost. When she stumbles upon evidence in the forest that a teenage runaway might have actually been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most prominent family, she will have to dig through decades of secrets to reveal the biggest one of all: what happened to the girls before.
There is a girl in a basement.
The door has stopped opening.
The light is gone.
Stranger is trapped in the dark, with only her imagination and the scribbles on the wall left by long-dead girls to keep her company. Nearly out of food and water, she makes one last attempt to escape. But if the door opens at last, will it mean salvation, or only the beginning of her fight to survive?
Audrey is a search and rescue expert who never stopped looking for her ex-best friend, Janie, who disappeared when they were teenagers. Janie used to love the local legend of a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but Audrey knows now that for every one saved, there’s always another one lost. When she stumbles upon evidence in the forest that a teenage runaway might have actually been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most prominent family, she will have to dig through decades of secrets to reveal the biggest one of all: what happened to the girls before.
320 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication February 24, 2026
20185 people want to read
About the author
Kate Alice Marshall
20 books5,849 followersKate Alice Marshall is the author of thrillers and horror for all ages. Her YA and Middle grade books include I AM STILL ALIVE, RULES FOR VANISHING, and THIRTEENS. Her adult thrillers include WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS and NO ONE CAN KNOW.
She lives outside of Seattle with her husband, two dogs named Vonnegut and Octavia, and two kids. They all conspire to keep her on her toes.
She lives outside of Seattle with her husband, two dogs named Vonnegut and Octavia, and two kids. They all conspire to keep her on her toes.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
November 5, 2025
Kate Alice Marshall is an auto-read author for me. Period. If she writes it, I’m reading it. I was absolutely thrilled to get this one! It also features a dog you love.
There is a girl in a basement. The door has stopped opening. Will she ever get out?
Audrey volunteers with the search and rescue team in her free time. She has become quite obsessed with it. Her obsession started when her best friend in high school disappeared and never returned.
I will say that I have shied away from woman held captive tropes. They are, at times, a bit descriptive in abuse. I’m pleased to tell you that none of those things are mentioned here! So if that is something that you have stayed away from, know that this is safe to read!
This story had so many twists that I might have whiplash lol. I had to go back and reread a part towards the ending, but I finally figured it out. Lol.
I highly enjoyed this one, and her loyal fans are sure to love it too! My kitten, Rowan, couldn’t stop chewing on it…. So it’s Rowan approved 🤣.
Add this to your TBR and pre-order your copy now!
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date- 2/26
Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy!
There is a girl in a basement. The door has stopped opening. Will she ever get out?
Audrey volunteers with the search and rescue team in her free time. She has become quite obsessed with it. Her obsession started when her best friend in high school disappeared and never returned.
I will say that I have shied away from woman held captive tropes. They are, at times, a bit descriptive in abuse. I’m pleased to tell you that none of those things are mentioned here! So if that is something that you have stayed away from, know that this is safe to read!
This story had so many twists that I might have whiplash lol. I had to go back and reread a part towards the ending, but I finally figured it out. Lol.
I highly enjoyed this one, and her loyal fans are sure to love it too! My kitten, Rowan, couldn’t stop chewing on it…. So it’s Rowan approved 🤣.
Add this to your TBR and pre-order your copy now!
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date- 2/26
Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy!
September 10, 2025
Wow.. just Wow! This is one of those books that will not leave your hands. And if you have to put it down, you won’t stop thinking about it. It’s dark, tense, emotionally charged and wonderfully suspenseful. Told in alternating POVs with characters that are hard not to like. Especially Dev and Barry. For those who have read the book, am I right? If you haven’t yet, you’ll see what I mean.
Kate Alice Marshall is at the top of her game. I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and Flat Iron Books: Pine & Cedar for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 5, 2025
Talk about long buried secrets…the secrets revealed in The Girls Before will definitely take you by surprise. The book starts out as a slow burn to pique your curiosity about what Audrey is going to do and to get you invested in what is going to happen to the girl below. A fabulous mystery and a story of survival, family and ambition, and how your past (and “what ifs “) can totally take over your life. Another great book by Kate Alice Marshall.
