Yes yes yes.

A new Karin Slaughter novel is always the highlight of my reading calendar. She's my favourite author, and never fails to disappoint.

FALSE WITNESS was no exception to the highly skilled, thrilling reading experience I've come to expect from the Queen of crime writing.

In this story we follow Leigh and Callie as they try to save themselves from a sadistic monster who is using their past to jeopardise their future and also roaming the lives of those closest to them in the process.

Set against the backdrop of COVID-19 I was skeptical about reading about something that we've all been living through for over 12 months now. I thought it would just be too much reading about it in a medium that I turn to to escape reality. But it was subtle and realistic and woven in so well that it just felt normal. Which is saddening for our real world prospects, but also a relief for the reading of this book!

The ending is heartbreaking but necessary, and I enjoyed reading about the sister dynamics and the family dysfunction Leigh has.

Overall a fantastic read that I will be recommending to everyone - as per usual with any Slaughter! :)

I am a huge Karin Slaughter fan and The Silent Wife was one of my favourite reads of last year. Sadly I was very disappointed with False Witness. The elements that make Slaughter an outstanding thriller writer were all there- great plot and characters - but there is too much referencing of the pandemic. I think this is the first novel I've read that is set during the pandemic and it's not what I want from a novel. I read to escape, to be transported elsewhere, for beautiful and moving writing. If I want to read about the pandemic I'll read a newspaper or non fiction. It felt like the author referenced face masks and hand sanitiser in almost every scene and so for me it took attention away from plot and characters. However, if this is something you can overlook as a reader I'm sure you'll enjoy this and Slaughter's extensive back catalogue.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

3.5

In their teens Leigh and her sister Callie were shockingly connected to Andrew Trevor Tennant. Leigh now has to defend Andrew in a rape case with other charges waiting in the wings if he is found guilty. The story is told from the perspectives of Leigh and Callie.

There are aspects of this book that are really good such as the premise of being between a rock and a very hard place and mutually assured destruction. The storyline is harsh, gritty, sleazy and violent. There are some descriptions that don’t hold back which may be a bit too much for some people however, it demonstrates the reality of violent victims assaults. The characters are portrayed well, you certainly feel the cold, calculated and malevolent manipulation of Andrew, the fear, guilt and panic of Leigh and Callie’s troubles and pain. Their inner turmoil and emotions are keenly felt especially the weight of the past pressing them down. There’s some tension where you hold your breath and parts that are shocking. The tempo ramps up towards the end and it has a good conclusion.

Now for the not so good parts. There is so much over-detailing especially at the start with everything from pictures on the wall to Covid rules - these are laboriously repeated on many occasions but I think a year into the pandemic we’ve all grasped hand sanitising, masks and social distance so the point does not need hammering home. There are thoughts and points that are repeated to the point where it sidetracks you from the plot and it becomes exhausting and you glaze over. Well I do. There’s back tracking onto things we already know and it’s as if the author is spelling everything out which frankly, I don’t need.

Overall, there is a good, hard hitting story in here but it’s overwhelmed. It really grieves me to only give this book three stars as I usually really like Karin Slaughter’s books and I will always want to read her novels but this one is not for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction for the arc in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have really enjoyed everything this author has written and this was no exception. Great storyline, great characters and will have you hooked from the beginning

3.5 Stars


This is the first book I have read by Karin Slaughter and I have to say it was quite a page turner. Particularly the last 30% when the story really heats up. It was interesting to read something set in current times. Complete with masks, hand sanitiser and covid protocols. The pandemic is woven seamlessly into the story anchoring it firmly in 2020/21. Although not a major player, it hovers in the background throughout the book.

Leigh is a not altogether likeable character, she's too self contained and single minded. But she is also fiercely loyal to those she loves. Her tendency towards self sabotage effects all her relationships. It is only as the past unfolds that the reader comes to understand and to empathise with Leigh.

Her sister Callie, is also self destructive, a drug addict who uses drugs to avoid real life and the memories of a dysfunctional and painful childhood. There is an innocence, a childlike quality about Callie which helps to makes her an appealing character. Despite her addiction she is as fiercely loyal and loving as her older sister. Both women will do anything to protect each other and their family.

The relationship between the sisters is complicated and nuanced. Tainted by the past one is consumed by guilt, the other by her drug addiction.

The villain of the piece is inextricably caught up in the past that the sisters long to forget. Andrew is a little one dimensional, an evil psychopath with no redeeming features. His mental torture of Leigh is well done and lends an air of menace and impending disaster to the pages.

My main criticism of the book is that all the characters except for the sisters are good or evil with little light or shade to their personalities.

All in all False Witness is page turner that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a tense crime drama.

TW violence, child abuse, sexual violence.

Superb. It quickly becomes apparent that Leigh is basically totally screwed in a situation that seemingly has no good exit. She's going to have to learn to ask for help and risk everything she's painstakingly built to protect her daughter, sister and husband. It's really dark in places but wonderfully unpredictable and I loved it.

