A worthy follow-up to The Last Widow, The Silent Wife is the tenth book in Slaughter’s Atlanta GBI series, featuring Will Trent, Faith Mitchell, Sara Linton.

The story switches back and forth between two alternate times and places – modern day Atlanta, where we find Sara, Will and Faith investigating a murder committed during a riot at Phillips State Prison, and eight years previously in Heartsdale, Grant County (just before Blindsighted), where Sara and her ex-husband and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver are dealing with the murder of a young female jogger.

Whilst at the prison, an inmate – the man who was convicted of the murder of the Grant County jogger – asks to speak to Sara. He claims that he is innocent of the murder, and that he can prove it. With evidence from sent to him by a mysterious outside benefactor, he claims the attacks are still going on, and that he was framed for the murder by two crooked cops – Lena Adams and … dun dun duhhh … Jeffrey Tolliver. If Will and Sara will investigate and clear his name, he will tell them who killed the prisoner who died during the riot.

All of this happens right at the beginning, and I’m not going to give any spoilers away. The book is excellent, and you can probably get away with reading it as a standalone novel. However, having read the previous books, I got to fall in love with Will all over again, and was reminded how I could never understand why Sara relented and forgave Jeffrey.

I don’t normally give trigger warnings, but I can’t stress this strongly enough – The Silent Wife deals with violence against women, and it doesn’t pull any punches. The violence is graphic, and some will find it extreme. Having said that, it may be dark in tone, but Will’s utter cluelessness about women is completely endearing, and Faith’s brand of chaotic Faithness adds a much-needed contrast to the darkness.

If you’re wondering how only eight years have passed since Blindsighted (published in 2001), Slaughter clears up the discrepancy in an afterword, but it essentially comes down to the fact that they’re her books, real time was inconvenient, so she’ll damn well do what she wants. You can’t really argue with that!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a funny one... This was a fantastic story, I didn't see the ending coming, and it was so well written... And yet I found it so hard to get into! I've read some of the series before but not all, and not for a long time, so maybe it was just that I am not as invested in the characters?

Anyway I'm glad I persevered because it is a great story. Gritty, dark and full of twists.

The Silent Wife

Following a riot and murder at a prison, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Will Trent finds himself questioning an inmate who is in the not-so-unique position of claiming he didn’t do the crime for which he was imprisoned. Matters are complicated further by the fact that the inmate claims to have been framed eight years earlier by a Chief of Police who also happens to be the ex-husband of Will’s girlfriend. However, recent attacks bearing the same MO are found, prompting the hunt for a dangerous serial killer.

This book is skilfully written across two timelines; that of Jeffrey, the Police Chief in charge of the original investigation; and that of Will and Sarah in the present day, who are trying to catch the killer. Although it is the tenth book of this particular series, it is the first I have read. As a standalone novel it works perfectly well, and I was able to enjoy the relationships between the characters as well as the impact of the first timeline on the second. However, I think I would have gained even more from the novel had I read the earlier novels (both the Will Trent and Grant County series) first.

It was rather gruesome in parts, but that is perhaps to be expected from a crime thriller about a serial killer and rapist! I guessed the killer fairly early on, but this didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the story, which was fast-paced and riveting, with the right mix of action and plot-building. I will certainly be reading more by this author!

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

A very dark and chilling novel, typical Karin Slaughter.
Agent Will Trent and forensic pathologist Sara Linton are working on an old case where it appears the wrong person was convicted. Not only that it seems that there have been numerous horrific murder and rapes of women that have been missed some even seen as accidents. Some of the surviving victims are so traumatised that they want nothing to do with the investigation. Will and Sara. need some breaks if they are to stop, what now appears in a serial killer, and find justice to all those who have been attacked.
I did find some of the descriptions overly graphic but the story was well plotted.

Having enjoyed Karin's books in the past I was looking forward to reading this. It was just as good as her previous books. A well written story that kept me on the edge of my seat and reading quickly to finish the book but at the same time I didn't want it to end. A great read I highly recommend.

