Fresh off the award-winning success of her prior novels, LITANI and BLOODLINE, Jess Lourey returns with a serial-killer tale inspired by actual events that took place in her home state of Minnesota.

It’s the 1970s, and best girlfriends Heather, Brenda and Maureen are playing in a growing garage band and experiencing all of the expected challenges of being teenagers. That is, until their lives are rocketed into completely unfamiliar territory when a string of girls around their age go missing. One of them is Maureen herself.

"THE QUARRY GIRLS is true crime told as fiction and most certainly will cause readers to have some sleepless nights."

As Lourey states in her introduction to THE QUARRY GIRLS, everything had edges in the summer of ’77. Three girls from Pantown, Minnesota, will die, and it all started in the tunnels and later at the quarry, the famous water hole where they hung out. Elizabeth McCain is the first to go missing --- abducted when she was supposed to be at the quarry with her friends, only to awaken as the captive of a demented killer. Throughout the novel, we see chapters told from Beth’s point of view and the psychological toll that these deadly circumstances have taken on her young psyche.

We also follow the three friends and bandmates closely, with a lot of that time being devoted to Heather, who is probably the most sensible and aware member of the trio. She is dealing with typical challenges, like preserving her virginity and trying to avoid the temptations of drugs that have surrounded so many of her peers. Beyond that, she has a very nervous feeling about the town sheriff, Jerome Nillson, that makes her not trust him as he is leading the search for the missing girls.

When Maureen does not return home one night, Brenda and Heather do not know how to react. All they know is that they share a dark secret --- something they saw in their town --- that may hold the answer to the evil that is currently preying upon the young women of Pantown. Brenda is grounded by her parents until Maureen turns up as the community is extremely alarmed by what is going on. She fears the worst, especially since Maureen had left a note that read: If I disappear, I’ve been murdered. Don’t let them get away with it. Brenda and Heather also want to ensure that no one tries to label Maureen’s disappearance and eventual death a suicide.

The situation truly gets scary when suspicion falls on some of the teen boys with whom they hang around. How horrific would it be if Brenda and Heather were spending time with a potential serial killer? This is the dark reality that Jess Lourey so skillfully calls to mind as her narrative takes us to a far more carefree time and has us walk in the shoes of some young ladies who never knew that evil and fear could ever reach them in their insulated Midwest town.

THE QUARRY GIRLS is true crime told as fiction and most certainly will cause readers to have some sleepless nights.