Fast Boys and Pretty Girls
- Judith D Collins
- Jul 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 21
By: Lo Patrick
Narrator: Eliza Summers
Tantor Media Fast Boys and Pretty Girls
ISBN: 9781728290478
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: 07/08/2025
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
They say you can never go home again. And sometimes, you shouldn't.
Following a semi-successful career as a teen model in New York City, Danielle Greer has moved back to the mountains of North Georgia and is living in her childhood home with her husband and four daughters. One stifling, lazy afternoon, the girls are exploring the ravine behind the house when they come across a body.
Danielle knows the body doesn't belong to Benji Law, a younger local misfit who Danielle had an illicit relationship with as a teenager. No, his body was found right away, after he was killed in a motorcycle accident on the road in front of her family's house. Danielle has a good idea who the body might be, but she doesn't know how it got there.
When local police officer Cady Benson is called in to investigate, Danielle's world is turned upside down, and she's thrust back into those dark, confusing days leading up to Benji's death, battling the things she remembers with the things she can't forget.
From the acclaimed author of The Floating Girls and The Night the River Wept comes a gritty, coming-of-age, slow-burn Southern mystery with devastating characters and a twist that will leave you aching, exposing the all-consuming, obsessive power of first love and what it can do to a person.
Lo Patrick Books
Praise
"Past and present intermix in this riveting story that proves, no matter how much you might want it, you can’t ever really leave your past behind. Lo Patrick does a masterful job setting the stage for the gripping suspense that had me turning the pages long into the night. "
― Suzanne Redfearn, #1 Amazon bestselling author of In an Instant
"Fast Boys and Pretty Girls is a haunting and atmospheric mystery with turns as sharp as a Georgia back road."
― Jennifer Moorhead, Amazon Bestselling Author of Broken Bayou
"Lo Patrick’s latest novel, Fast Boys and Pretty Girls, tackles the complex and emotional difficulties that often come with first love. Never quite certain of where she stands with local bad boy, Benji Law, Danielle, or Dani, an up-and-coming model with a solid future, remains on uneven footing where he’s concerned. Relentless in her quest for reassurance of his feelings only creates a burgeoning friction between them as well as between Dani and her family, with devastating consequences. Dani’s insecurities, willfulness, and obsession are superbly depicted by Patrick, who turns a shrewd eye on the psychology of first love and family dynamics. Patrick’s powerful writing makes this novel a standout, an absolutely riveting read."
― Donna Everhart, bestselling author of When the Jessamine Grows
"Fast Boys and Pretty Girls is a character-driven mystery about the wounds of first love and the hunt for belonging. Lo Patrick is a compelling southern storyteller, exploring the tension between obligation and desire."
― Audrey Ingram, author of The Summer We Ran
"Is there a woman alive who never, at least once, found herself obsessively drawn to a bad boy? Now that former model Danielle Greer is married with children, she hopes she has left that destructive obsession far behind her. But author Lo Patrick is not going to let her off that easily. Patrick’s skillful writing will keep the reader turning the pages as Dani’s past crashes head on into her present."
― Diane Chamberlain, New York Times bestselling author of The Last House on the Street
"Patrick is skilled at creating a sultry Southern atmosphere and moody small-town suspense… traits which mark the author’s previous books, and which she delivers again here, along with complicated characters and interesting relationship dynamics. This one ends strong, with a surprising reveal."
― Library Journal, STARRED review
My Review
Lo Patrick, a former Atlanta attorney turned bestselling storyteller and novelist, is back with her latest creation, FAST BOYS AND PRETTY GIRLS.
This atmospheric Southern small-town suspense is a testament to her expertise in blending coming-of-age, crime, and literary fiction, as she weaves dark secrets from a small-town rural Georgia setting into a compelling narrative that seamlessly merges the past with the present.
"They say you can never go home again. And sometimes, you shouldn't."
About...
Set in Pressville, Georgia, Danielle lives with her family on Bell Road in rural North Georgia. Located between Atlanta and North Carolina in the North Georgia mountain area. Everyone knows you must drive carefully on Bell Road.