July 24, 2025
THE GIRLS BEFORE by Kate Alice Marshall might be her best work yet.
The story starts off alternating between Above // Below. In the Above chapters, we get the perspective of Audrey, a search and rescue expert who has never stopped looking for her ex-best friend. In the Below chapters, we learn that a girl is trapped in a basement with only scribbles on the wall to keep her company, left behind from long-dead girls.
The first half of the book is a slower-burn. I was very curious about Audrey's perspective and her role in the story, but I kept finding myself wanting to get back to the Below chapters.
Once the timeline switched about halfway through to Before // After, I was utterly captivated and could not put this book down. The slow-burn start was necessary to the backstory and when I finished this book, I was insanely impressed by Kate Alice Marshall's plotting and storytelling.
The story starts off alternating between Above // Below. In the Above chapters, we get the perspective of Audrey, a search and rescue expert who has never stopped looking for her ex-best friend. In the Below chapters, we learn that a girl is trapped in a basement with only scribbles on the wall to keep her company, left behind from long-dead girls.
The first half of the book is a slower-burn. I was very curious about Audrey's perspective and her role in the story, but I kept finding myself wanting to get back to the Below chapters.
Once the timeline switched about halfway through to Before // After, I was utterly captivated and could not put this book down. The slow-burn start was necessary to the backstory and when I finished this book, I was insanely impressed by Kate Alice Marshall's plotting and storytelling.
November 11, 2025
I definitely prefer the author’s other books. This was way too slow and honestly did not care for the story or the characters.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.
May 28, 2025
The Girls Before was creepy, intense, and addictive! I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I loved how the story wove together mystery and survival. Kate Alice Marshall does an amazing job keeping you guessing with all of the suspense and the dual POV. If you want eerie woods vibes and long buried secrets, this book is definitely worth reading.
December 8, 2025
Thanks to Goodreads and Flatiron Books for the Advanced Reader’s Copy! I’ve read two other books by Kate Alice Marshall, so I was thrilled to win a giveaway for her latest. This book was fantastic. I absolutely couldn’t put it down. I was so invested in the characters and the mystery. Even when I thought I’d figured out a twist, it kept me second guessing. The alternating POV works so well.
October 11, 2025
Their plots have virtually nothing in common, but if you like the movie Dogville, I think you’ll appreciate this book. More on that later. But it’s one of my favorite films, which hopefully tells you what I think of this book.
October 27, 2025
This was a slow burn thriller. It wasnt my favorite by her but I still enjoyed the story. I like stories that involve missing people and esp when you do get the POV of that missing person and them being kidnapped and stuck in a house with no way out. You definitely will be guessing the whole way through the book.
December 4, 2025
This book was amazing and so hard to put down. There is so much suspense and mystery in each chapter and as the book goes on, we get different chapters from different narrators and also a timeline jump which made things easier to understand. I was on edge worrying as Audrey tries to solve the mystery of the missing girls and puts herself in danger numerous times. The build up in the book makes it hard to trust anyone, so I really had no idea how it could end until I actually got there. This book had the perfect mix of suspense and character building to keep me on my toes the entire way through. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
September 18, 2025
Audrey has been compelled to search for missing girls ever since her best friend disappeared years ago; and she never noticed.
Now it’s her mission in life, almost a compulsion, to search for the missing. She has a sort of sixth sense when it comes to finding people, and because of her success with it, her friends in SAR call her Lucky.
When she stumbles upon evidence that leaves her to believe a local girl didn’t run away, but was taken, she can’t let it go. But digging into her disappearance puts her in danger and just might uncover secrets that some are desperate to keep hidden…
We bounce back and forth between Audrey and a girl who is trapped in a dark room. The door stops opening. She’s running out of food and water and desperate to escape. Her chapters were urgent, gut wrenching, and I was constantly wondering who she was. Was she Audrey’s friend who went missing, the most recent girl presumed to be a runaway, or someone else?
