Short Stories Challenge – The Mean Time by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

What’s The Mean Time all about?:

It’s a hot summer’s day and twelve-year-old Peanut and her cousins are being driven into town on the back of a trailer drawn by Uncle Toby in his tractor. It’s Peanut’s ‘mean time’ age and she’s about to do something she’ll regret…

What did I think?:

As regular readers of my blog may already know, I’m a big fan of Karin Slaughter’s novels but I’m definitely starting to enjoy her short fiction just as much. The two stories in this bundle I bought for my Kindle are as different as night and day and after the brutality that was Necessary Women, I was expecting more of the same when it came round to reading The Mean Time. Perhaps it is the way the author begins the story – our heroine, Peanuts, is in a truck connected to our Uncle Toby’s tractor with her cousins and he is taking them all to the local shop to get some sweets. Before her current age of twelve, Peanuts always assumed that her uncle enjoyed playing with the kids and it is only become apparent that he is “mentally slow,” something that is a huge deal for her at an age when even the slightest difference can make a huge difference to how she is perceived by others.

Peanuts is already having quite a hard time comparing her life to that of her cousins (her father’s family) who are clearly poor but work hard (usually physically) for every penny of their money. She admits that her and her sisters have never wanted for anything as their father never wished for them to have as poor an upbringing as he himself had so they are quite literally spoilt rotten. Visiting their poorer relations who can’t understand why her father would want to make more money than that required to live on and who seem to have a different notion of what hard work actually is is an eye-opener for her as she gets older and notices/desires the opinions of others a lot more.

The author describes Uncle Toby’s mouth as having a tooth missing which could lead to him having a somewhat “sinister,” appearance to those who did not know him. Immediately I thought I was going to be taken down this dark and twisty pathway Karin Slaughter does so well and with the previous story still very fresh in my memory, I don’t think you could blame me! However, this was categorically NOT the case and the story that unravelled was quite different. The climax is an altercation in the shop between Peanuts and Uncle Toby that she bitterly regrets as soon as it has happens but unfortunately can never take it back. The following quote, which I loved, sums up the story beautifully in better words than I can ever write:

“This was a time in my life when I keenly searched for disapproval or agreement in the eyes of strangers. I was halfway into my twelfth year, a walking box of hate and hormones. This was my mean time, and the approval of someone who did not know me mattered much more than the opinions of those who knew me best.”

The Mean Time stands on its own as a great piece of short fiction and perhaps I shouldn’t compare it too much to the story it was bunched with. Both are brilliant in very different ways and I believe it shows the versatility of Karin Slaughter as an author perfectly. This narrative took me right back to my own adolescence when I desperately needed the approval of others and said/did things I instantly regretted. The author managed to capture the essence of what it is to be a teenage girl wonderfully and although I was slightly surprised by the ending I now think it bitter-sweet and simply how it should have been. I’m hoping that even though it is a slight departure from the fiction the author usually writes, fans will enjoy it just as much.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

NEXT SHORT STORY: Duet by Kate Mosse from the collection The Mistletoe Bride And Other Haunting Tales

 

 

Short Stories Challenge 2015 – October to December

Image from http://www.slideshare.net/ernella32/teaching-the-short-story

It’s nearly the end of the year and here’s what I’ll be reading short story wise to see out 2015!

Week beginning 5th October

Corrugated Dreaming by Dianne Gray from the collection Manslaughter And Other Tears

Week beginning 12th October

Beachcombing by Lucy Wood from the collection Diving Belles

Week beginning 19th October

A Man And Two Women by Doris Lessing from the collection The Story: Love, Loss And The Lives of Women edited by Victoria Hislop

Week beginning 26th October

The New Veterans by Karen Russell from the collection Vampires In The Lemon Grove

Week beginning 2nd November

The Adventure Of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle from the collection The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes

Week beginning 9th November

Vuotjärvi by Sarah Hall from the collection The Beautiful Indifference

Week beginning 16th November

Bibhutibhushan Malik’s Final Storyboard by Rajesh Parameswaran from the collection I Am An Executioner: Love Stories

Week beginning 23rd November

The Jesus Stories by Kevin Brockmeier from the collection Things That Fall From The Sky

Week beginning 30th November

We Were Just Driving Around by Jon McGregor from the collection This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You

