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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
*** This review can also be found on my blog! ***
I’ve got a few Karin Slaughter books that I’ve been meaning to get round to but they’re all in series which is obviously a commitment hence why I’ve been putting them off! But when I saw this in my local charity shop and saw it was a stand-alone, I knew I had to have it and read it ASAP and I’m so glad I did! It was just brilliant read and it’s really made me look forward to finally taking the commitment plunge and reading the other books I’ve got by Karin Slaughter!
This is set in the 1970’s and follows the story of 2 female cops in Atlanta whilst there is a cop killer on the loose. We hear the story from 3 perspectives; Kate, Maggie and Fox. Kate is a newbie cop who has come from the richer and nicer side of town whereas Maggie has been on the force a while after following her brother and Uncle into the police force and doesn’t live quite as nicely as Kate does. I’m not going to spoil who Fox is so you’ll have to see who they are!
I really enjoyed watching the character development of both Maggie and Kate. Kate being the newbie has no idea what she’s walking into on her first day as a new cop and Maggie steps in to help her a bit and they develop somewhat of a relationship from there. Maggie is wary of Kate as she doesn’t think she’ll 2-minutes in the job because of her up-bringing but it was nice to see Kate prove Maggie wrong and grow into her new job and also nice to see Maggie develop and step-out from under her brother and Uncle’s shadow.
This book does feature a lot of racism, sexism and homophobia but it was done well (if that’s such a thing?!) and it was obvious that it wasn’t just done for the sake of adding in all these slurs. There were some really horrible characters in this book; they treated the women in the police force like rubbish and were of the opinion that women definitely didn’t belong in the police force which obviously made Kate, Maggie and the other female officer’s lives difficult on the job. It was really eye-opening to how things were – I was a 90’s baby so I obviously don’t have much idea of what everything was like in the 70’s so I can’t speak on how accurately the 70’s are represented here. What is obvious is that it’s a very different environment to what things are like now and it was really well done.
I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a good crime/thriller book and it’s a standalone which is even better so you only have to commit to the one book!
I’ve got a few Karin Slaughter books that I’ve been meaning to get round to but they’re all in series which is obviously a commitment hence why I’ve been putting them off! But when I saw this in my local charity shop and saw it was a stand-alone, I knew I had to have it and read it ASAP and I’m so glad I did! It was just brilliant read and it’s really made me look forward to finally taking the commitment plunge and reading the other books I’ve got by Karin Slaughter!
This is set in the 1970’s and follows the story of 2 female cops in Atlanta whilst there is a cop killer on the loose. We hear the story from 3 perspectives; Kate, Maggie and Fox. Kate is a newbie cop who has come from the richer and nicer side of town whereas Maggie has been on the force a while after following her brother and Uncle into the police force and doesn’t live quite as nicely as Kate does. I’m not going to spoil who Fox is so you’ll have to see who they are!
I really enjoyed watching the character development of both Maggie and Kate. Kate being the newbie has no idea what she’s walking into on her first day as a new cop and Maggie steps in to help her a bit and they develop somewhat of a relationship from there. Maggie is wary of Kate as she doesn’t think she’ll 2-minutes in the job because of her up-bringing but it was nice to see Kate prove Maggie wrong and grow into her new job and also nice to see Maggie develop and step-out from under her brother and Uncle’s shadow.
This book does feature a lot of racism, sexism and homophobia but it was done well (if that’s such a thing?!) and it was obvious that it wasn’t just done for the sake of adding in all these slurs. There were some really horrible characters in this book; they treated the women in the police force like rubbish and were of the opinion that women definitely didn’t belong in the police force which obviously made Kate, Maggie and the other female officer’s lives difficult on the job. It was really eye-opening to how things were – I was a 90’s baby so I obviously don’t have much idea of what everything was like in the 70’s so I can’t speak on how accurately the 70’s are represented here. What is obvious is that it’s a very different environment to what things are like now and it was really well done.
I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a good crime/thriller book and it’s a standalone which is even better so you only have to commit to the one book!
Karin Slaughter is still my girl, but this one didn't do it for me at all. The offensiveness of the characters was plot-appropriate, but way too hard to listen to (audiobooks as read by Kathleen Early being my preferred way to consume Slaughter.)
I LOVE Karin Slaughter. I love her and hype her up so much that my phone knows we’re typing Karin Slaughter after the second letter.
I never thought I’d give one of her book a 3⭐️ rating, but alas it has happened. This book is well written but the sexism is so triggering and so distracting. I know that it is accurate and that women really used to be treated this way but it really made it so hard to read this book.
Still love Karin anyways
I never thought I’d give one of her book a 3⭐️ rating, but alas it has happened. This book is well written but the sexism is so triggering and so distracting. I know that it is accurate and that women really used to be treated this way but it really made it so hard to read this book.
Still love Karin anyways
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Just can’t get into this one right now. I’m a huge KS fan, so I’ll revisit it at some point.
I like this author generally, but I didn't enjoy this book. I had trouble getting into it, but forced myself to read the first 100 pages. I just wasn't interested in the characters or the level of detail Slaughter went into about the Lawson family and their dynamics in the beginning. Too slow to start.
After about 100 pages, the mystery starts up more, but it never reached a level where I was engrossed. The characters were really distracting and felt cartoon-y. Terry is a sexist alpha male. Kate's the new girl. Maggie's cynical. They all felt very one dimensional and predictable.
I also felt that the sexism, racism, and language detracted from the book overall. Perhaps it was true for the time, but it just felt like the author was at times trying to impress us with grit vs. the actual mystery. When the identity of the antagonist is revealed at the end, it's not particularly shocking or scandalous... it falls kind of flat.
It's an okay read. Sometimes Slaughter's use of language is interesting - use of similes, descriptions, etc., but for the most part I wouldn't recommend it.
After about 100 pages, the mystery starts up more, but it never reached a level where I was engrossed. The characters were really distracting and felt cartoon-y. Terry is a sexist alpha male. Kate's the new girl. Maggie's cynical. They all felt very one dimensional and predictable.
I also felt that the sexism, racism, and language detracted from the book overall. Perhaps it was true for the time, but it just felt like the author was at times trying to impress us with grit vs. the actual mystery. When the identity of the antagonist is revealed at the end, it's not particularly shocking or scandalous... it falls kind of flat.
It's an okay read. Sometimes Slaughter's use of language is interesting - use of similes, descriptions, etc., but for the most part I wouldn't recommend it.
DNF @ 48%
I've been a long time fan of Karin Slaughter and love everything she writes but this one just didn't work for me. It was too slow and didn't grab me enough to keep going with it.
I've been a long time fan of Karin Slaughter and love everything she writes but this one just didn't work for me. It was too slow and didn't grab me enough to keep going with it.
Excellent book. Couldn't put it down and definitely not who I expected!
love her writing but don't like the topic. the worst of the racism and sexism of the 70s. Some characters are just too hateful and uncomfortable to read about.
This one took some time for me to get into, I think because I missed Will Trent. At about the 40% mark, I finally got my groove and didn’t want to set the book down. Karin Slaughter definitely knows her stuff about police officers, Atlanta and the racism and sexism in the 70s. The sad part is, not much progress has really been made in those areas even though it’s 2021. Sure there are more police women and officers who are people of color, but I image it’s still a good ol’ boys club with a lot of difficult situations. Many passages that were written towards the end of the book by the villain reminded me of phrases I’ve heard in the news lately or read on Reddit by people who are just terrible (looking at you January 6th Capitol rioters). By the time the book ended, I was very drawn to Kate and Maggie (main characters) so if Karin Slaughter makes this a series... I would read them.