I have read most of Karin Slaughter's books and, whilst finding the overall stories interesting and well told, I always find the violence too gory and sometimes unnecessary. This is the best one of the stories so far - for me. It is a long book, and it felt a little too long at times, but engaging and quite compelling. It was fun to meet some old the characters again (lovely to see Jeffrey back in action) and to revisit the past, a very familiar one for KS's fans.

I would definitely recommend this book, also to those who haven't followed the series, as it reads well as a stand alone too, Overall this is another very enjoyable, gripping read.

Karin Slaughter does it for me. She twists and turns the events and leaves you never wanting to put down the book

I loved it from the beginning to the end. The thought of knowing somebody but not really.

I find the detection throughout was great uncovering but still not knowing what and who they were dealing with.

A chilling read and one that I couldn’t put down until I found out who it was. What a surprise that was. A must read for crime buffs.

I loved The Good Daughter and so was keen to read another by this author. I found this particular book very difficult to get into though having to leave it and come back to it at a later stage. I persevered however, and it began to flow especially towards the end. It’s gruesome in parts so be warned and the suspense is definitely there which I enjoy immensely. Had I known that I was reading the 10th book in the Will Trent series (having not read any of the others) it might have explained why I didn’t find it an easy read! Now I’m eager to start from the beginning as I’m intrigued to learn more about Will Trent et al

Synopsis

Will Trent is a cop, Sara Linton (his girlfriend) a medical examiner. Brought together professionally when a young female is savagely attacked, the incident appears solitary in nature. Now to Daryl Nesbitt, a prisoner that Will comes across whilst investigating the murder of another inmate - Jesus Vasquez. Nesbitt is keen to assert that he was set up for the crimes he was convicted of by Sara’s former (now deceased) ex-husband Jeffrey Tolliver. Nesbitt offers up a deal, the name of the murderer of Jesus in exchange for a re-investigation of his own case. Initially Nesbitt is disregarded but soon there is reason for Will and his partner in crime Faith to think again.
Many relationships are tested as a result of this unravelling, specifically Sara and Will’s. Can they get past their own obstacles and defences whilst also dealing with barbaric attacks on women? If not Nesbitt, then who is the perpetrator continuing to rape, paralyse and commit murder? The longer it takes to answer this question the more women who are at risk of harm. The pressure is on Will and his fellow cop Faith to stop these attacks ASAP.

The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter is a disturbing, violent, intense, romantic mystery thriller. I haven't read the Grant County nor the Will Trent novels but I don't think I needed to to understand and love this book. The book alternates between two different times: the past, eight years ago, where Jeffrey is alive, divorced from Sara and looking for a rapist, and the present, where Will and Sara are together and trying to find answers for that questionably solved case. The crime descriptions and the medical examinations are so graphic and well-written that sometimes I had to stop reading to digest what I'd just read. Also, the book had a couple of great twists before I reached the 50% mark that I was not expecting. Overall, I loved The Silent Wife and I was not expecting otherwise.
HarperCollins UK gifted me a digital copy of The Silent Wife in exchange for an honest review.

There are very few authors as rock solid as Karin Slaughter. I've read all of her books and none have failed to grip me and the Silent Wife is no exception. The plot is detailed there are many twists and you need to pay attention. Save it for a weekend off and dive in and enjoy. I really loved the revisiting of the Jeffrey era and it was slickly done.

#TheSilentWife #NetGalley Oh I do love a Karin Slaughter book and I have read the Grant County series from the beginning following Sara and Jeffrey and then Sara and Will.. I love the style of writing and the very graphic descriptions of crime scenes and post mortems etc. Full of action, with a murderer who I didn't suspect until near the end, which is always a bonus. There are some flashbacks in the book to Sara's time with Jeffrey that I thought I was not going to enjoy but they did add to the story and it was interesting to see Jeffery in a different light. I am still waiting for Lena to get her comeuppance though! A great story that I couldn't put down. I cant wait for the next in the series. A well deserved 5 stars!

Will and Sara are back, and this time it's definitely personal as a prison riot sends them to look back into one of Jeffrey's old cases. Was he wrong and can Sara and Will's relationship last until we find out?

I do love the Grant County series (and have read from the beginning) and it was lovely to see Jeffrey back. It's a bit odd for him to appear less of a hero, I suppose we always think better of the dead (even if they aren't real!) and this is the real Jeffrey, even the not so good bits.