Threaded through this horrific story of girls long forgotten and left behind is hope; and that’s what makes this book so fantastic. There were many moments in Audrey’s internal dialogue that spoke to me on a deeper level and because of that this book became even more special to me.
What solidified this as a 5 star read for me was the ending. It was utterly unique and I loved it!
Thank you SO much Flatiron for my arc!
Now it’s her mission in life, almost a compulsion, to search for the missing. She has a sort of sixth sense when it comes to finding people, and because of her success with it, her friends in SAR call her Lucky.
When she stumbles upon evidence that leaves her to believe a local girl didn’t run away, but was taken, she can’t let it go. But digging into her disappearance puts her in danger and just might uncover secrets that some are desperate to keep hidden…
We bounce back and forth between Audrey and a girl who is trapped in a dark room. The door stops opening. She’s running out of food and water and desperate to escape. Her chapters were urgent, gut wrenching, and I was constantly wondering who she was. Was she Audrey’s friend who went missing, the most recent girl presumed to be a runaway, or someone else?
Threaded through this horrific story of girls long forgotten and left behind is hope; and that’s what makes this book so fantastic. There were many moments in Audrey’s internal dialogue that spoke to me on a deeper level and because of that this book became even more special to me.
What solidified this as a 5 star read for me was the ending. It was utterly unique and I loved it!
Thank you SO much Flatiron for my arc!
August 9, 2025
GOD I love a thriller that keeps me guessing til the end and this book DID THAT! I haven’t read a thriller that was a full sprint from start to finish IN A LONG TIME! If you want a thriller that will have you pacing the floor of your house and up til 3am flying through the pages, this one is for you.
A dual POV story between a woman who rescues missing people and a girl who has been kidnapped it is EVERYTHING you could want and more. Our main character’s best friend went missing over a decade ago and when a new girl goes missing who is eerily similar to her friend, she can’t help but become obsessed with the case. However what she uncovers isn’t what she expected at all.
A story of lies, deceit, terror, and an urban legend that haunts the town, this book will keep you guessing until the very end. While I predicted one aspect of the story, I couldn’t have come CLOSE to calling the other plot twists in the book. It is truly something to behold.
Please preorder this if you haven’t already. Kate deserves all the hype in the world, she is truly a master at her craft.
A dual POV story between a woman who rescues missing people and a girl who has been kidnapped it is EVERYTHING you could want and more. Our main character’s best friend went missing over a decade ago and when a new girl goes missing who is eerily similar to her friend, she can’t help but become obsessed with the case. However what she uncovers isn’t what she expected at all.
A story of lies, deceit, terror, and an urban legend that haunts the town, this book will keep you guessing until the very end. While I predicted one aspect of the story, I couldn’t have come CLOSE to calling the other plot twists in the book. It is truly something to behold.
Please preorder this if you haven’t already. Kate deserves all the hype in the world, she is truly a master at her craft.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
WOW, what a page-turner! If GoodReads had half-stars, I would give this a 4.5.
I will admit, the beginning of this book was slow and took a little while to get into. There were a lot of names and I had a hard time tracking who was who. But around 100 pages in, it got really intense and interesting and I could not put it down. I read the last 200 pages in 2 sittings. I LOVE the way the chapters in each section were divided- you slowly get to piece apart the story from different points of view and different places and time.
Nothing is better than a psychological thriller that ends with such a good plot twist that you immediately want to re-read the whole thing just to see how the ending colors the rest of the book.
I HIGHLY recommend this book!
I will admit, the beginning of this book was slow and took a little while to get into. There were a lot of names and I had a hard time tracking who was who. But around 100 pages in, it got really intense and interesting and I could not put it down. I read the last 200 pages in 2 sittings. I LOVE the way the chapters in each section were divided- you slowly get to piece apart the story from different points of view and different places and time.
