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Poison Girls
It's the summer of 2008 and Chicago's Hyde Park Senator is running for the White House, the city is vying to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, and fentanyl-laced heroin has killed more than 250 people. Privilege and politics collide when the poisonous heroin starts targeting white teenage girls from Democratic powerhouse families. Natalie Delaney, a thirty-something crime reporter, finds that her obsession for the case may cost her everything.
374 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2017
15 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 20, 2017
This novel was fascinating! Originally it seemed it was going to be just another book about teens, gangbangers, and drug addiction, but it was so much more! Showing the dark side of journalism, politics, and police procedures, Reed delves deep into the underbelly of Chicago's drug trade to show "poison girls," young affluent white teens who are drawn to fentanyl-laced heroin which is usually a death sentence. Who is behind it all and is there something more sinister at work here than just the "usual suspects"? Journalist Natalie investigates and is drawn into the lives of two cousins, Anna and Libby as she tries to uncover the truth. But there are layers and layers of deception as she is drawn deeper and is implicated in one of the deaths. Based on real events, the novel is raw and poignant, questioning where does an investigative journalist draw the line and whom do we believe when there are lies everywhere? This is a real page-turner!
February 26, 2018
It's rare not to hear or read about America's opioid crisis. At one point President Trump suggested he was going to try to do something about it. This book takes readers into the backstreets and shooting galleries of Chicago and explores young women experimenting with fentanyl-laced heroin, an increasingly popular street drug that lots of people turn to after their prescriptions run out. The protagonist, a young woman reporter, infiltrates a subculture of mostly wealthy young women as well as drug hustlers and ultimately finds her own career and future in danger. Chicago and national politicians play a role in this riveting story, which begs to be made into a movie or a blockbuster TV series.
October 5, 2017
I have read close to 140 books so far this year which is an impressive if I do say so myself. I don’t think I have come across a book quiet like this one. Poison Girls is a must read for everyone who loves books. Natalie Delaney is a superhero with a pen in my eyes and Ana and Libby are strong girls who you struggle between wanting to hug and wanting to shake for the crazy things that Anna does for the sake of popularity and the cousin who straddles the line of wanting to keep her safe and fitting in. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the story because it kind of reads like one big newspaper but in a way that made it more fun. This book is the story of young girls white girls who are getting killed by fentanyl laced heroin. This story takes an even darker turn when the story that Natalie is trying to write turns her into the prime suspect. I feel as though since this was based on true events it brings a more raw aspect to the story. Politics, Power, Drugs and Popularity should not over shadow that people died. I found myself feeling bad for Natalie because she wanted to save everyone and lost sight of herself getting herself into trouble. Over all this is a strong 4 star read that deserves a few hours of your time to read.
Thanks to Negalley to the author and publisher for my copy in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to Negalley to the author and publisher for my copy in exchange for my honest review.
September 3, 2017
When I read the author's bio, I knew that I would enjoy this book.
It was a well written, original and fascinating thiller that was based on true events.
I couldn't put it down and I would recommend it to everyone.
I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It was a well written, original and fascinating thiller that was based on true events.
I couldn't put it down and I would recommend it to everyone.
I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 8, 2017
As a crime reporter, how do you separate getting the story and becoming personally connected to the people within it? Is it ethical to observe a crime being committed for the sake of the article? Where does your role as a journalist end and the narrative begin?
Beyond raising timely questions about journalism in the 21st century, Cheryl Reed's debut novel grabs you from the first page doesn't let go. It is entertaining and beautifully written. I read this book in one sitting. Additionally, it was incredibly refreshing to read a crime novel that wasn't from the perspective of a male cop/detective type.
Buy this book. You will not be disappointed.
Beyond raising timely questions about journalism in the 21st century, Cheryl Reed's debut novel grabs you from the first page doesn't let go. It is entertaining and beautifully written. I read this book in one sitting. Additionally, it was incredibly refreshing to read a crime novel that wasn't from the perspective of a male cop/detective type.
Buy this book. You will not be disappointed.
July 15, 2018
About 10 years ago I have been fascinated by the Henry Parker (by author Jason Pinter) series. It was a story about a young ambitious reporter to whom happened to be in some serious troubles throughout his adventures. When I saw that Poison Girls has a female reporter as the main character, I could not resist and asked to review it!!! I was not disappointed at all! It is a unique story that is bringing us through a roller coaster of thrilling events.
Natalie is a reporter for the Chicago Time and she decides to investigate about teenage girls that are dying after they took some spiked heroin (called poison). While doing so she became in contact with 2 teenage girls: Anna and Libby. Her investigation is driving her in the drug underworld and some people are really annoyed to have her poking around.