Week beginning 7th December

The Chamois by Daphne du Maurier from the collection The Breaking Point

Week beginning 14th December

Under The Pylon by Graham Joyce from the collection Tales For A Dark Evening

Week beginning 21st December

A Mighty Horde Of Women In Very Big Hats, Advancing by Michel Faber from the collection The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories

Week beginning 28th December

The Mean Time by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

Short Stories Challenge – Necessary Women by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

What’s Necessary Women all about?:

She was fourteen when she watched mother die. With her mother gone, her father told her she had to be the woman of the house. And then he went away for six months. Now she’s got a surprise for him…

What did I think?:

On reading the short synopsis of this story I was instantly intrigued (plus Karin Slaughter is one of my favourite thriller writers) and looked forward to diving right in. Now, I am quite familiar with the author’s writing style and suspected that this tale might have something of the macabre about it but oh my goodness, she still managed to shock me. I’m very wary of giving too much away about Necessary Women so I’ll try and keep this review as short and spoiler-free as possible.

The main character in this story is a fourteen year old girl whom when we come across her is watching her mother die in one of the most gritty and explosive openings in all of Slaughter’s work:

“I was fourteen years old when I watched my mama die. Her pale skin turned pasty as she clutched her throat, blood seeping through her fingers like she was squeezing a sponge instead of trying to hold onto her life.”

The reader is then taken back in time and shown the girl’s life with Mama before her untimely death. They are not happy, the girl freely admits this but they try their best. Her father is a long hauler and is often working away for sometimes months at a time so they are often left to manage on their own. Before long, it is obvious to the reader that Mama is not happy in her marriage and she begs her daughter not to end up like her although it might be a bit too late for the sex education talk as our narrator is already pregnant. When her mother passes away her father tells her that she has to take over as the “woman of the house,” and must do all the jobs necessary for a woman to do (hence the title). Our narrator is not very good at looking after herself and is often hungry but makes sure that she puts on a good spread whenever her father is due home. She ends up giving up school and gives birth to a baby “with one arm and a knob where a left foot should have been.” The cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck and she buries her in the garden, begging God to allow her into heaven.

That’s all I’m going to say about the plot as I think this story is best experienced by actually reading it yourself. It is definitely all those good things a short story should be – thrilling and unputdownable with twists on multiple levels and Karin Slaughter’s trademark horrific imaginings. This was another one of those stories that I immediately went back to the beginning and started again to find out what I had missed (and also because of those last few lines which led to a shriek of “What?!” from yours truly). It was so surprising and so shocking that it completely reminded me why I’m a fan of this author. She accomplishes everything a good short story writer should in just a few pages and I’m sure like me as soon as you read this you’ll also be shaking your head in awe of her writing.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

NEXT SHORT STORY: The Mistletoe Bride by Kate Mosse from the collection The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales

Short Stories Challenge 2015 – July to September

Welcome to another three months of short stories! This little lot should see me through into the autumn.

Week beginning 6th July

Small Degrees by Kevin Brockmeier from the collection Things That Fall From The Sky

Week beginning 13th July

Airshow by Jon McGregor from the collection This Isn’t The Sort of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You

Week beginning 20th July

The Menace by Daphne du Maurier from the collection The Breaking Point

Week beginning 27th July

Candia by Graham Joyce from the collection Tales For A Dark Evening

Week beginning 3rd August

Medicine by Michel Faber from the collection The

Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories

Week beginning 10th August

Necessary Women by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

Week beginning 17th August

The Mistletoe Bride by Kate Mosse from the collection The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales

Week beginning 24th August

Tell Me I’ll See You Again by Dennis Etchison from the collection A Book of Horrors

Week beginning 31st August

The Whisperer in Darkness by H.P. Lovecraft from the collection The Definitive H.P. Lovecraft

Week beginning 7th September

The Rat In The Attic by Brian McGilloway from the collection The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 7

Week beginning 14th September

Care by Julie Orringer from the collection How To Breathe Underwater

Week beginning 21st September

The Cat That Walked By Himself by Rudyard Kipling from the collection Stories To Get You Through The Night

Week beginning 28th September

The Wedding Gig by Stephen King from the collection Skeleton Crew

Short Stories Challenge – Martin Misunderstood by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

What’s it all about?:

A darkly comic tale about Mr Less-Than-Average in an average world from the No. 1 Bestseller.