Nothing is better than a psychological thriller that ends with such a good plot twist that you immediately want to re-read the whole thing just to see how the ending colors the rest of the book.
I HIGHLY recommend this book!
August 10, 2025
3.5 - it started off fairly slow, but it definitely got better as you get into it. There were a few pieces I found a bit confusing (it took a minute to get used to the “above/below,” which may just be my brain) but otherwise the story is intriguing and executed well. but if you ask me if I explain the plot to you after today? Perhaps not
July 16, 2025
Wow. This is an excellent mystery/thriller that kept me guessing for so long! The story is intense and the feeling never stops. This is a must read for mystery fans. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy.
November 24, 2025
rtc for blog
Thank you to Edelweiss for my earc.
Thank you to Edelweiss for my earc.
October 27, 2025
This book had me hooked from the beginning! I have enjoyed this author before and liked the books and this one is done so well too! I think it's best to go into it blind and just enjoy the multiple perspectives and how the story unfolds! Thank you to Flatiron books for an early copy of the book!
October 7, 2025
Publisher asked for review to be published closer to publication date of book.
October 12, 2025
This is an interesting read, more thriller than mystery. If you are someone who is concerned by the topic and what may have happened to these girls while in captivity, the author is very careful. Things are alluded to, not given to you in descriptive detail, which is a little easier to handle in a book sometimes.
The story flows well and is easily finished in a couple of days. There are a couple of typos that will hopefully be handled prior to publication since I am reading an advanced readers copy.
Now, there are a couple of twists that I figured out pretty early. But that could just be because I read so many thrillers. I would have liked a little more insight to explain some of the decisions that were made after the discoveries of who the perpetrator was and why things were handled in the way they were. Trying to say that in a way that doesn't give anything away. :) All in all, its a decent story and I would definitely read more by the author at a later date.
**An Advanced Readers copy of this book was provided by the publisher n exchange for an honest review.
The story flows well and is easily finished in a couple of days. There are a couple of typos that will hopefully be handled prior to publication since I am reading an advanced readers copy.
Now, there are a couple of twists that I figured out pretty early. But that could just be because I read so many thrillers. I would have liked a little more insight to explain some of the decisions that were made after the discoveries of who the perpetrator was and why things were handled in the way they were. Trying to say that in a way that doesn't give anything away. :) All in all, its a decent story and I would definitely read more by the author at a later date.
**An Advanced Readers copy of this book was provided by the publisher n exchange for an honest review.
November 16, 2025
I was sent this book as an ARC & WOW. Just wow. This book is a dual POV from a woman named Audrey and the Stranger that is locked away somewhere. The chapters go from above, to below, to before, and after. Not for a second did I know where this was headed. This book was a wild ride. I finished it in one day. Definitely worth an add to your TBR if you like a good psychological thriller.
September 9, 2025
The Girls Before is a crazy psychological thriller with a dual timeline alternating between “above” and “below” aspects, including two main females, a search & rescue expert, and a kidnapped woman, and all the lost girls who haunt them both.
While Audrey is trying to find the missing girls, Stranger is trying to escape. So many crazy twists in this story to keep your heart racing!
I DEVOURED this highly addictive book. I am not sure anyone who starts this book will be able to put it down. Something about a small town, a “powerful family”, secrets and kidnapping, that really sucks me in! The twists and answers at the end bring the best finale!
Have always been a fan of Kate Alice Marshall, dare I say this is her best yet? 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
While Audrey is trying to find the missing girls, Stranger is trying to escape. So many crazy twists in this story to keep your heart racing!
I DEVOURED this highly addictive book. I am not sure anyone who starts this book will be able to put it down. Something about a small town, a “powerful family”, secrets and kidnapping, that really sucks me in! The twists and answers at the end bring the best finale!
Have always been a fan of Kate Alice Marshall, dare I say this is her best yet? 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
June 14, 2025
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭? 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.
No one writes this brand of thriller quite like Kate Alice Marshall. Unsettling, uncomfortable, steeped in mythology and local folklore, featuring lost girls and the woods who promise to keep their secrets.
