In her latest thriller, Slaughter steps away from her series to tell the story of Charlotte and Samantha Quinn. Maintaining the dark tone that permeates her other titles, Slaughter sets out two parallel stories, one taking place nearly three decades in the past and one in the present. Twenty-eight years ago, Charlie and Sam lived through a horrifically violent attack that left their mother dead and them forever damaged. The sisters have spent the intervening years distancing themselves from the crime and each other. Charlie, following in her father's footsteps, is now a defense lawyer operating in Pikeville, the Georgia town where the crime happened, while Sam moved away and hasn't returned. One morning, Charlie witnesses a school shooting, but she thinks there's something off about the shooter, and she can't make the events add up. She takes on the defense of the suspect, a young girl named Kelly, but finds herself fighting the town as everyone is out for Kelly's blood.
VERDICT Though this is a crime novel, suspenseful and thrilling in every way, at its heart it is an exploration of family and the ties that persist through the most difficult moments. As with Val McDermid, Denise Mina, and Tana French, Slaughter delves into our darkest selves to reveal what is truly human. [See Prepub Alert, 2/20/17.]
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