Crime fiction obsessive Martin Reed is the proverbial butt of everyone’s jokes. Working as a glorified accountant at Southern Toilet Supply and still living with his cantankerous mother, he has become resigned to the world in which he lives – the school bullies now pick on him in the workplace, women still spurn him and his arch enemy is now his supervisor.

But then he arrives at work one morning to find the police on site. A co-worker has been brutally murdered and her body abandoned in a ditch. And the overwhelming evidence points to Martin – especially when he can’t or won’t admit that he has an alibi.

When a second victim is found in the company bathroom, things really conspire against Martin. The one bright star on his otherwise bleak horizon is the beautiful and sympathetic Detective Anther Albada, but even she’s beginning to have her doubts about his innocence. Could Martin be guilty? Or is he just misunderstood?

What did I think?:

I love that Karin Slaughter puts out short stories/novellas as well as her hugely popular Grant County series featuring the fantastic character of Will Trent (one of my most loved agents in fiction). Martin Misunderstood is more of a novella, weighing in at 147 pages in my own paperback format. When reading it however, it felt like much less and I whizzed through it very quickly. Our main character is Martin Reed who I am sorry to say is one of life’s losers. He is single, works for a company that sells toilet supplies, remains in the same town that he grew up in where the bullies of his schooldays continue to haunt him (and work with him in some cases) and still lives with his mother who makes it her mission to taunt him on a daily basis and who is desperate for him to be gay just so he would be a bit more interesting. To make things even worse, someone has keyed the work “twat,” on his car and looks to have damaged the bumper. Lovely!

Things start to get much more interesting one day as Martin arrives at work to find a police presence and an area cordoned off. It turns out that one of Martin’s colleagues, Sandy, has been murdered and unfortunately Martin is the prime suspect. Not only has the bumper of his car been mysteriously damaged but there is blood present which matches the blood of the victim. After looking at his messed up car, Martin has managed to cut himself, perfectly innocently of course but it doesn’t look too good in front of the investigating officer, Detective Anther Albada. To put the icing on the cake, the detective also happens to be very beautiful but poor, socially awkward Martin who quakes in excitement in her presence really doesn’t have a hope in hell. His colleagues incriminate him further by telling the police that Sandy had been taunting Martin two days previously by announcing that he had a “teenie weenie” on the company loudspeaker and super-gluing a twelve inch vibrating sex toy to his work desk. When another body is found with a further connection to Martin it looks like his hum-drum life is going to be getting a lot more interesting. But is Martin a killer? Or simply misunderstood?

Karin Slaughter’s trademark black humour makes this story easy to gobble up in a short space of time and some scenes definitely made me laugh out loud. One sex scene was written in such a way that it was both hilarious and cringe-worthy at the same time, those who have read this story will know exactly what I’m talking about! I felt so sorry for our main character Martin as the evidence stacks up against him and he doesn’t help matters by digging himself into a colossal hole. The author manages to pack in some great characters like Martin’s co-worker, Unique Jones (with an accent on the e and pronounced You-Nee-Kay thank you very much) and Martin’s intimidating and infuriating mother, Evie. Karin Slaughter also knows how to write a brilliant ending that leaves you feeling completely satisfied yet somehow gagging for more. Take the last line for instance – “And it was true. Martin finally understood.” For me, it’s a must-read for fans of the author and anybody new to her writing, which after this novella should make anyone hungry to seek out the rest of her work.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

NEXT SHORT STORY: Cellists by Kazuo Ishiguro from the collection Nocturnes: Five Stories Of Music and Nightfall

Unseen – Karin Slaughter

What’s it all about?:

Karin Slaughter’s novels featuring detective Will Trent are utterly riveting and masterfully drawn. Her latest thriller, Unseen, pits detectives, lovers, and enemies against one another in an unforgettable standoff between righteous courage and deepest evil.

Will Trent is a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent whose latest case has him posing as Bill Black, a scary ex-con who rides a motorcycle around Macon, Georgia, and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. The cover has worked and he has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer who thinks he might be a useful ally. But undercover and cut off from the support of the woman he loves, Sara Linton, Will finds his demons catching up with him.

Although she has no idea where Will has gone, or why, Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home. Sara holds Lena, Jared’s wife, responsible: Lena, a detective, has been a magnet for trouble all her life, and Jared’s shooting is not the first time someone Sara loved got caught in the crossfire. Furious, Sara finds herself involved in the same case that Will is working without even knowing it, and soon danger is swirling around both of them.