Told in alternative points of view, Above and Below, this is first the story of the girl below, held captive in a basement with the regular sound of the door opening filling her with a mixture of terror and relief. She's only referred to as Stranger, and she bides her time by talking to the dead girls whose scribbles decorate the wall. But the door has stopped opening, and she's nearly out of food and water.
The other half of the story is Audrey, a high school counselor who volunteers as a seasoned search and rescue expert. Her captivity is not as confining as Stranger's, but she too is a prisoner of guilt. Her ex-best friend Janie disappeared when they were teenagers, and Audrey has lingering regrets about Janie's last visit to her.
What makes this story so immersive is the atmosphere the author creates. The local folklore of Jenny Red Hands is created as an almost small-town Medusa. The lore says she's a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but once you delve deeper into her mythology, she's not as benevolent as she seems. And when Audrey finds out that a missing girl at the high school where she works may have been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most eminent family, she will be powerless to say no to the voice that urges her to find out what happened to the girls before.
Tense, atmospheric, and deeply unsettling, this book will have you questioning everything you know about memory, human decency, and the will to survive. Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this incredible early read. Look for this one February 24, 2026.
No one writes this brand of thriller quite like Kate Alice Marshall. Unsettling, uncomfortable, steeped in mythology and local folklore, featuring lost girls and the woods who promise to keep their secrets.
Told in alternative points of view, Above and Below, this is first the story of the girl below, held captive in a basement with the regular sound of the door opening filling her with a mixture of terror and relief. She's only referred to as Stranger, and she bides her time by talking to the dead girls whose scribbles decorate the wall. But the door has stopped opening, and she's nearly out of food and water.
The other half of the story is Audrey, a high school counselor who volunteers as a seasoned search and rescue expert. Her captivity is not as confining as Stranger's, but she too is a prisoner of guilt. Her ex-best friend Janie disappeared when they were teenagers, and Audrey has lingering regrets about Janie's last visit to her.
What makes this story so immersive is the atmosphere the author creates. The local folklore of Jenny Red Hands is created as an almost small-town Medusa. The lore says she's a forest witch who saves girls from bad men, but once you delve deeper into her mythology, she's not as benevolent as she seems. And when Audrey finds out that a missing girl at the high school where she works may have been kidnapped from land belonging to the town’s most eminent family, she will be powerless to say no to the voice that urges her to find out what happened to the girls before.
Tense, atmospheric, and deeply unsettling, this book will have you questioning everything you know about memory, human decency, and the will to survive. Many thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this incredible early read. Look for this one February 24, 2026.
September 14, 2025
⇢ ᗩᖇᑕ ❀ ᖇᗴᐯIᗴᗯ ⇠
📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚
👩🏻💻 @kmarshallarts
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: February 24, 2026
🚨 Thriller Girlies, buckle up! 🚨
The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall is an absolute knockout! 🔥📚
From page one, this book hooked me HARD! We’re talking dual narratives that will mess with your head in the best way possible —
💥 Above: Search-and-rescue badass Audrey chasing shadows
💥 Below: A girl trapped in a basement with secrets thick as fog
The first half? A slow burn that simmers. But once that timeline flips… 🔄 OH. MY. WORD. You’re in for a full-speed, heart-racing, can’t-look-away kind of ride! 🎢
It’s creepy. It’s tense. It’s EMOTIONAL. 💀🖤 Every chapter pulls you deeper into the mystery until you’re practically living in the pages. (Send help. Or snacks.)
