I borrowed this audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Harper Audio
Published: August 28, 2018 (Originally published 2008)
Summary:
With its gracious homes and tree-lined streets, Ansley Park is one of Atlanta’s most desirable neighborhoods. But in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager’s lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her horrified mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter’s attacker with her bare hands.
Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is here only to do a political favor; the murder site belongs to the Atlanta police. But Trent soon sees something that the cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the shell-shocked mother. Within minutes, Trent is taking over the case—and adding another one to it. He is sure that another teenage girl is missing, and that a killer is on the loose.
Armed with only fleeting clues, teamed with a female cop who has her own personal reasons for hating him, Trent has enemies all around him—and a gnawing feeling that this case, which started in the best of homes, is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.
My thoughts:
As I slowly make my way through Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series, I am in constant awe of just how fantastic a writer Karin Slaughter is. As dark and gritty as these books are, the character development remains to be top notch. These early books are really allowing me to get a feel for who Will Trent really is…and I am loving that! As I mentioned in my review of the previous book, Triptych, I have already read one of the later books in this series, when the series is fully established and that is what you miss – that character development that I think is so crucial to the very essence of what makes a series continue to be so strong.
This installment starts of with one heck of a scene and takes us on a ride that never in my wildest dreams did I think we would go. It’s fast-paced and disturbing, but definitely keeping in line with what I have come to expect from this author. I love that she pushes her characters, both the good and the bad ones to extremes. They are flawed and complex and we see that in all of them.
I cannot wait to continue on with this series and I am waiting for the crossing of paths with Will and Sara Linton…but I know it is coming, that I just have to be patient!
Audio thoughts:
I was thrilled to see that Kathleen Early was back as the narrator for this installment. I wasn’t thrilled with the narrator for the last book but Kathleen on the other hand is a much better choice. She narrated most of the Grant County series and I loved her narration for that. She just seems to get the nuances of Karin Slaughter’s characters and her writing. I hope she continues to narrate this series…I love when there is continuity with narrators, especially ones I like!
Books in this series:
- Triptych
- Fractured
- Undone
- Broken
- Fallen
5.5 Snatched
- Criminal
6.5 Busted
- Unseen
- The Kept Woman
8.5 Cleaning the Gold
- The Last Widow
- The Silent Wife
- After That Night – due out Aug 2024