In a novel of fierce intensity, shifting allegiances, and shocking twists, two investigations collide with a conspiracy straddling both sides of the law. Karin Slaughter’s latest is both an electrifying thriller and a piercing study of human nature: what happens when good people face the unseen evils in their lives.

What did I think?:

Hooray, another Karin Slaughter novel! Regular readers of my blog will know I’m a big fan, especially of her Will Trent series and this latest, while not my particular favourite is still a damn good read which I enjoyed more than the previous book in the series, Criminal. A big thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a copy of this novel in return for an honest review. If you’re familiar with the series, you will know that Will and Sara are now a couple. Unfortunately, Will’s latest assignment is undercover, as hard as nails ex-con Bill Black (complete with motorcycle and probably a toothpick in his mouth). This takes him away from Sara for a bit as he concentrates solely on his mission. But it’s probably not the best time to be away from his partner, as things are kicking off on her side also.

Detective Lena Adams is back (another hooray!) and where Lena goes, trouble is bound to follow. Sara and Lena have a rather strained history as Sara blames Lena for the shooting of someone she loved and as a result, has never forgiven her. Lena is now married to Sara’s stepson Jared and gets mixed up in a very dangerous case where Jared ends up being shot. Sara is obviously devastated, feeling like history is repeating itself and once again, Lena finds herself the recipient of Sara’s fury. What they don’t know is how inter-linked the case Lena was working on and the case Will is undercover for really is. And Sara may not be too happy with it by the way. When all hell breaks loose, Sara and Will find themselves in a very precarious situation that may threaten their relationship indefinitely. As always, there are gruesome scenes a-plenty, and the story touches on the issues of child abduction and abuse which may not be for all readers but I think it was handled well.

I really love the characters in Karin Slaughter’s novels, especially Will Trent (whom I may have gushed about in previous reviews). For this review, I’ll gush about Lena instead! I was really pleased to see the return of this wild and slightly damaged detective and enjoyed that we got to see a bit of her vulnerable side in this novel. I know some reviewers may not really like Lena as a character, but I find her so interesting and immensely readable and always wonder what disaster she’s going to end up in next. This novel is jam packed with twists, turns and surprises and often kept me guessing with each page I turned. Karin’s new novel Cop Town is out now and even though it’s not part of the Will Trent series, I’m excited to see what it’s all about. For me, this is an author that can’t do much wrong.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

Short Stories Challenge 2015 – January to March

Another year over, and a new year of short stories begins! Here’s what I’m going to be reading each week until the end of March.

Week beginning 5th January

Magpies by Lucy Wood from the collection Diving Belles

Week beginning 12th January

A Married Man’s Story by Katherine Mansfield from the collection The Story, Love, Loss & The Lives of Women 100 Great Short Stories chosen by Victoria Hislop

Week beginning 19th January

The Barn At The End Of Our Term by Karen Russell from the collection Vampires In The Lemon Grove

Week beginning 26th January

The Five Orange Pips by Arthur Conan Doyle from the collection The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes

Week beginning 1st February

She Murdered Mortal He by Sarah Hall from the collection The Beautiful Indifference

Week beginning 8th February

Demons by Rajesh Parameswaran from the collection I Am An Executioner

Week beginning 15th February

The Ceiling by Kevin Brockmeier from the collection Things That Fall From The Sky

Week beginning 22nd February

Keeping Watch Over The Sheep by Jon McGregor from the collection This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You

Week beginning 1st March

The Archduchess by Daphne du Maurier from the collection The Breaking Point

Week beginning 8th March

The Oversoul by Graham Joyce from the collection Tales For A Dark Evening

Week beginning 15th March

The Apple by Michel Faber from the collection The Apple: Crimson Petal Stories

Week beginning 22nd March

Martin Misunderstood by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

Week beginning 29th March

Cellists by Kazuo Ishiguro from the collection Nocturnes: Five Stories Of Music and Nightfall

Short Stories Challenge – Busted by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

What’s it all about?:

From Karin Slaughter comes a fast and furious tale in which no one is quite who they seem. This electrifying eBook novella featuring Will Trent is a prequel to Slaughter’s upcoming novel,Unseen.