And don’t even get me started on the characters — I was rooting for them like they were real people! 🫶
Do yourself a favor and add it to your TBR ASAP. 𝗢𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 ⇢ Kate Alice Marshall is truly at the top of her game. 🎯 I need her next book yesterday. 🙌
⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱
📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚
👩🏻💻 @kmarshallarts
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: February 24, 2026
🚨 Thriller Girlies, buckle up! 🚨
The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall is an absolute knockout! 🔥📚
From page one, this book hooked me HARD! We’re talking dual narratives that will mess with your head in the best way possible —
💥 Above: Search-and-rescue badass Audrey chasing shadows
💥 Below: A girl trapped in a basement with secrets thick as fog
The first half? A slow burn that simmers. But once that timeline flips… 🔄 OH. MY. WORD. You’re in for a full-speed, heart-racing, can’t-look-away kind of ride! 🎢
It’s creepy. It’s tense. It’s EMOTIONAL. 💀🖤 Every chapter pulls you deeper into the mystery until you’re practically living in the pages. (Send help. Or snacks.)
And don’t even get me started on the characters — I was rooting for them like they were real people! 🫶
Do yourself a favor and add it to your TBR ASAP. 𝗢𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲-𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 ⇢ Kate Alice Marshall is truly at the top of her game. 🎯 I need her next book yesterday. 🙌
⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱⋰⋱
October 7, 2025
3.5 stars for this one. I liked the story and liked the twists, some of which I definitely did not see coming.
This is a take on the familiar missing girls story. I think it's a worthwhile one, although some of the plot points are definitely a bit unbelievable. Our heroine Audrey is haunted by the disappearance of a frenemy from her teenage years. I feel like lately I keep reading stories where the MC is unable to move on in their life due to something that happened to them in childhood, but it's not really an event that happened to them - it's something that happened to someone they were close to. This, for me, isn't the best motivation for a character to then become completely fixated on that person or event and not be able to live a normal life. It feels like a plot device rather than a realistic characterization.
That said, I liked Audrey and really liked Barry, her protective dog. The events of the story unfold at a nice pace, and, as noted, had some fun surprises. I enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a take on the familiar missing girls story. I think it's a worthwhile one, although some of the plot points are definitely a bit unbelievable. Our heroine Audrey is haunted by the disappearance of a frenemy from her teenage years. I feel like lately I keep reading stories where the MC is unable to move on in their life due to something that happened to them in childhood, but it's not really an event that happened to them - it's something that happened to someone they were close to. This, for me, isn't the best motivation for a character to then become completely fixated on that person or event and not be able to live a normal life. It feels like a plot device rather than a realistic characterization.
That said, I liked Audrey and really liked Barry, her protective dog. The events of the story unfold at a nice pace, and, as noted, had some fun surprises. I enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
December 18, 2025
Audrey for search and rescue in her spare time. While looking in the woods for a missing boy Audrey is sure that their is something else out there calling to her. When Audrey decides to sneak onto the Hill family's property that boarders the area where the boy was found and with the help of her dog Barry, she and Dev uncover a hidden bunker with girls names carved in a piece of wood. Not wanting to leave without solid proff that Dev and Audrey start to dig a hole and uncover bones. Now as Audrey starts to put the puzzle together there is more than meets the eye. When Audrey starts to match missing girls from neighboring areas she notices that they all look alike. All were considered runaways with strawberry blonde hair. Just like the youngest Hill sibling Emily. What are the Hills trying to cover up and who are the girls that are found buried in the woods. Just with all of her other books Kate Alice Marshall doesn't disappoint the reader. You will be on the edge of your seat until the very end. I would like to thank both Edelweiss and Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar for letting me read an advanced copy of this novel.
August 31, 2025
👩🏻🦰Review👩🏻🦰
Thank you so much @flatiron_books for the gifted copy of THE GIRLS BEFORE which is releasing on 2/24/26.
“A new novel about a search & rescue expert, a kidnapped woman, and the lost girls who haunt them both.”
I am always so excited for a new Kate Alice Marshall thriller. For much of this one I found the pacing to be a bit on the slower side, but it didn’t take away from the fantastic storytelling. And breaking the book into three parts worked so perfectly and kept me turning the pages.
I was eagerly waiting for the twists to hit and by the end they sure did! There was so much that I couldn’t piece together and I loved seeing how it would all play out. Another job well done by Marshall.