The story was fascinating and very well written. It started a little slow, but in the middle, the pace is changing and it is becoming a real page-turner. Poison Girls provoked a real ethical dilemma on my end. Natalie is being really present in Anna and Libby life, That had me reflect about how sometimes our emotions can bring us into circumstances that we never thought we would have to face. It is also a story that brings awareness to the drug addiction that kills too many people every year. It is an inside look into a world of deceit and despair. I also really enjoyed the political side of the story. It is reminding us that people that have power and money have always an easier time to do whatever they want.
The only reason why I haven't given 5 stars to this book is my lack of emotional connections with the characters. In my humble opinion, I felt I was reading the words but could not feel what the author was trying to convey. To a certain extent, I was feeling that emotions were intertwined with facts and it was speaking to my head instead of my heart. There were plenty of occasions throughout the story that should have had me going through a wide range of emotions, but that has not happened. The emotional components of a story are really important to me. That being said, it is a book worthy of reading if you are into the thriller genre. However, to some readers, it might be a hard read, especially for those who lost someone to drug addiction.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher to have given me this book for review.
Natalie is a reporter for the Chicago Time and she decides to investigate about teenage girls that are dying after they took some spiked heroin (called poison). While doing so she became in contact with 2 teenage girls: Anna and Libby. Her investigation is driving her in the drug underworld and some people are really annoyed to have her poking around.
The story was fascinating and very well written. It started a little slow, but in the middle, the pace is changing and it is becoming a real page-turner. Poison Girls provoked a real ethical dilemma on my end. Natalie is being really present in Anna and Libby life, That had me reflect about how sometimes our emotions can bring us into circumstances that we never thought we would have to face. It is also a story that brings awareness to the drug addiction that kills too many people every year. It is an inside look into a world of deceit and despair. I also really enjoyed the political side of the story. It is reminding us that people that have power and money have always an easier time to do whatever they want.
The only reason why I haven't given 5 stars to this book is my lack of emotional connections with the characters. In my humble opinion, I felt I was reading the words but could not feel what the author was trying to convey. To a certain extent, I was feeling that emotions were intertwined with facts and it was speaking to my head instead of my heart. There were plenty of occasions throughout the story that should have had me going through a wide range of emotions, but that has not happened. The emotional components of a story are really important to me. That being said, it is a book worthy of reading if you are into the thriller genre. However, to some readers, it might be a hard read, especially for those who lost someone to drug addiction.
Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher to have given me this book for review.
December 22, 2017
Very few novels about journalists get the tenor of a newsroom exactly right and describe the myriad pressures on a reporter beyond researching and writing articles. Poison Girls, the new mystery novel by longtime journalist Cheryl L. Reed, absolutely nails the atmosphere of a newsroom caught up in shifting loyalties as the paper prepares for new corporate bosses.
Poison Girls is a ripped-from-the-headlines tale about heroin abuse that is leading to the deaths of young women. Reed, a former Chicago Sun-Times investigative reporter and editor, knows her subject from the inside, having reported on deadly drug abuse by high school girls.
The reporter in her novel, Natalie Delaney, must balance relationships with neighborhood sources, detectives, editors, corporate higher-ups, friends, lawyers, paramours – and a puzzling set of cousins who push and pull Delaney closer to the truth surrounding the drug deaths.
The book gives a sharp sense of the false leads, mixed signals and frustrations that are a part of reporting a story that no one seems eager to break open. The paper is happy to run Delaney’s page one articles when the focus is on the tawdry deaths and possible gang involvement. When the reporting leads to politicians and the well-connected, Delaney is hung out to dry.
Written with an insider’s knowledge of the haunts, office atmosphere and drinking habits of Chicago newspaper reporters, Poison Girls picks up steam as Delaney increasingly becomes part of the story. Readers see her well-intentioned interventions (always rationalized convincingly with Delaney’s interior monologue) turn into damning behavior that threatens her credibility – and the paper’s.
Although the drug culture is convincingly illustrated, it is the reporter’s life that rings true from the first page to the last. Delaney is a flawed, sometimes unsympathetic character, but her motives and work ethic can’t be questioned. The perpetrators behind the deaths provide ample mystery, but the importance of the reporter’s work is clear throughout.
Poison Girls is a ripped-from-the-headlines tale about heroin abuse that is leading to the deaths of young women. Reed, a former Chicago Sun-Times investigative reporter and editor, knows her subject from the inside, having reported on deadly drug abuse by high school girls.
The reporter in her novel, Natalie Delaney, must balance relationships with neighborhood sources, detectives, editors, corporate higher-ups, friends, lawyers, paramours – and a puzzling set of cousins who push and pull Delaney closer to the truth surrounding the drug deaths.
The book gives a sharp sense of the false leads, mixed signals and frustrations that are a part of reporting a story that no one seems eager to break open. The paper is happy to run Delaney’s page one articles when the focus is on the tawdry deaths and possible gang involvement. When the reporting leads to politicians and the well-connected, Delaney is hung out to dry.
