Final Girls by Riley Sager

Fascinating premise, especially from a purely psychological point of view. The mental state of the sole survivors of massacres. The way they are hounded by the media, and considered both miracles for surviving and mistrusted because they did. They also often suffer from survivors guilt and PTSD.

Quincy has no memory of the event that took her innocence and fills her with constant fear. She can remember before and being saved afterwards, but the murderous middle bit evades her completely. She has no memory of how she lost a house full of friends to a murderous lunatic.

Therein lies the problem. She can't fill in any of the details, which makes the police suspicious. Perhaps not about her guilt, but about her hiding something. Then again you just don't know.

The press knows her as one of the three Final Girls. Now one of them is dead and the second has turned up on Quincy's doorstep. At first Quincy feels sympathetic towards Sam, but their new friendship starts to tear when Sam starts to show interest in the one person Quincy feels belongs to her. Coop is her saviour, her protector and just hers in general.

Sam starts to place Quincy in situations that make her act instinctively, unfortunately her instinct seems to indicate a predilection for violence. A survivor of violence, who has impulse control issues and the instinct to punish someone physically. Makes you wonder doesn't it?

Sager wants the reader to consider the psychological aspects of the trauma,but at the same time consider why only one out of many managed to emerge from such violent altercations. Casting a huge shadow of doubt over the lucky survivors.

Fear, guilt and anger make this psychological game of chess a gripping tale of suspense, which will make you question everyone and everything.

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