Women are dying and Jeffrey and Lena in the past and Will and Sara in the present must try to find the perpetrator. I suppose it was quite obvious who it had to be, but it doesn't really matter because that isn't why I read these books. Great storyline, lovely characters, a real joy to read. Thank you Karin Slaughter, please write another one soon...

Absolutely BRILLIANT!! this was my first book by Karin Slaughter and forgive me I wasn't even aware that it was part of a series! This book is so well planned, so well written and just so good. It's so informative, I feel I learned some stuff by reading it. I am a huge fan of crime/thriller books and the detail and information in the book blew me away. The crimes they are investigating are so horrendous and quite hard to read. I had not got a clue who was behind the crimes and no matter how much I guessed I didn't get it right. The change from the past to the present was brilliant. I absolutely LOVED Sara, I want to read the previous books and get to read more about her. There was reference to the previous books but nothing that confused me or would make me say that this can't be read as a stand alone book. I honestly cannot fault this book. An easy 5 stars from me, a real pageturner. Thanks netgalley, the publisher and Karin Slaughter for my book in return for an honest review....

Karin Slaughter has been writing about Sarah Linton and Will Trent, separately or together, for 19 years (or 8 years but you’ll need to read the author’s Note to understand why that is). This book is centered around two things, Sarah and Will’s love story and the search for a brutal, sadistic, serial rapist and murderer. The former sees the relationship under stress because the latter begins with the realisation that the earliest rapes began while Sarah was the medical examiner but was also in the process of divorcing her husband, the Chief of Police. As usual, the forensic details and the pathological descriptions are excellent and keep the reader alert trying to work out the identity of the rapist and their twisted rationale. Fans will, therefore, not be disappointed, while new readers will find the wealth of detail means it can be read as a standalone story.

Firstly, this book needs a serious content warning. It’s not that I wouldn’t advise reading it, more just to be aware it contains some pretty graphic details and events that some people may find difficult.

A dead body, an arrested perpetrator, all things seem to add up. That is until another body turns up 8 years later with an identical MO yet the original attacker is still in prison. So is it a copycat? Or was the wrong person put away? Our convict is certainly saying he’s innocent and apparently now has proof. Will Trent – Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Agent for Grant County (GC) – has to work alongside medical examiner Sara and fellow officers both past and present to find the killer, but will he have to go back to those incidents 8 years ago and why does there seem to be a pattern emerging for a serial killer? Both timelines play out until the two come together in a shocking conclusion.

This book is the tenth in the Will Trent series but it works well as a standalone novel. It was truly compelling! I did initially struggle with the content, mainly because I had no warning of quite how graphic it would be so be prepared for detailed, brutal descriptions that leave nothing to the imagination. But despite that, each chapter ending left me wanting more and more, and as the two timelines began to play out, I became even more enthralled. Even as the facts came to light it seemed the questions just kept coming, pulling me further and further into the story. I definitely didn’t have to work to stay engaged!

Having both past and present timelines playing out simultaneously, flicking between them, was incredibly clever. It provided such a rich tapestry for Slaughter to fill with complicated, interwoven details that she brought together as we made our way through the plot. I really loved this continuing change in perspective!

Then there were the twists and turns, the unfolding of the investigation…wow…I really didn’t see them coming! Slaughter staged them well and shared them between characters so each one was tempered and experienced in a slightly different way, only adding to the depth and scope of her writing. The whole storyline was so intense, twisted, dark and at times utterly horrifying – but in that good way – everything you’d want from an epic crime/thriller novel.

I did find all the names and the two timelines a little difficult to get my head around to begin with but within a few chapters I got into a rhythm and really appreciated that fully fleshed approach. Slaughter has a well-built world with really well-developed characters, making the whole thing feel so complete. I’m sure this comes from having 9 previous novels in this series but she managed to write in such a way that I still felt like I really knew the characters well, like I was living it with them. I felt the heartbreak of Jeffery, the complexities of Sara’s past and the overall reactions of each character to the disturbing events. I found myself relating to different characters at different times, feeling their shock, fear, hope, devastation, and love. The way Slaughter weaves in this very human experience: it’s messiness; it’s brutality; it’s beauty; only added another layer to the story. It was so honest, so raw, so real.