Written with an insider’s knowledge of the haunts, office atmosphere and drinking habits of Chicago newspaper reporters, Poison Girls picks up steam as Delaney increasingly becomes part of the story. Readers see her well-intentioned interventions (always rationalized convincingly with Delaney’s interior monologue) turn into damning behavior that threatens her credibility – and the paper’s.
Although the drug culture is convincingly illustrated, it is the reporter’s life that rings true from the first page to the last. Delaney is a flawed, sometimes unsympathetic character, but her motives and work ethic can’t be questioned. The perpetrators behind the deaths provide ample mystery, but the importance of the reporter’s work is clear throughout.
January 2, 2018
As a newspaper reporter, Cheryl Reed spent months writing about young girls addicted to crack cocaine in the 1990s. Then came the current heroin/fentanyl epidemic, which seemed “eerily similar.” Reed decided to update her reporting, but this time in fiction. Her mystery “Poison Girls” follows the gritty adventures of Natalie Delaney, a crime reporter for the struggling Chicago Times, when teenage girls from prominent families are found dead of fentanyl-laced heroin overdoses. Natalie senses that these were not ordinary ODs, and she sets out to find the true story behind the breaking news. She attaches herself to two girls who are dabbling in the demiworld of drugs and traces unlikely links between South Side drug dealers and the city’s power brokers. As the death toll rises, she finds herself chasing one of the biggest stories of her life — until she becomes the story.
Reed weaves her years of real experience as a journalist into the narrative, bringing the reader into the intersecting orbits of newsroom, courtroom and many a barroom. She adds love interests and a tragic back story to soften her obsessive protagonist, and a presidential campaign that will look familiar. With all those layers, the book starts off slow, but a page turner develops as the hidden agendas of teen victims, drug dealers, cops, media and political figures are exposed.
Reed weaves her years of real experience as a journalist into the narrative, bringing the reader into the intersecting orbits of newsroom, courtroom and many a barroom. She adds love interests and a tragic back story to soften her obsessive protagonist, and a presidential campaign that will look familiar. With all those layers, the book starts off slow, but a page turner develops as the hidden agendas of teen victims, drug dealers, cops, media and political figures are exposed.
January 2, 2018
This is both a timely read and a novel full of surprises. The author uses her own real experiences as a newspaper reporter to tell the tale of Chicago teens becoming addicted to heroin laced with fentanyl, a fatal poison cocktail for most, during the early days of the opioid crisis in the U.S. I especially like the interesting ways in which she lays out journalistic process and at the same time weaves a gripping, colorful story about reporter Natalie Delaney and her dangerous assignments. There were a few plot twists I didn't see coming, and the book's last pages left me wondering how the story would be resolved--quite a cliffhanger! I highly recommend Poison Girls.
November 18, 2017
Set in the summer of 2008, the story uses the background of the presidential election and Chicago politics to set a story where heroin deaths are ignored until girls from an expensive private school start dying from overdoses. I read this book in 24 hours. It is fast-paced, tender & engrossing. It addresses the tightrope reporters who are women must walk to not be relegated to “softer” stories. The author shows the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of Chicago’s neighborhoods, politics, media, and law enforcement. It is a gritty tale and a really great read! Highly recommended.
November 9, 2017
I liked it. The author Cheryl Reed spent years as a crime reporter in Chicago. Although the book is fiction the descriptions and characters are as real as it gets.
The protagonist is Natalie Delaney, who serves as the first person narrator, a reporter for the Chicago Times. she uses her skill as a reporter to catch a major scoop only to have the world pulled from under her. The story is compelling, the story telling is excellent. be prepared to be drawn in mind and body
The protagonist is Natalie Delaney, who serves as the first person narrator, a reporter for the Chicago Times. she uses her skill as a reporter to catch a major scoop only to have the world pulled from under her. The story is compelling, the story telling is excellent. be prepared to be drawn in mind and body
September 12, 2017
This is a fascinating book. Once you start you won't be able to finish. I didn't think I'd like it because I am not a fan of books about drugs especially books about Fentanyl but this one was very different and worth the read.
I received this advanced copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received this advanced copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
September 12, 2017
A true edge of your seat page turner.Highly recommend.
November 19, 2017
Great, fast-paced thriller style mystery. I could not put this one down!
January 26, 2018
Read it because it was free. Page turner. Cheap prose. Cheap politics.
January 25, 2020
Gritty and darker than I expected, I found this a compelling and timely story.
October 3, 2020
Great book!
Wow,what a gut wrenching read. I could not put it down. Such a well crafted and researched story. I hope she continues to write more.
Wow,what a gut wrenching read. I could not put it down. Such a well crafted and researched story. I hope she continues to write more.
January 3, 2020
I don't know--I just couldn't keep going. Somewhere, before the middle, the reality just departed from the exposition. Maybe decent journalism, but not literature.
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July 11, 2017This book was such a slow starter that I found it hard to stay with it until the end. It did end up being a good story, once we finally got there.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews