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Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism
Emily was only 17 when she was attacked and left for dead whilst heavily pregnant. Nobody knew who the father was, perhaps not even Emily herself. Or so it seemed. Yet someone had motive enough to kill her. Some forty years later, Andrea is sent to the scene under the guise of protecting the dead girl's grandmother from death threats. In reality, if she can prove her own father killed the girl all those years go, she will be able to prevent him leaving prison and ever threatening them again. But it's a forty year cold case. Information was slim on the ground then and it isn't going to be any easier now.
It's a well written thriller that has several competing narrative lines, with all of them being interesting and competing for Andrea's attention. In between we get interludes from four decades ago from Emily's perspective, bringing additional detail to the old case but no real answers. The juxtaposition between present and past is done well, and the chapters from Emily help bring the forty years older adults into perspective, highlighting their personalities as Emily knew them. The characters all felt real, although many of them are certainly not people you'd want to get to know well.
So, a strong and relatively tame Karin Slaughter novel. There's apparently an initial thriller looking in more detail at Andrea's background and her father. That's now also on my to-read list!
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape
Moderate: Chronic illness
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Pros: I like that the sequel chose Andrea as the protagonist. Her mother was great in the first book. I love strong women, so I liked that the writer spread that out between the generations.
Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Graphic: Confinement, Death
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Outing
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
In typical Slaughter fashion, this is a brutal high-octane murder thriller with strong female characters and a wild plot. It is at times incredibly difficult to read, but hard to put down. You’ll find yourself shouting at and cheering on different characters.
Slaughter is known for dark details and unflinching portrayals of the worst of humanity. This book has a lot of that. In my opinion, this story flirts with having a bit too much. I recommend extreme caution to anyone sensitive to rape and sexual assault. (There are further trigger warnings
That said, I really enjoyed the direction she took Andy’s character in. You can tell there’s a lot of growth from the previous book and she is really starting to settle into herself. I also adored her partner on the Marshall’s force. He brought some much needed humor to the story. The villains in this story are also very evil. There is no doubt about who you’re supposed to root for in this one.
All in all, if you like dark reads and are not easily triggered, you may enjoy this one. It is well written and engaging, but not for the faint of heart.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail