The Silent Wife (Will Trent, #10)

by Karin Slaughter

The gripping No. 1 Sunday Times crime thriller He watches.

A woman runs alone in the woods. She convinces herself she has no reason to be afraid, but she’s wrong. A predator is stalking the women of Grant County. He lingers in the shadows, until the time is just right to snatch his victim.

He waits.

A decade later, the case has been closed. The killer is behind bars. But then another young woman is brutally attacked and left for dead, and the MO is identical.

He takes.

Although the original trail has gone cold – memories have faded, witnesses have disappeared – agent Will Trent and forensic pathologist Sara Linton must re-open the cold case. But the clock is ticking, and the killer is determined to find his perfect silent wife….

Praise for the Number One bestselling author:

‘Passion, intensity, and humanity’ Lee Child

‘I’d follow her anywhere’ Gillian Flynn

‘One of the boldest thriller writers working today’ Tess Gerritsen

‘Her characters, plot, and pacing are unrivalled’ Michael Connelly

‘A writer of extraordinary talents’ Kathy Reichs

‘Fiction doesn't get any better than this’ Jeffery Deaver

‘A great writer at the peak of her powers’ Peter James

'Karin Slaughter has – by far – the best name of all of us mystery novelists' James Patterson

‘With heart and skill Karin Slaughter keeps you hooked from the first page until the last’ Camilla Lackberg

‘It’s big, dark, rich, satisfying, and bloody – like a perfectly cooked steak’ Stuart MacBride

• ISBN13: 9780008303440
• Publish Date: 23 June 2020
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 22 January 2022
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

The Silent Wife was savage in its crime story and the reader can only suspected everyone at one point or another. While our main character is Will, a Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) agent, the story features many supporting characters quite a bit. Will's partner, Faith, a single mom of 2, Sara his girlfriend and medical examiner, Jeffery, Sara's dead ex husband, and Lena, the crooked cop who they all hate!

First, there is some romance subplot here between Will and Sara. They have been together for awhile and both want to get married. But, Will didn't ask her (he implies they will get married, but never actually asks) and Sara is upset. Also, their new case brings up accusations against her dead husband, and she is dealing with the memories of losing the man she loved.

However, the real story is the vicious serial rapist/murder who has been stalking and attacking women for at least 8 years now. In order to determine if the killer is, in fact, one person and therefore NOT the person in prison for one of the crimes, the team has to revisit the past. Lena is most certainly a crooked cop. She has no qualms about lying if it helps her case or makes her look better. Nick is another strange cop that comes off as a nice southern charmer at times, then is unhinged and attacking a suspect. Oh, and then there is the child porn peddler who is trying to prove he isn't a killer (but still, not a guy you want to help because he IS into child pornography). The characters are all complex and difficult to understand, which makes the experience of the story more real. You get the sense that everyone has an alternate agenda and you have no idea what it is.

The story of The Silent Wife alternates between current time, where Will, Faith, and Sara are trying to determine if/who the killer is, and the past, when Jeffery and Lena found what seems to be the first victim. At first, I was really confused because you know Jeffery is dead. Then I realized it was a flashback. I actually thought this time hop worked brilliantly for this story! You begin to see the pattern in the cases in both the past and present from 2 different sets of eyes.

The Silent Wife is pretty graphic. What this killer is doing to these women is brutal. Also, several characters in the story were raped and they tell their story. It's difficult to read because the pain jumps off the page. I also thought the author did an excellent job of addressing why many women don't tell after a rape. Trying to get some of the "good ole boy" southern cops to understand that a woman can be raped and it's not just a case of regret after sex is a big challenge, but I was glad to see the topic was being pushed!

Fans of crime procedurals and Law and Order: SVU will appreciate The Silent Wife for its upfront presentation of crime and the people who solve cases. Romance readers like myself will enjoy the real life complexity of the relationship between Will and Sara and appreciate a break from the brutality of the plot from time to time.

•   POV: 3rd 


•   Tears: 


•   Triggers: Brutal rapes/murders are part of the plot and they are detailed from the prospective of the cops and once from the a surviving victim.


•   Series/Standalone: This is part of a series, but I had no idea when I grabbed it and had no problem following the story!

8 Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson, The Holdout by Graham Moore, Say You're Sorry by Karen Rose...then you will probably like The Silent Wife!

 

The Silent Wife

See full review on The Book Disciple

[Inkslinger]

ARC provided by Harper Collins and Karin Slaughter. All opinions are mine and freely given.

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06-25: 'The Silent Wife' is the tenth book in the Will Trent series by internationally bestselling author, Karin Slaughter, slated for release on August 4th, 2020. Her previous novel, 'The Last Widow,' was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller. She's sold over 35 million copies across 120 countries worldwide.. and believe it or not, this is the first of them I've read.

You have to forgive me, her first novel was being published in 2001.. at a time things in my life were getting just a bit wild. That only really began to come to a halt last year and now I'm just getting to a lot of great authors who were breaking at a time reading was just not happening. That being said, I've heard a ton of praise for her work and she absolutely lives up to the hype.

The story follows Will Trent, a GBI investigator with demons of his own to wrangle, as he ends up at a state prison to look into a murder that occurs there during a riot. While he and his co-workers are beginning to piece together what might have happened and who may have been involved, another prisoner reaches out with information to trade.

Claiming his innocence, the prisoner offers them a plethora of details in exchange for his request that they investigate a death that seems to mimic one he was accused of eight years earlier. He insists that the young woman who was brutally attacked and left for dead is the work of another and that he believes he has proof the attacker is still active.

Slaughter's pacing is superb. She does a wonderful job of shifting between non-linear timelines and multiple narrators, giving the reader both the backstory and the current lay of the land simultaneously. Both timelines move with a steady, parallel rhythm that continues forward smoothly. Transitions are seamless, characters have their own distinct voices, and they're all fascinating in their own right.

I definitely have a soft spot for characters like Will and I can see why he'd be part of a series with such longevity. I'm certainly interested in going back and reading some of the other titles. His childhood was rough and his relationships as an adult have mostly been toxic too. It's easy to see how badly he could have turned out, if not for second chances and a grim determination to make something of himself. He's still a little broken.. and he's not the only one.

His girlfriend Sara has had some tough moments too. She didn't get the difficult start Will did, but there's absolutely a point in her life where everything changed for her.. and those changes have affected her daily life in long term ways. Through it all, she remains compassionate and incredibly likeable.

None of Slaughter's characters are infallible. In fact, most of them feel very real. I found myself comparing them to people I know. Some of them try the reader's patience far more than others, however, and I had several theories as I made my way through this book. Ultimately, I enjoyed every step of the journey. I'm pretty solidly versed in procedural information and she still pulled out a few things I'd never heard before.

There may be some triggers here if you're sensitive to violence. The assaults are vicious. The premeditation and methodology are the stuff of nightmares. But wow, what a read.

If you want to pick up an intriguing mystery/suspense novel that will hold your interest all the way through, 'The Silent Wife' is a good choice.

PRE-ORDER LINKS: AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOKSAMILLION | GOOGLEPLAY BOOKS | HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS | IBOOKS | INDIE BOUND | KOBO | WATERSTONES

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06-24: Really enjoying this book! Blog tour tomorrow!

06-23: I'm eager to start this today. I've heard so much about the author recently. I missed out on her before.