False Witness
A Novel
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4.3 • 1.9K Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"There's deception, sabotage, violence, family secrets . . . all the stuff you could want from a fictional page-turner."— theSkimm
He saw what you did. He knows who you are…
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pieces of Her and The Silent Wife, an electrifying standalone psychological thriller.
AN ORDINARY LIFE…
Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She’s an up-and-coming defense attorney at a prestigious law firm in Atlanta, would do anything for her sixteen-year-old daughter Maddy, and is managing to successfully coparent through a pandemic after an amicable separation from her husband Walter.
HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST...
But Leigh’s ordinary life masks a childhood no one should have to endure … a childhood tarnished by dark family secrets, broken by betrayal, and ultimately destroyed by a brutal act of violence.
BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP…
On a Sunday night at her daughter’s school play, she gets a call from one of the firm's partners who wants Leigh to come on board to defend a wealthy man accused of multiple counts of rape. Though wary of the case, it becomes apparent she doesn't have much choice if she wants to keep her job. They're scheduled to go to trial in one week. When she meets the accused face-to-face, she realizes in a moment of chilling suspense that it’s no coincidence that he’s specifically asked for her to represent him. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he may know what happened over twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades avoiding her past.
AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.
Suddenly she has a lot more to lose than this case as she's pulled into a dangerous game of blackmail. The only person who can help is her younger, estranged sister Callie—the last person Leigh would ever want to drag into this after all they’ve been through. But with the life-shattering truth in danger of being revealed, she has no choice...
“A high-stakes thriller . . . Her heroines are believable, flawed and courageous.” –OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1998, teen sisters Callie and Leigh, the heroines of this superb thriller from bestseller Slaughter (The Silent Wife), murder Buddy Waleski, who sexually abused them for years while they babysat his son, Trevor, in Chicago. They leave the Waleski kitchen spotless after cleaning up any evidence of the murder and hide Buddy's body. In 2021, Callie, who became addicted to heroin after a gymnastics accident left her in constant pain, and Leigh, a defense attorney, unexpectedly confront the past after Leigh's boss assigns the case of an alleged serial killer to her. During their first meeting, Andrew Tenant tells Leigh he's actually the little boy she once babysat—Trevor Waleski—and implies that he knows the sisters killed his father. Callie and Leigh work urgently to determine how and what he knows. Breaking into the abandoned former Waleski house, Callie finds a crawl space with cameras aimed both at the kitchen where Buddy's murder occurred and the living room couch where Callie was repeatedly raped as a 12-year-old by Buddy. If Leigh doesn't secure a not guilty verdict, the pathological Andrew threatens to retaliate by releasing his father's videos to the media and murdering her 16-year-old daughter. A shocking tragedy at the end will keep readers transfixed. Slaughter is writing at the top of her game.
Customer Reviews
There will be crying
I absolutely loved this novel. The two sisters, Callie and Leigh, are such great characters, and the villains are so incredibly malevolent. Some of my favorites: We’ll-paced; fully formed characters; Callie’s wit; Andrew’s diabolical nature; the absolute love the sisters had for one another; and the incredibly powerful ending.
Couldn’t put down
Page turner from beginning to end. So good!
Floored!
If I could give this 6 stars, I would. I’m a recovering addict, a victim of sexual assault, and an avid reader. This story gives me a thrill ride I cannot describe. The character development and deep dive into an addicts mind are BEYOND comprehension; if you’ve never been in their shoes, this novel puts you there. The storyline and the twists and turns are mind blowing and SO well written. It’s more than a thriller, it’s an eye opener.