1197 ratings | 119 reviews | avg rating:3.60

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to-read (44)
currently-reading (1)
read (1200)
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crime-mystery (653)
psychological-suspense (238)
thrillers (345)
biography (7)
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historical-fiction (123)
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V.R.’s Friends (141)

Medeia Sharif

7,049 books | 2,522 friends

Jennifer Shirk

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V.R. Barkowski

Goodreads Author

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VRBarkowski

Genre

Dark Fiction, Historical, Psychological Suspense, Crime & Mystery

Influences

Ruth Rendell, Patricia Highsmith, Thomas H. Cook, Gillian Flynn, John ...more

Member Since

January 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/vrbarkowski

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VR Barkowski is a native Californian who pens dark fiction from Boston's North Shore. A graduate of UC Berkeley and recovering sociologist, she is a voracious reader, an avid if not intrepid traveller, a lover of animals, music, museums, glass, pottery, graveyards, and water—not necessarily in that order.

Her debut novel, A TWIST OF HATE, was published in June 2015 by Gale-Cengage Learning/Five Star.

BLOG: http://vrbarkowski.wordpress.com ...more

23 posts
V.R. Barkowski's Blog

The Girls

The Girls by Emma Cline

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Set in past (1969) and present day Northern California, The Girls is the coming of age story of privileged, aimless fourteen-year-old, Evie Boyd. When Evie becomes obsessed with Suzanne, a member of a Manson-family like cult, she is drawn both into the group and into the manipulative and exploitative relationships that drive it. Estranged from her Read more of this blog post »

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Published on July 22, 2016 06:56 • Tags: 1969, california, fiction, manson-family

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V.R. Barkowski’s books

Average rating: 4.39 · 206 ratings · 57 reviews · 6 distinct works

	My Bloody Valentine by Tiffinie Helmer (Goodreads Author), Alex Bledsoe (Goodreads Author), V.R. Barkowski (Goodreads Author) 4.17 avg rating — 82 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How I Found the Write Path: A Compilation of Letters by Carrie Butler (Goodreads Author), P.K. Hrezo (Goodreads Author), Emma Adams (Contributor) 4.58 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The best of Vine Leaves Literary Journal 2012 by Jessica Bell (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Dawn Ius (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Adam Byatt (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.81 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Best New England Crime Stories 2013: Blood Moon by Mark Ammons (Editor), Katherine Fast (Editor), Barbara Ross (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 3.86 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Twist Of Hate 4.22 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Best New England Crime Stories 2015: Rogue Wave by Mark Ammons, Katherine Fast, Leslie Wheeler 4.17 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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V.R. is Currently Reading

V.R. Barkowski is currently reading

We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls, #1)

by Karin Slaughter (Goodreads Author)

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Oct 08, 2025 08:03PM

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V.R. Barkowski is currently reading We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls, #1) by Karin Slaughter (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 08, 2025 08:03PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
V.R. Barkowski rated a book liked it All the Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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V.R. Barkowski rated a book liked it The Lost House by Melissa Larsen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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V.R. Barkowski rated a book liked it Second Glance by Jodi Picoult (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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V.R. Barkowski rated a book really liked it Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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V.R. Barkowski rated a book really liked it What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 11, 2025 06:12AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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Quotes by V.R. Barkowski (?)

“It’s not the good we see in the people we love, but what we refuse to see that gives us strength.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Sometimes when we care about someone, we deny what’s right in front of us so we can move forward, so we have a reason to continue to love.”
― V.R. Barkowski, My Bloody Valentine

tags: acceptance, life, love, strength

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V.R.’s Quotes

“I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

tags: hate, love

8080 likes

“Television is the Antichrist, and I can assure you after only three or four generations, people will no longer even know how to fart on their own and humans will return to medieval savagery and to the general state of imbecility that slugs overcame back in the Pleistocene era. Our world will not die as a result of the bomb...it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke of everything and a lousy joke at that.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón

26 likes

“Life can be magnificent and overwhelming -- that is the whole tragedy. Without beauty, love, or danger it would almost be easy to live. ”
― Albert Camus

750 likes

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
― Stephen King

tags: reading, writing

13077 likes

“...fool me once, shame on me…fool me twice…I deserved to get fucked over.”
― Derekica Snake, Tentacles for the Brides Bouquet

V.R.’s Year In Books

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V.R. Barkowski

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The Girls

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