Uncompromising, gritty and hugely contemporary stand-alone thriller with a social conscience.
False Witness focuses on the story of two sisters from a troubled background in Atlanta, Georgia and the divergent paths their lives follow after a harrowing incidence of childhood abuse that has defined their future. A searing prologue opens the novel in the most hard-hitting manner with fourteen-year-old babysitter Callie being sexually abused and fighting for her life, before calling her older sister, Harleigh (Leigh) fo come to her aid. Whilst neither sister has ever completely recovered from that night, Harleigh (Leigh) went off to study for a law degree in Chicago and has attempted to bury her demons, albeit with a tendency to sabotage any happiness that comes her way and still carrying the burden of guilt for her sister’s trauma. A teenage gymnast and cheerleader, Callie struggled to move on, not aided by her complicated feelings for the man who abused her and a series of surgeries following a break to her neck have left the thirty-seven-year-old in relentless pain and caught in the cycle of addiction. Whilst the now semi-estranged sister’s are leading very different lives Defence Attorney Leigh’s latest client is about the unite them once again, threatening to destroy everything they both hold dear.
The pandemic has seen Leigh Collier join a white shoe law firm but when a Sunday night call from a partner serves up her latest client, the amicably divorced mother of one smells a rat. Car salesman and thirty-three-year-old, Andrew Tenant, has been accused of brutally raping a woman and specifically requested Leigh to represent him in a last minute substitution due to the fact the two sisters were once his babysitters, meaning the abusive predator was his father. The more Leigh learns about the incident he is facing prosecution for, the greater her fear grows that he knows more than she could have ever imagined about that pivotal night twenty-three years ago, whilst simultaneously revealing himself to be a dangerous psychopath. Charging Leigh with ensuring he is found innocent in a courtroom and his victims are branded liars or else opening both Callie and her up to mutually assured destruction, Tennant seems to hold all of the power. Leigh excels at compartmentalising and from the moment she learns the identity of her client her prime concern is protecting those she loves. Although the sibling relationship portrayed wasn’t particularly convincing and I didn’t feel emotionally invested in either sister the story held my interest throughout. Slaughter never shies away from depicting reality and when the denouement comes it is shocking, messy and credible.
A powerful social commentary runs throughout the novel, touching on everything from sexual abuse and the everyday harassment that comes with being a young woman, to toxic male violence and the entitlement culture that is still so prevalent amongst certain sectors of society. The book is heavily repetitive, particularly regarding the sequence of events on the night in question which features in both sisters’ narratives and does make the pace somewhat uneven. Likewise the details on drug usage and the science of addiction also make it less readable. My main issue was with the Covid overkill (masks, social distancing etc) and whilst I have no issue with the novel being grounded in the midst of a pandemic, surely as readers we can build this into our understanding and assume characters are incorporating the required procedures and do not constantly need to be told.
The pandemic has seen Leigh Collier join a white shoe law firm but when a Sunday night call from a partner serves up her latest client, the amicably divorced mother of one smells a rat. Car salesman and thirty-three-year-old, Andrew Tenant, has been accused of brutally raping a woman and specifically requested Leigh to represent him in a last minute substitution due to the fact the two sisters were once his babysitters, meaning the abusive predator was his father. The more Leigh learns about the incident he is facing prosecution for, the greater her fear grows that he knows more than she could have ever imagined about that pivotal night twenty-three years ago, whilst simultaneously revealing himself to be a dangerous psychopath. Charging Leigh with ensuring he is found innocent in a courtroom and his victims are branded liars or else opening both Callie and her up to mutually assured destruction, Tennant seems to hold all of the power. Leigh excels at compartmentalising and from the moment she learns the identity of her client her prime concern is protecting those she loves. Although the sibling relationship portrayed wasn’t particularly convincing and I didn’t feel emotionally invested in either sister the story held my interest throughout. Slaughter never shies away from depicting reality and when the denouement comes it is shocking, messy and credible.
A powerful social commentary runs throughout the novel, touching on everything from sexual abuse and the everyday harassment that comes with being a young woman, to toxic male violence and the entitlement culture that is still so prevalent amongst certain sectors of society. The book is heavily repetitive, particularly regarding the sequence of events on the night in question which features in both sisters’ narratives and does make the pace somewhat uneven. Likewise the details on drug usage and the science of addiction also make it less readable. My main issue was with the Covid overkill (masks, social distancing etc) and whilst I have no issue with the novel being grounded in the midst of a pandemic, surely as readers we can build this into our understanding and assume characters are incorporating the required procedures and do not constantly need to be told.