Get ready to meet THE GIRLS BEFORE in early 2026!
4/5 ⭐️
Thank you so much @flatiron_books for the gifted copy of THE GIRLS BEFORE which is releasing on 2/24/26.
“A new novel about a search & rescue expert, a kidnapped woman, and the lost girls who haunt them both.”
I am always so excited for a new Kate Alice Marshall thriller. For much of this one I found the pacing to be a bit on the slower side, but it didn’t take away from the fantastic storytelling. And breaking the book into three parts worked so perfectly and kept me turning the pages.
I was eagerly waiting for the twists to hit and by the end they sure did! There was so much that I couldn’t piece together and I loved seeing how it would all play out. Another job well done by Marshall.
Get ready to meet THE GIRLS BEFORE in early 2026!
4/5 ⭐️
July 25, 2025
1. Is this whole town just made of messed up people? What's in their water system? 100% do not recommend drinking the water in Franklin. It ain't right or something.
2. Audrey is my kind of woman. Stop telling us to let things go. We don't like letting things go. We won't let things go. Also, we just plain don't like being told what to do. So stop.
3. KAM loves a good twisty, puzzle of a story and we see it here again. Another read of hers where I was constantly asking what's next, give me one more clue. The pieces were there, but making them all fit needed some mind gymnastics.
Fast-paced, teaser that will keep your attention. 💯
2. Audrey is my kind of woman. Stop telling us to let things go. We don't like letting things go. We won't let things go. Also, we just plain don't like being told what to do. So stop.
3. KAM loves a good twisty, puzzle of a story and we see it here again. Another read of hers where I was constantly asking what's next, give me one more clue. The pieces were there, but making them all fit needed some mind gymnastics.
Fast-paced, teaser that will keep your attention. 💯
September 8, 2025
This book was very enjoyable! There are diverse characters. The plot and atmosphere are described in such great detail.
For a small town, they have had several girls go missing. Audrey is on search and rescue with her dog Barry. She often is the ones who finds the missing persons the team is out looking for. Her childhood friend Janie ran way, and she’s been searching for her ever since. Is the witch Jenny Red-Hands responsible for the disappearances, or is there something more sinister at play?
I recommend this book to anyone that like a little crime and suspense. It will have you guess what happened right to the very end!
Happy reading!!!
Crystal E.
Booked_in_Mississippi
For a small town, they have had several girls go missing. Audrey is on search and rescue with her dog Barry. She often is the ones who finds the missing persons the team is out looking for. Her childhood friend Janie ran way, and she’s been searching for her ever since. Is the witch Jenny Red-Hands responsible for the disappearances, or is there something more sinister at play?
I recommend this book to anyone that like a little crime and suspense. It will have you guess what happened right to the very end!
Happy reading!!!
Crystal E.
Booked_in_Mississippi
September 26, 2025
This book is a tense thriller about a woman who's never forgotten the complicated friendship she had with a girl who went missing, and "below," one of the unnamed missing girls.
I really enjoyed this one. Every time I thought I understood where it was going, it twisted somewhere else. It was a lot of fun and I had trouble putting it down as I was dying to know what happened. It did remind me of her other book "What Lies in the Woods," so if you liked that one, you'll like this one. Definitely recommend to anyone who's a fan of Kate Alice Marshall or thrillers.
I really enjoyed this one. Every time I thought I understood where it was going, it twisted somewhere else. It was a lot of fun and I had trouble putting it down as I was dying to know what happened. It did remind me of her other book "What Lies in the Woods," so if you liked that one, you'll like this one. Definitely recommend to anyone who's a fan of Kate Alice Marshall or thrillers.
November 15, 2025
Told in chapters titled Now and Then, we begin with Now: as men in black abduct a woman and child from their home. Then: her husband brings home a four-year old girl to add to their family. Now: Having been told by her husband to not speak, she won't eat either until she receives a note from her husband saying EAT! I cried through most of this book with feelings of trepidation, sympathy, empathy, horror, heartbreak, hope.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews