A gripping page-turner with compelling characters
I had never read a Karin Slaughter novel before so I came to this book with a blank slate in terms of expectations.
From the first chapter, with a deft bait-and-switch move, I was gripped. It is a real page-turner of a novel, with a driving narrative that moves the action forwards but doesn’t come at the expense of character development.
The main protagonist, Leigh, is a woman with terrible secrets in her past who has driven herself onwards to escape them. From the outside looking in she appears to have it all - a legal career in a blue-chip firm, a teenage daughter she adores, an ex-husband with whom she has a very close relationship. It really seems as if she has travelled a long way from her roots as an abused child. However things are never quite as they seem at first glance and very quickly Leigh’s carefully compartmentalised life starts to unravel when a case that intersects with her troubled teenage past lands in her lap.
The other key figure is Leigh’s sister, Callie who never managed to escape the past and is a junkie who survives on her wits. The relationship between these very different siblings is well drawn and you come to understand how that bond was forged in the fire of their youth.
As the action progresses there are plenty of heart-stopping moments and you find yourself willing the sisters on as they fight to stop the bad guy winning and keep their secrets from bursting out into the present.
One thing that really grounds the novel in the present is the inclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. It doesn’t overwhelm the narrative and doesn’t feel forced, but is adds an additional element of threat to the overall atmosphere of the story and makes it feel very contemporary.
All in all, this is an intriguing thriller that grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go until the last page. Highly recommended!
From the first chapter, with a deft bait-and-switch move, I was gripped. It is a real page-turner of a novel, with a driving narrative that moves the action forwards but doesn’t come at the expense of character development.
The main protagonist, Leigh, is a woman with terrible secrets in her past who has driven herself onwards to escape them. From the outside looking in she appears to have it all - a legal career in a blue-chip firm, a teenage daughter she adores, an ex-husband with whom she has a very close relationship. It really seems as if she has travelled a long way from her roots as an abused child. However things are never quite as they seem at first glance and very quickly Leigh’s carefully compartmentalised life starts to unravel when a case that intersects with her troubled teenage past lands in her lap.
The other key figure is Leigh’s sister, Callie who never managed to escape the past and is a junkie who survives on her wits. The relationship between these very different siblings is well drawn and you come to understand how that bond was forged in the fire of their youth.
As the action progresses there are plenty of heart-stopping moments and you find yourself willing the sisters on as they fight to stop the bad guy winning and keep their secrets from bursting out into the present.
One thing that really grounds the novel in the present is the inclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. It doesn’t overwhelm the narrative and doesn’t feel forced, but is adds an additional element of threat to the overall atmosphere of the story and makes it feel very contemporary.
All in all, this is an intriguing thriller that grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go until the last page. Highly recommended!