#Titanuary ‘Good Girls Don’t Die’ by Christina Henry

About the book…

Celia wakes up in a house that isn’t hers. She doesn’t recognize her husband or the little girl who claims to be her daughter. She tries to remember who she was before, because she is certain that this life―the little family-run restaurant she owns, the gossipy small town she lives in―is not her own.

Allie is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip―but then her friend’s boyfriend unexpectedly invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods. The cabin looks recently assembled and there are no animals or other life anywhere in the forest. Nothing about the place seems right. Then, in the middle of the night, someone bangs on the cabin door…

Maggie, along with twelve other women, wakes up in a shipping container with the number three stamped on the back of her T-shirt. If she wants to see her daughter Paige again, Maggie must complete The Maze―a deadly high-stakes obstacle course.

Three women. Three stories. Only one way out…

Published in November 2023, ‘Good Girls Don’t Die’ is a high concept thriller, horror novel available in paperback, and e-book formats.

The title implies that if you are ‘good’, you survive, and as you work through the stories of each of three unrelated women, dropped into situations which seem entirely unbelievable, whilst totally familiar, being ‘bad’ relates to being a bad example of womanhood

Celia, Allie and Maggie have all got their expert areas of personal interest-cosy murder mysteries, horror films and dystopian Y.A fiction. All have said what many of us have in the comfort of our own homes, such as ‘I would NEVER go into the basement wearing a see-through nightie and 6 inch heels…’ , or groaned out loud at the ridiculous things people do in movies, all safe and secure.

But …what if someone took you at your word and accused you of a murder which you could not have committed? Or you find yourself being chased through the woods by a masked figure with a carving knife? And you had to save the life of a loved one by managing a series of increasingly difficult, and deadly obstacle courses?

One after the other, we as readers are landed into the tales of 3 women, as confused as they are about what is going on. As the story unfolds, it seems ridiculous and unbelievable, yet the threat level to each is deadly as the bodies start to fall in disgustingly brutal manners.

Will their knowledge of their particular genres get them out of the peril that they are in, and if so, does that mean that they are what could be considered ‘good’ or ‘bad’?

Who is behind it and what ‘crime’ could they have committed to end up fighting for their lives?

What I loved about this book was the constant feeling of stress and worry that you held about the characters, and when each woman’s tale ended, all on cliff hangers, you genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next.

I wanted to stay with Celia, but suddenly we were dealing with Allie, then just as you were getting somewhere with her, suddenly you are in a maze with Maggie. WTAF?!

Normally I am better at seeing how things will dovetail together, some of it I got , but the personal connections between the three I did not, and that ending….*chef’s kiss*

I think it is one which will enrage some, make others say ‘Huh?’ but honestly, if you’ve read any of her other novels, then this is perfection.

Deeply gripping and a brilliant examination of modern misogyny, fuelled by feminist rage , I dived deep and did not stop until the very end. It was SUPERB.

About the author…

Christina Henry is the author of the national bestselling Black Wings series (‘Black Wings’, ‘Black Night’, ‘Black Howl’, ‘Black Lament’, ‘Black City’, ‘Black Heart’ and ‘Black Spring’) featuring Agent of Death Madeline Black and her popcorn-loving gargoyle Beezle.

She enjoys running long distances, reading anything she can get her hands on and watching movies with samurai, zombies and/or subtitles in her spare time. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.

Links-http://www.christinahenry.net/

Twitter @C_Henry_Author @TitanBooks