Grim, disturbing, but also quite gripping!

The last book in the Will Trent series was The Kept Woman, which I gave 1 star to, because it was a boring, joyless effort that suggested the author wanted to move on to other things. Thankfully, after doing exactly that and delivering two standalone books, Karin Slaughter seems to have re-energised her interest in this series.

Sara Linton and Will Trent rush to the scene of an explosion, only to get waylaid by a car smash-up where everything isn't as it seems. Before they can do anything, Sara is in the clutches of a deadly white supremacist group. This group has a massive attack planned to highlight their cause, so Will, boss Amanda Wagner and partner Faith Mitchell must fight against time to rescue Sarah and prevent a mass murder from unfolding.

Pretty much everything I criticised in The Kept Woman is rectified here. Sara isn't a wishy-washy bore whose life revolves around a man. She resembles the Sara from the Grant County series, who is compassionate, strong and brave. Indeed, it is the chapters featuring Will that are less effective this time. Sara is in the midst of the Invisible Patriots Army camp and her chapters are full of tension, suspense and intrigue. Chapters featuring Will, Faith and Amanda catching up to what was going on sometimes hampered the pacing.

The fact this deals with white supremacy gives the book an extra suspenseful charge and a big dollop of relevance in today's times. The book bristles with anger at the attitudes of these people and how they appropriate different parts of history to justify their cause. It is quite a disturbing book to read at times, but it is never less than gripping. When I had to put the book down, I was always eager to get back to it! Although Angie Polaski is mentioned, she's not at all present, so hopefully Slaughter is moving away from that tiresome "love" triangle.

A gripping, disturbing return to form for this series!

Will Trent and Sara Linton are together again in this exciting thriller full twists, secrets, and shocking surprises you won’t see coming. On a hot summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center parking lot. One month later, Sara Linton, medical examiner, is similarly abducted. Will and the entire Georgia Bureau of Investigation are desperate to save them.

This is my favorite of the series so far.

I really enjoyed all the info in this, on true crime or cult things or even diseases.

I won an Advanced Reader Copy of The Last Widow here on Goodreads and boy am I glad. I think this was one of, if not the, best Will Trent story. What a wild ride this book is. Domestic Terrorism is the evil of the day and Karin Slaughter does not disappoint when writing about this latest threat in the GBI's territory. A big bonus is there is a lot of Trent, a lot of Sarah and zero Angie in The Last Widow. I don't want to give away any spoilers about this fast-paced book so let me just say, read it. You will not be dissapointed!

This was very different to the last Karin Slaughter book I read - more of a slow burn crime fic rather than the page turning action packed thriller I was used to. I didn't realise this book was part of a series until I was half way through it, but it didn't seem to matter as there wasn't a large amount of continuity content. The idea of nationalistic terrorism was interesting to explore and the characterisation of the radicalised was nuanced and well done. Overall, a solid read.