It’s been such a good read that I’m pretty certain I’ll be reading the previous 9 books!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read this ARC post-publication date.

Though I'm aware of Karin Slaughter as an author, this is my first foray into one of her novels.

I went into this blind other than the blurb, so I wasn't aware that it was part of the Will Trent/Grant County world, in relation to other stories by Slaughter - I believe it is totally capable of being read as a standalone though.

I found it a bit of a rocky journey with how invested I was; it took me a while to get into and then I was really into it as it sped up, then it sort of slowed down again and I lost interest a little. It's a fairly long read to keep going with!

The storyline itself was very tightly woven with lots of intricacies, and quite a few characters to keep track of. Add to the fact that it kept jumping backwards and forwards in time, maybe adding the year onto the chapter name would have been a little more helpful.

I'm not medically trained, but it seemed like Slaughter had done her research into the way the killer operated - some of the scenes may be a little graphic for some but they didn't really bother me.

I didn't feel a great connection to any of the characters, though there were some I liked more than others. The mystery of the killer itself had me guessing right up until the end so top marks in that respect!

I will certainly consider reading more in the Will Trent series as I'm intrigued by him. Overall, I enjoyed my intro into the mind of Karin Slaughter and her characters.

The jury's out........

This is the tenth in the Will Trent series. I strongly suggest that they are read in the correct sequence to get the best out of the books as there are spoilers in this thriller relating to events in previous stories.

Will Trent and Sara Linton are involved in the investigation into the death of a young woman. Is her death as the result of an accident or is it murder? The clues and fact-gathering slowly unravel to reveal the existence of a serial killer who has been operating over a considerable number of years.

I love the way Karin Slaughter writes. She weaves a story like few others and develops her characters to the point where they feel like friends of the family. Her characters are flawed human being exactly like all of us. These flaws apply equally to their personal lives as much as their professional existence.

The plot has two timelines. The first is in the present with Will and Sara and the second is a flashback to the time Sara was married to police chief, Jeffery Tolliver. As a device, it didn't work for me. Some of the characters were common to both timelines, and I was confused on occasions. I am and will remain a huge fan of Slaughter, so I was looking forward to getting stuck into this new novel. Her writing is still very sharp and evocative, but the two different timeline plots spoiled it for me. Additionally, there was a chapter towards the end when the repartee between Sara and Jeffrey, while brilliant done as a piece of theatre, was just a little too clever and totally unlikely to have taken place between husband and wife – I thoroughly enjoyed the to and fro though, despite this.

So while it's a big thumbs up to writing style and the plot, my opinion is tempered by the flashbacks.

mr zorg

Elite Reviewing group received a copy of the book to review.

Thank you to Netgallery for a copy of this book.

I was looking forward to reading this one as I have read two novels by Karin Slaughter and have enjoyed them both. I instantly recognised a couple of characters in The Silent Wife so by process of elimination I figured out that I must have read one of her books in the Grant County Series.

I'm a bit on the fence with this one, I enjoyed the crime thriller aspect of hunting a serial killer but the relationship side of things I struggled with. I don't really understand the dynamic between Will and Sara and Will seemed like a bit part in this book. Perhaps I need to have read more books from this series to get it but I found Sara's behaviour annoying and a bit childish.

I also found the book to be boring in parts and the prision scene at the start seemed long and drawn out for no reason really. I'm not sure what made me guess who the killer was but I did have some doubts as I kept reading so in that respect the book kept me engaged.

This is the first book I've read of Karin Slaughter and....WOW! I love crime thrillers and this book is just, amazing. Wow. Extremely well written. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I was flying through the pages.
With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Having read all of Karin Slaughters books I was looking forward to reading the next installment of the Grant County and Will Trent Series. I absolutely love the characters in this series and whilst each book covers a different crime the complex relationship between Will and Sarah adds to fantastic writing by the author.
The Silent Wife is another brilliant read and shows why Karin Slaughter is at the top of her game. Amazing.