Detective Will Trent is standing in a Georgia convenience store, waiting on an obstinate Icee frozen drink machine. To the surveillance cameras and bored staff of the Lil’ Dixie Gas-n-Go, however, Will appears to be someone very different—the menacing ex-con Bill Black. Going undercover as Bill, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent is about to infiltrate the most corrupt town in the most corrupt county in the new American South. But first: his Icee.

Everything changes in one horrific instant, as all hell breaks loose at the Lil’ Dixie. A cop is shot. A bag of cash goes flying across the floor. A young woman disappears while a killer takes off in a battered pick-up truck. Within seconds, Will is in pursuit.

What did I think?:

Karin Slaughter is one of my must-read authors and I’ve enjoyed the recent eBook shorts she’s written. Busted, like Snatched involves one of my favourite characters from the author’s Will Trent series i.e. Will Trent! This novella is also a sort of prequel to Karin’s next full novel in the series, Unseen which was a pleasant surprise for me. So for anyone who hasn’t read any of the series, Will Trent is a detective with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a job which he loves but his usual role has been put on the back burner as he is required to go undercover as Bill Black, hardened criminal with a few colourful arrests and convictions on his record. When the story opens he is at a convenience store, waiting for what seems like an age just to get some frozen Coke.

Life never goes that smoothly for Will Trent however, and before he knows it he is caught up in an armed robbery on the store. As the perp demands money while brandishing his gun, Will’s cop instincts kick into overdrive and while he at first takes the sensible option and dials 911, he also ends up getting fully involved in the incident while trying to restrain the perp. Of course, there’s always one in the wings waiting in a getaway car and the situation turns quite messy as a policeman who had also been in the store as a customer is shot. Will himself ends up in a high speed chase for the second perp on his motorbike, earning him quite a few injuries in the process. The bad guy ends up a lot worse off though you may be pleased to hear as Will chooses quite a novel way to bring him down.

Will’s injuries are nothing compared to the roasting he gets from his boss, the fiesty Amanda Byrne as she arrives on the crime scene with Will’s partner, Faith. After all, he is meant to be undercover and look at the attention he’s brought to himself. Naughty Will. As they all try to make sense of the crime not everything is as it seems and there are a lot of things that just don’t add up. For starters, where has the bag of cash gone? What happened to the young woman behind the counter? And why do the video camera images show a probable third perp?

Karin Slaughter has a gift for creating fantastic characters and very readable, thrilling fiction. Busted was another easy to read but adrenaline coated novella shrouded with enough mystery, action and the author’s wonderful sense of humour to please her current fans and perhaps entice a few more for the Slaughter army? I enjoyed as always trying to figure out what was going on (I never get it right!) and submerging myself in Will Trent’s world once again. Out of the novellas I have read so far it isn’t my favourite – that award goes to the fabulous The Blessing of Brokenness but it’s still a great read and can also be enjoyed as a stand alone if you’ve never read any Slaughter before.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

NEXT SHORT STORY: Nocturne by Kazuo Ishiguro from the collection Nocturnes: Five Stories Of Music And Nightfall

Challenge: Short Stories October to December

It’s that time again short story fans! This is what I’ll be reading short story wise from now until the end of 2014.

Week beginning 6th October

 Looking Up Vagina by Jon McGregor from the collection This Isn’t The Sort Of Thing That Happens To Someone Like You

Week beginning 13th October

The Pool by Daphne Du Maurier from the collection The Breaking Point

Week beginning 20th October

Partial Eclipse by Graham Joyce from the collection Tales For A Dark Evening

Week beginning 27th October

The Fly And Its Effect Upon Mr Bodley by Michel Faber from the collection The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories

Week beginning 3rd November

Busted by Karin Slaughter (stand-alone)

Week beginning 10th November

Nocturne by Kazuo Ishiguro from the collection Nocturnes: Five Stories Of Music And Nightfall

Week beginning 17th November

The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter by Angela Slatter from the collection A Book Of Horrors

Week beginning 24th November

The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft from the collection The Definitive H.P. Lovecraft

Week beginning 1st December

The Common Enemy by Natasha Cooper from the collection The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime Volume 7

Week beginning 8th December

Note To Sixth-Grade Self by Julie Orringer from the collection How To Breathe Underwater

Week beginning 15th December

A Terribly Strange Bed by Wilkie Collins from the collection Stories To Get You Through The Night

Week beginning 22nd December

Mrs Todd’s Shortcut by Stephen King from the collection Skeleton Crew

Week beginning 29th December

Everything I Knew About My Family On My Mother’s Side by Nathan Englander from the collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank

Criminal – Karin Slaughter (Will Trent #6)

What’s it all about?:

Karin Slaughter’s new novel is an epic tale of love, loyalty, and murder that encompasses forty years, two chillingly similar murder cases, and a good man’s deepest secrets.

