My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I adore Karin Slaughter’s Grant county series and I wondered how I would take to this alternative standalone novel. I must say it really worked. Harsher and grittier than the grant county series this novel takes place in the 1970’s when a woman truly was in a man’s world. Worse when that was a cop’s world. Slaughter captures the struggles perfectly in this fast paced high impact thriller.
The story focuses on two young female cops Kate and Maggie. Kate is a young Jewish widow from a wealthy family, searching for where she truly feels needed she joins the police force and enters a very different world from the one she is used to. Maggie comes from a poor family. Both her brother Jimmy and her Uncle Terry are cops but instead of welcoming her into their ranks, she is dismissed as a useless female not one of the “old boys”. Soon Maggie and Kate join forces to show the men how to get a job done.
For those that like thriller stories this is a great read and the pace is set almost instantly. The ending was very well written too and for those that really enjoy a clever twist will appreciate it. This story is similar in to the Amanda Wagner story told in the novel Criminal (#6 in the Will Trent series) but as mentioned earlier it is a lot darker and grittier with more violence.
An unusual deviation from the Grant County series for Slaughter to embark on this standalone novel but I admire the bravery (and concept) that she took in doing so. Another great novel, the descriptions were very realistic (although a little graphic – I don’t mind that at all in this type of book and just chose to skim if I thought it was a bit much as the story was meaty enough I wanted to keep reading), the characters were complex and the twists kept coming. Everything you want from a good crime thriller.
Not a typical slaughter novel but a great story, excellently written.
New2Writing 