Criminal (with bonus novella Snatched)
A Novel
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4.3 • 1.3K Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“[A] hold-on-to-your-hat, nail-biting story.”—The Washington Post
“Slaughter’s best yet, by far.”—Lee Child
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 his father was imprisoned for murder, this was Will’s home. It appears that the case that launched Amanda’s career forty years ago has suddenly come back to life—and it involves the long-held mystery of Will’s birth and parentage. Now 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.
Includes Karin Slaughter’s short story “Snatched” and a preview of the Will Trent novel Unseen
“With every page of this story the tension mounts. . . . If you have a hunger for a rich and fulfilling novel then you owe it to yourself to pick up Criminal.”—Huffington Post
“A masterpiece of character, atmosphere and riveting suspense, Criminal is the most powerful and moving novel yet from one of the most gifted storytellers at work today.”—Chicago Daily Herald
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At the outset of Slaughter's tense fourth thriller to combine characters from her two crime series (after 2011's Fallen), life is running smoothly for agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as he eases into a new relationship with Dr. Sara Linton, until the abduction of 19-year-old college student Ashleigh Snyder. When his GBI mentor and boss, Deputy Director Amanda Wagner, specifically tells him to stay away from the case, Will knows something is wrong. Flashback to 1975, when Amanda is a rookie in the Atlanta Police Department, along with Evelyn Mitchell, who later becomes the mother of Faith, Will's GBI partner. The APD at that time is rife with racism and sexism, but Amanda and Evelyn refuse to abandon the case of several missing prostitutes, despite warnings from other (male) detectives to back off. Slaughter seamlessly shifts between past and present, while her usual attentive eye for character and carefully metered violence is on full display. 6 to 8 city author tour.
Customer Reviews
Not my favorite
I’m hooked on KS and I loved most of the characters in this book. The ending was a bit of a stretch and made me roll my eyes a little and there were a few things and just felt thrown together to end things but great read for sure.
Trent’s History
Finally! A lot of answers about Will’s past! Unfortunately, it’s hard to slog through to get the answers. “Criminal” jumps back and forth from the ‘70’s to the present. It gives us the background on Amanda’s “relationship” to Will and how she rose through the ranks from the bottom rung of the police force to her leadership in the GBI. The current dates tell the story of Will’s and Sara’s relationship, his ending his marriage, and the truth about his father.
No spoilers, but good stuff. Unfortunately, hard to get through to get to the nuggets of information we all want. I would have liked it a lot better if it were 100 pages shorter!
Karen Slaughter’s Will Trent
One of the most boring books I’ve ever read. Beside plodding along like a dog who has lost the scent, the story jumps back and forth through time periods, as if the part of the story in the current period wasn’t boring enough. Not a good book.