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Summary
Summary
From Allison Leotta, the "highly entertaining storyteller" (George Pelecanos) who writes "in a style that's as real as it gets" ( USA TODAY ), a ripped-from-the-headlines novel featuring prosecutor Anna Curtis at the center of a national story involving campus rape and the disappearance of a young woman.
It was her word against his...until she disappeared.
Emily Shapiro has gone missing. A freshman at a Michigan university, Emily was last seen leaving a bar near Beta Psi, a prestigious and secretive fraternity. The main suspect is Dylan Highsmith, the son of one of the most powerful politicians in the state. At first, the only clue is pieced-together surveillance footage of Emily leaving the bar that night...and Dylan running down the street after her.
When prosecutor Anna Curtis discovers a video diary Emily kept during her first few months at college, it exposes the history Emily had with Dylan: she accused him of rape before disappearing. Anna is horrified to discover that Dylan's frat is known on campus as the "rape factory."
The case soon gets media attention and support from Title IX activists across the country, but Anna's investigation hits a wall. Anna has to find something, anything she can use to discover Emily alive. But without a body or any physical evidence, she's under threat from people who tell her to stop before she ruins the name of an innocent young man.
Inspired by real-life stories, The Last Good Girl shines a light on campus rape and the powerful emotional dynamics that affect the families of the men and women on both sides.
Author Notes
Allison Leotta was a federal sex-crimes prosecutor in Washington, DC, for twelve years. In 2011, she left the Justice Department to pursue writing full time. She is the acclaimed author of Law of Attraction , Discretion , Speak of the Devil , A Good Killing , and The Last Good Girl and founder of the award-winning blog, The Prime-Time Crime Review. Leotta lives with her husband, Michael, and their two sons outside of Washington, DC. Visit her online at AllisonLeotta.com.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A missing person's case preoccupies Anna Curtis in Leotta's unconvincing fifth thriller featuring the Washington, D.C., federal prosecutor (after 2015's A Good Killing). While on a trip to Michigan to see her sister, Anna learns that college student Emily Shapiro, whose father is the president of Tower University, has disappeared, last seen on video in a confrontation with fellow student Dylan Highsmith, who also has a high-powered father, Michigan's lieutenant governor. Alison had accused Dylan of rape. Dylan, the epitome of sleaze, inappropriately touches Anna when she visits his fraternity house with her FBI agent friend, Samantha Randazzo. One of Dylan's frat buddies turns out to be the younger brother of Anna's new love interest, Cooper Bolden. Sections transcribed from Emily's video log slow the pace, and jarring improbabilities-a nurse at a rehab facility freely provides details of a student's treatment to Anna, who doesn't even have to show the nurse an ID-don't help the suspension of disbelief. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
When Emily Shapiro attends her first frat party as a college freshman, she is raped. She believes fraternity president Dylan put something in her drink, but no one believes her. He is the son of Michigan's lieutenant governor and a campus do-gooder, while she is the university president's daughter. Months later, an argument between Emily and Dylan is caught on security footage and Emily goes missing. Luckily, assistant U.S. attorney Anna Curtis is visiting her hometown and agrees to prosecute the case against Dylan as part of a Department of Justice task force investigating sexual assaults on college campuses. With the help of FBI Agent Samantha Randazzo and the rest of her team, Anna fights small-town corruption, college donor privilege, and campus sexism to find justice for the young women who have been hurt by the fraternity known on campus as the "rape factory." While this book is the fifth in the series, it can also be read as a stand-alone. Teens will identify with Emily-she has such high hopes for her freshman year at a school she's always loved. Teens will vilify Dylan, too, and they'll root for Anna to take him and the fraternity down. VERDICT Teen fans of Jodi Picoult's novels and Jon Krakauer's Missoula will speed through this riveting tale about campus rape.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon ILl © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Leotta's spunky heroine, federal lawyer Anna Curtis, takes on the timely topic of rape on college campuses and discovers an ugly underbelly in the academic system. Anna moved home to the Detroit area to help her sister, Jody, who now has a baby of her own. The sisters are living with Anna's friend Cooper and his PTSD dog, Sparky, on an urban farm in Detroit. Anna's conflicted, though, because she's broken her engagement to handsome federal prosecutor Jack, and she's not sure of her feelings for Cooper, who was badly wounded while in the service. But she has to put her personal life on hold when college student Emily Shapiro goes missing soon after accusing a fraternity boy, who also happens to be the son of the state's lieutenant governor, of raping her. Dylan Highsmith is both wealthy and without shame when it comes to his exploits with women. When Jack recruits Anna to work on a task force investigating Emily's disappearance, she's reunited with her FBI buddy, Agent Samantha Randazzo. Together, the two women race against the clock to find the missing girl and stop college officials from shoving the issue under the carpet. Anna has become a better-rounded and more interesting character since Leotta (Speak of the Devil, 2013, etc.) moved her back to the Detroit area, and while this book is a timely look at a subject that's making headlines across the country, it's a bumpy read. The college boy, Dylan, is almost a parody of a rich bad boy, Emily's parents are unbelievable in their reactions to their daughter's disappearance, and former love Jack's sudden emergence in Detroit come across as contrived. The book is also dotted with information about rape on college campuses that makes it feel like the author's simply slotting in Internet search results instead of prose. Billed as "ripped from the headlines," Leotta's latest proves entertaining enough but feels more like a book that's ripped from Google. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
In Leotta's fifth series entry (after A Good Killing), Washington, DC, sex crimes prosecutor Anna Curtis is visiting her sister in Michigan when Jack, her ex-fiancé, asks her to help out on a task force investigating assaults on the state's college campuses. Freshman Emily Shapiro, whose father is the university president, has gone missing. Circumstances surrounding her disappearance implicate Dylan Highsmith, a popular fraternity member and the son of Michigan's lieutenant governor. Emily's video diary purports she was raped earlier in the semester and even details Dylan's disciplinary hearing at which Emily testified. As Anna and Jack probe the case, they uncover a corrupt academic system, complicated family dynamics, and crime scene evidence that isn't necessarily what it seems. VERDICT Fast paced with strong, vivid characters, this installment succeeds as a stand-alone, so readers new to the Anna Curtis series can easily follow. With a focus on a timely, important issue, this will be high on the to-read list of readers who appreciate the works of Lisa -Scottoline, Linda A. Fairstein, and Gillian Flynn.-Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Lib., Macon, GA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.