#BlogTour ‘False Witness’ by Karin Slaughter

About the book…

He saw what you did …

He knows who you are.

The stunning new standalone from the no.1 international bestselling author

AN ORDINARY LIFE …

Leigh Coulton 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. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running.

AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

If she can’t get him acquitted, she’ll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Calli, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice …

Hugest of thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Through My Letterbox for the blogtour invite, and publishers Harper Collins for my gifted review copy of False Witness which is out from 24th June in e-book and hardcover.

There is a reason why Karin Slaughter is so high on many reader’s ‘must buy’ list, her quality of prose and compelling plots make her a must read. Her books are compulsively devoured, when I pick up one of hers I am a single book reader, no side books for me!

So why should you pick up ‘False Witness’?

She pulls one of the most alarming bait and switches that I had read in a long time, she pulls the rug from under you with just one sentence.

The prologue is dense and compelling, introducing a household which has seen better days, Callie and Trev, a small boy both anxious and worried about the impending return of Buddy, the head of the home.

What follows I will not spoil, so, treading carefully, I will  need to be sitting down to read it and possibly have a stiff drink. Because then, the story plunges headlong into Leigh’s life and you can’t really see where the prologue comes in and then, like being sideswiped by a truck, the plot explodes again.

And then, the panic for Leigh and Callie really sets in.

How would you feel as a someone staggering through the latter stages of a divorce , with a prickly teen living with her father, keeping your professional career as a defender on an even keel, to be faced with a blast from the past in a most unwelcome way?

Leigh has to decide whether her hard fought for career, her family and her sanity can be sacrificed on the alter of her new clients hubris-she cannot reveal what she knows about her new client without exposing herself.

However, charming, handsome, rich and well connected Andrew is firstly, not someone who takes no for an answer, and secondly, someone who always gets what he wants.

In Leigh, has he met his match?

Apart from the sheer speed of this labyrinthine plot, the way in which Karin creates these realistic women, who face challenges from societal expectations of them, their family who don’t care and men who constantly take what they want without recourse is so relevant, so poignant that you can feel the rage filter into your bloodstream.

The Me Too movement which is speaking up, holding men accountable for their actions is examined in detail through this court case. The way that men now pass themselves off as allies whilst not acknowledging their own behaviour is skilfully interwoven into the narrative without being a sociological lecture, she recognises and holds to account the way in which society makes women the passive recipient of actions which they make themselves vulnerable to, by dint of being women.

The sexualisation of children, the casual way in which they claim access to their bodies, and feel free to joke about their development causes life long damage in young girls. And the pandemic has made the rates of domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse sky rocket because they are trapped in with their abusers, social services referrals are way, way behind in their investigations and will we ever have enough funding to place men at the center and teach them how not to behave, rather than try to teach our daughters how not to be a victim?

Accountability, responsibility and restorative justice lie at the heart of ‘False Witness’, no character is without need of redemption, they are presented with flaws, scar tissue and regret, the same as most of the readers are. I found the way in which addiction was portrayed was so realistic, it was in no way glamourized and highlighted, for me, the way that the long term consequences of addictive behaviour as a coping mechanism for unresolved trauma is often glossed over.

Another winning novel from Karin, a stand alone thriller with a beating social issues driven heart, there is so much to enjoy in the pages of ‘False Witness’.

About the author…

Karin Slaughter is one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her 21 novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated ‘Cop Town’ and the instant NYT bestselling stand-alone novels ‘Pretty Girls’, ‘The Good Daughter’, and Pieces Of Her.

Slaughter is the founder of the Save The Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming.

A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta. Her stand-alone novel ‘Pieces Of Her’ is in development with Netflix, starring Toni Collette, and the Grant County and Will Trent series are in development for television.

Links-http://www.karinslaughter.com/

Twitter @RandomTTours @slaughterKarin @harpercollinsuk