Review of The Kept Woman: (Will Trent Series Book 8) by Karin Slaughter – 5 Stars

I love the Will Trent series. It took a while at first to warm to it I’ll admit, mostly due to the fact that I really liked the Grant County series with Jeffrey and hated that he was killed off. Will (the main character in the Will Trent series) was initially as a character too…well… good – too nice – too sweet – too vulnerable. It was certainly a change of pace from Jeffrey. That said I still loved Sara Linton, the character that crosses both series. I also very quickly liked Will’s partner in the series – Faith. Now that we are in the eighth book of the Will Trent series, Karin Slaughter has really found her stride. The characters are so lifelike and complicated yet you cannot help but like the good guys, hate the bad guys and well feel conflicted about those that straddle the worlds of good and bad.

In this novel, we catch up with Will and Sara trying to live their happily ever after and things seem right on track. That is until an ex-police officer is found dead at an abandoned nightclub owned by a famous sports hero who has just escaped a rape charge Will was trying to file against him. Things go from bad to worse when the team examines the scene and all signs point to Will’s ex-wife Angie being the culprit of the attack. Not only does it look like she was involved but the amount of blood lost at the scene means she could be in real danger. Sara’s scene-of-the-crime diagnosis is that they only have a few hours to find Angie before she bleeds out

This book looks big but it is fast reading. Real page-turning action reading. The writing style is fluid, intriguing, and completely engrossing. And the plot… well, it is absolutely jam-packed twists, murder, drama, deception, secrets, lies, heartache and mystery.

I quite liked the way this book was laid out too. The first half follows Will, Sara and the investigation team. Whilst the middle shines the spotlight on Angie. It gives a real insight into her past, her impulse reactions, her motivations and her desire to have Will to herself. She truly is such a conflicting character who you will love, hate, love, hate. Somehow this makes Will’s storyline even more intriguing.

Whilst this is the eighth book in the series I think it could be read as a standalone. In fact, most of the series can as I read it completely out of order initially, so if you see it at a bargain price don’t let the order put you off.

Please leave a like if you think my review/feedback of the item was helpful to you. Alternatively, please contact me if you want me to clarify something in my review.

View all my reviews

Review of Cop Town by Karin Slaughter – 4 Stars

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter

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.

View all my reviews

Review of Three Twisted Stories by Karin Slaughter

Three Twisted Stories: Go Deep, Necessary Women, Remmy Rothstein Toes the Line by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This ebook does what it says on the tin, it tells three (very) twisted stories. As a big fan of the Grant County & Atlanta series of novels Slaughter writes I was very much looking forward to this collection. However, buyer beware these stories are nothing like the Atlanta/Grant County crime series
These books are incredibly well written, they are faced paced, character dialogue is great and the settings fit superbly with the stories. The characters are also quite interesting and intriguing.
For me these tales were just a little too weird and not what I was expecting from a Slaughter Book. They weren’t awful, far from it, just not as good as the Atlanta/Grant County crime series.

View all my reviews