There is a stigma attached to this town and this road. Years ago, a teen girl went missing, and a teen boy was dead. An accident. The bad boy she loved. On this road.
Present 2019: Danielle has moved back to her childhood home in Georgia with her husband, Jasper, and four daughters (Tessa, Leigh, Palmela, and Rose). Her life did not turn out as she had planned. Little does she know, it is about to become worse.
Past 2002: Danielle used to be Dani a model. A pretty girl, she was discovered by a scout at a local mall and wound up with an agent, moving to New York City alone at the age of 17 when she dropped out of school after her junior year. She went a little wild and crazy, thinking she could conquer the world.
However, things did not go as planned. What changed was that she came home for a visit and met the bad boy Benji Law, who had just turned sixteen, a motorcycle-riding, drug-dealing, high-school dropout from her hometown. He and his brother, Blake (boys every parent wanted to keep away from their daughters).
She soon became obsessed with him, dreaming of a life with him and wanting him to move to New York with her. But he was not interested. He wanted the Southern life. Nothing more. So she found herself trying to control him, and then another girl came along.
In the present timeline, Danielle's daughter, Tessa, and her sisters discovered bones (human remains) in the woods behind their house. The woods and the house had been in her mother's family for a hundred years. Her husband was away at a conference, and now she must call Cady Benson, the local detective. They have a long history.
What happens next is a mystery of intense proportions. Cady leads the investigation. Who do the bones belong to on their land? What happened to Benji? Was it an accident? These questions will keep you on the edge of your seat as you delve deeper into the story.
My thoughts...
FAST BOYS AND PRETTY GIRLS is a compelling, moody, gritty, darkly layered mystery of the past. As dark secrets are unraveled, the truth will emerge, along with consequences, twists, and surprises.
Atmospheric and suspenseful, this is more than just a mystery. It's a poignant exploration of dysfunctional family dynamics, mother-daughter relationships, lies, secrets, dreams, desires, jealousy, obsession, and control. Murder?
By showcasing how greed and control transcend class, privilege, and urban-rural divides, the book offers a thought-provoking reflection on our society today.
No stranger to Southern tales and complex characters, the author delivers a compelling mystery that will keep you turning the pages.
Told from Danielle/Dani's POV, with dual timelines, readers get an inside view of the self-absorbed teen and her relationship with her mother, and, of course, her obsession with the bad boy. The dual timelines add depth to the story, allowing you to see how the past influences the present.
The author does an incredible job portraying the actions and innermost thoughts of a teenage girl from this age range. Great characterization. Defying parents, trying to be independent, leaving the small town life behind, and first love.
As an NC native and an Atlanta resident for most of my media career, and with a beautiful log cabin in Big Canoe (North Georgia Mountains), I am always drawn to books set in the South, and the author knows her way around this genre.
Even though none of the characters were particularly likable, I think this was a realistic view of the time, place, setting, and the situation in which these characters found themselves.
The multi-generational novel would make an ideal pick for book clubs and further discussions (questions included). It will appeal not only to YA readers but also to parents, mothers, and readers of all different ages who enjoy Southern fiction.
Recs...
The novel is for fans of Southern small-town crime mysteries, family dramas, literary fiction, and coming-of-age stories. For fans of the author and those who enjoy works by Diane Chamberlain, Stacy Willingham, Ken Jaworowski, Mary Alice Monroe, Julia Heaberlin, Kristin Koval, Amy Pease, Kelly Mustian, Megan Miranda, and Laura Lippman. (all favorites).
Special thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted advanced reading copy, provided via NetGalley, for my honest thoughts. As always, I love the cover, which draws you in.
@JudithDCollins #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4.5 Stars rounded to 5
Pub Date: July 8, 2025
About the Author
LO PATRICK is a former lawyer and current novelist living in the suburbs of Atlanta.
Her debut, The Floating Girls, earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, was a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and was a Reader's Digest Editor's Pick.
