The first part of this book read like fiction, and the last part like the best kind of true crime podcast. This heart-breaking story was not an easy read by any stretch, but Kolker does make it a great one. Through the way these stories were shared, I felt like I was getting to know each girl, family member, and suspect.

The story of what happened to Amber, Melissa, Maureen, Megan, and Shannan needs to be shared. Time and again we hear of women who went missing and the police brushed it off because the women were sex workers. This book shows that it isn’t always by choice, and it absolutely never makes someone less human and less deserving of justice. These girls when missing between 2007-2010 and their families still have no answers. Whether or not the police did their best is not my call to make, but there is time. People know what happened to these women. They don’t just disappear. Everyone needs to read this story, because this demographic is highly targeted for crime and highly stereotyped and disregarded. You can’t read this book and not come away feeling like these girls deserved so much more. Thousands have stories just like this that aren’t being written into books or Netflix shows, and we need to educate ourselves on what’s happening. Reading Lost Girls is a great first step.