We Are All Guilty Here
A Novel
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4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!
The first thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series from Karin Slaughter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and the Will Trent Series.
Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.
Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.
For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.
But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.
Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?
"Karin Slaughter's new series starts with a book that is a knock-out punch... My God. Sign me up for more." — Dervla McTiernan, #1 internationally bestselling author of What Happened to Nina?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Author Karin Slaughter’s powerful tale of a brutal crime that shatters a small town makes us wonder how well we really know those closest to us. Two 15-year-old girls, Madison and Cheyenne, disappear during the Fourth of July celebrations in North Falls, Georgia. The incident forever divides Madison’s stepmother from her best friend, local police officer Emmy Clifton, who was the last person to see Madison before she vanished. Twelve years later, the man convicted of killing the two girls is freed when evidence of a different crime provides him with an alibi. But now another teenage girl, Paisley, has disappeared under very similar circumstances. Has a murderer been freed, or did the initial investigation overlook the true killer? And what else will Emmy have to sacrifice to find Paisley before it’s too late? We Are All Guilty Here vividly depicts the claustrophobia of a small-town tragedy and how it can draw people together in mutual support or lead them to brutally turn on one another.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this uneven series launch from bestseller Slaughter (This Is Why We Lied), Georgia police officer Emmy Clifton investigates the abduction of 15-year-olds Cheyenne Baker and Madison Dalrymple during a small-town Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Despite evidence suggesting the teens were murdered, Emmy remains hopeful, nudged toward optimism by Madison's adoptive mother, Hannah, her best friend since kindergarten. As Emmy collaborates with the FBI, she learns of devious characters swirling around the case, including pimps, drug dealers, and a potentially predatory teacher. Her exceptional instincts eventually lead her to the girls' mutilated bodies, and DNA evidence points to local troublemaker Adam Huntsinger as the killer. However, a true crime podcast identifies Adam as the perpetrator of a different crime on the night the girls died, complicating Emmy's investigation. The tension escalates when 14-year-old Paisley Walker goes missing under similar circumstances to Cheyenne and Madison, sending Emmy into another frantic search. Though the narrative is bolstered by strong characterization and a shocking final twist, it gets bogged down with excessive backstory and flavorless small-town scene-setting. Slaughter's devoted fans will find plenty to appreciate, but others might want to sit this one out.
Customer Reviews
An excellent read
I usually don’t read books about abducted children, but once I downloaded the sample, I was hooked into the story. The plot was very interesting and kept me reading late into the night. The author set a great pace, never allowing things to drag. As a sociologist, I found the use of the statistics interesting. The family plot line and the interesting, flawed, characters kept it real. I’ve read bestsellers recently that made me want my money back, but not this time.
Can I give less than 1 star?
This one almost put me in a reading slump.
Are all of her books like this? I had high hopes with this being my first Karin Slaughter read. The writing was horrible, the references were beyond annoying and unrealistic and I’ve never been happier to be done reading a book.
Can’t wait for the next one
The crimes are so, so dark and troubling … but the storytelling, characters and settings are always so good. I can never put one of Karin Slaughter’s books down once I start. I wish I had more of her work to read - but I’ve read them all. Will eagerly wait for the next one!