Karin Slaughter continues her trademark focus on contemporary American social and political issues with this, her latest exhilarating standalone crime thriller. She documents the impact of the pandemic, everyday safeguarding procedures, the enormous and unbearable death toll, the lost jobs, food scarcity, the starving kids, and the politicians unwilling to provide the resources to address the desperate needs of the nation. She portrays the country's drug crisis in her humanising portrayal of 37 year old heroin addict, Callie, a child gymnast and cheerleader, suffering a broken neck, her life blighted by constant back pain, and as a child experiences the terror of being groomed and regularly sexually assaulted by a violent paedophile, Buddy Waleski, whilst babysitting his 10 year old son, Trevor.

In 1998, after being physically attacked and fearing for her life, Callie nicks Buddy's femoral artery with a kitchen knife, a shocked and traumatised Callie calls her older sister, Leigh, on the cusp of leaving to study Law in Chicago, who deals with the situation. Both cannot escape the reverberations of that event, Callie burying the past deep with the help of drugs, her tragedy being being that of self knowledge, whilst Leigh is trapped in a cycle of self sabotage and guilt. 20 years later, Leigh is a defense attorney at the prestigious law firm of Bradfield, Canfield and Marks. She is separated from her beloved husband, Walter, and desperately missing her daughter, 16 year old Maddy, staying with her husband. Leigh, her family, and Callie are to find themselves gravely endangered when the past raises its ugly head, as Leigh finds herself representing wealthy sexual predator, a rapist client, 33 year old car salesman and manipulative psychopath, Andrew Tenant, who turns out to be a grown up Trevor intent on destroying all their lives, knowing what happened to his father, facing a trial on charges of kidnap and sexual assault.

Slaughter excels in her characterisations, capturing the complex sibling relationship between Leigh and Callie, their undoubted love for each other, there is nothing they will not do to protect each other. Through their lives, and those of Tenant's victims, the author provides a damning indictment of male behaviour when it comes to young girls and women, the sense of entitlement, the daily sexual harrassment, stalking, the paedophiles, child abuse, the brutal sexual assaults, domestic violence, and the murders. Men acting with impunity, all too aware they are unlikely to be made to pay, in a society and justice system where women are disbelieved, or presumed to be asking for it, and deserving of what happens to them. This is a dark, riveting and intelligent novel, one of the highlights for me was the understanding and compassionate vet Dr Jerry that Callie works for. This is so much more than a crime read, and is likely to appeal to existing Slaughter fans and other crime and mystery readers. Highly recommended. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

Another complicated family relationship.


This was a good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish and could not get enough of.

This is a must read for anyone who enjoys a good thriller!!
Absolutely loved the characters, the plot, the tension -  impossible to put it down.
Certainly recommended!

Karin Slaughter never disappoints! This was an exciting legal thriller that literally kept me on tenterhooks! Loved it!

This is an excellent crime thriller. It was a real page turner and it had me gripped all the way through. I loved the characters and particularly their relationship dynamics. This will be a book I will be highly recommending!

Defence Attorney Leigh meets her new client to discuss his case and is surprised to find that she knows him from the past when he was a little boy and she was his babysitter. Since she was a teenager she has been trying to forget him and his family because of an incident that altered all their lives.
This is a good thriller with some nasty characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Karin Slaughter is an auto-buy author for me and this book, once again, proves why. At its core is a complex sibling relationship that is raw and authentic. The plot is gripping, brutal, and well-paced, and engages the reader from the first page. It was also interesting to read a book set in the present day that incorporates COVID and its devastating impact on so many lives. I'm looking forward to adding the hardcover to my shelf in June.

#FalseWitness #NetGalley
An excellent read.
Leigh Collier has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised – her life is just as unremarkable as she'd always hoped it would be.Hides a devastating past…
But Leigh's ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average … a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence.But now the past is catching up…
Then a case lands on her desk – defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It's the highest profile case she's ever been given – a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it's no coincidence that he's chosen her as his attorney
I loved karin books. This book is a pure thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advanced copy.

It's always sad to have to write a negative review especially when it's a writer like Slaughter whose books I've mostly loved in the past - but there've been a few recent misses with me (Pieces of Her, The Last Widow) and I'm afraid this one falls into that category.

There's a potentially explosive plot involving sisters and mother-daughter relationships that KS can do so well - but for some reason the writing lacks the incisiveness that usually characterise these books and I found myself reading laboriously rather than being caught up with excitement and emotional engagement. This feels like it needs a tough edit to bring out the core of the story and the relationships. And 'big' moments are over in a flash without the emotional payoff they deserve.

My other issue is the heavy-handed Covid presence: it would have been fine only the book feels the need to constantly *explain* everything... how people need to be masked, how they're seated with taped off chairs between them to allow social distancing, how they're given hand gel with leaflets of how to use it... I mean, we know - we've lived through this for the last year, we know the drill. It's fine to have people remove or put on masks the way they would glasses but we just don't need this explanation as if we've just landed from an alien planet and it's something we've never heard of before.

So 2 stars only, I'm afraid for this one - but I'd read the next Slaughter like a shot.