Will Trent is a brilliant agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Newly in love, he is beginning to put a difficult past behind him. Then a local college student goes missing, and Will is inexplicably kept off the case by his supervisor and mentor, deputy director Amanda Wagner. Will cannot fathom Amanda’s motivation until the two of them literally collide in an abandoned orphanage they have both been drawn to for different reasons. Decades before—when Will’s father was imprisoned for murder—this was his home. . . .

Flash back nearly forty years. In the summer Will Trent was born, Amanda Wagner is going to college, making Sunday dinners for her father, taking her first steps in the boys’ club that is the Atlanta Police Department. One of her first cases is to investigate a brutal crime in one of the city’s worst neighborhoods. Amanda and her partner, Evelyn, are the only ones who seem to care if an arrest is ever made.

Now the case that launched Amanda’s career has suddenly come back to life, intertwined with the long-held mystery of Will’s birth and parentage. And these two dauntless investigators will each need to face down demons from the past if they are to prevent an even greater terror from being unleashed.

What did I think?:

Let it be known I’m a big fan of Karin Slaughter’s work, and when I was first discovered her, beginning with the wonderful Blindsighted in 2001, I gobbled up her novels almost as soon as they were released. But recently, I have been a bit of a naughty Slaughter fan and fallen behind a bit which I aim to remedy now that I have read her latest story in the Will Trent series, Criminal, originally published in 2012. The other beloved main character who we got to know from the very start, Dr Sara Linton, does not make much of an appearance in this novel, but there is plenty of Will Trent to go round, which should please all Slaughter followers! I have to say, Will Trent is one of the most fascinating characters I have ever read about. He has had a difficult past which he is trying to put behind him now he is flying high with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (well apart from being on airport duty that is), and best of all, he’s probably met the love of his life which is allowing him to put a lot of those old demons to rest. You would think…

Criminal sees Will’s past delved into more meticulously and horrifically than ever before as a recent disappearance of a college student is being dealt with rather cryptically by Will’s boss, the indomitable Amanda Wagner. Wagner is desperately trying to keep Will off the case, but for what reason? The mystery only deepens when the two run into each other by coincidence in an abandoned building which used to be the orphanage where Will grew up. Flash back forty years, and we get to see more of Amanda’s past, as she struggles to carry out her duties as a policewoman against brutal gender discrimination. Women in the police force in the seventies were seen as a bit of a novelty and were often given the “softer” or easier crimes to deal with due to their apparent delicacy. Reading about this period in history was absolutely fascinating and I was pleased that we got to see the younger Wagner prior to her reputation as a bit of a “ball breaker.” Amanda and her partner Evelyn Mitchell (Faith’s mum, Slaughter fans) are sent to investigate the murder of a prostitute, deemed relatively safe by the superiors but as the case begins to take off, Amanda discovers that she got a bit more than she bargained for.

How does this all fit in with Will and the present day case? Well, that would spoil it, but be prepared for those juicy little nuggets of information the author gives out as we switch between time frames and slot each piece of the puzzle into place. The only problem I could envision is how Will was going to cope and if he had enough strength to deal with the ghosts of his past and put them firmly into the realms of history. Again, as with all of Slaughter’s thrillers, the character development is superb and I loved how we got to learn a bit more about Amanda Wagner, who I have always had a secret soft spot for. I should probably put a warning out there and say there is a bit of graphic violence which needs a hardy stomach, but I think it is always dealt with in a way that makes you want to turn the pages rather than vomit all over them. I think fans of Karin Slaughter will be very excited about this recent addition to the Will Trent series but if you’re new to her, I recommend you check out Blindsighted first. Of course Criminal can be read as a stand-alone, but knowing the background of some of the characters and knowledge of certain main events in the main characters lives will definitely make for a more pleasurable reading experience.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):