Instant New York Times Bestseller! New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter brings back Will Trent and Sara Linton in this superb and timely thriller full of devious twists, disturbing secrets, and shocking surprises you won’t see comingA mysterious kidnappingOn a hot summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center … summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center parking lot. The authorities are desperate to save the doctor who’s been vanished into thin air.
A devastating explosion
One month later, the serenity of a sunny Sunday afternoon is shattered by the boom of a ground-shaking blast—followed by another seconds later. One of Atlanta’s busiest and most important neighborhoods has been bombed—the location of Emory University, two major hospitals, the FBI headquarters, and the CDC.
A diabolical enemy
Medical examiner Sara Linton and her partner Will Trent, an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, rush to the scene—and into the heart of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to destroy thousands of innocent lives. When the assailants abduct Sara, Will goes undercover to save her and prevent a massacre—putting his own life on the line for the woman and the country he loves.
more
This was probably my least favorite Will Trent book. It was too long and really dragged ay some points.
A fast paced thriller – Karin Slaughter develops characters so well that even when I’m reading the more violent parts (through my fingers, or behind the sofa) I still need to know what happens. She’s one of the best.
Another winner from Karin Slaughter. You can’t not help rooting for Will even with all his personality quirks and issues. Also love him with Sara. She is so good for him. This was a great race toward the end of the story and I enjoyed every page!
HOLY CRAP Y’ALL!
This was my first Karin Slaughter book. Like seriously- how have I not read her stuff before?!
I was reticent to start the Will Trent series at number 9, but it really wasn’t bad!
There were one or two instances where the full backstory would’ve been beneficial, but overall this could be a stand-alone!
The first 100-120 pages were NON-STOP. Slaughter drops you into the first kidnapping within the first 3 pages.
Seriously- it grabs your full attention and refuses to let go. Before you know it, it’s 3:22 A.M. and you have to be up at 7.
From about page 150 on you won’t feel anxious or anything, but you’ll still be absorbed.
Now for the plot- where the story went was definitely not expected. From the synopsis, I kinda expected to be reading about a global terrorism attack. Everything is more domestic and has a political theme.
Slaughter definitely has a way with words. Her descriptions are not only accurate (man she did her research) they’re so realistic.
Like I could feel the sweltering heat and smell the burnt flesh. And if you think that small snippet of words was gory, then this book is not for you.
Be prepared for talk of rape, drug abuse, physical and emotional abuse, pedophilia, violence, cuss words and the occasional dirty talk. Basically just be prepared.
Oh and how appropriate is her name?! I mean the name ‘Slaughter’ just begs to be a thriller writer’s name.
Short review: GIVE ME ALL HER BOOKS!
Love this author and this series. Absolutely recommend.
Not as good as previous Will Trent books.
While this book begins with promise, the subsequent too many pages drag on. I literally felt like I was only finishing it because I’d paid full price for it and had to. The premise: a woman is kidnapped in broad daylight and subsequently so is Sara Linton, the book’s heroine and a pediatrician. The book confused me from the start, beginning with what felt like several retellings of the same events from different viewpoints, then from seemingly new information: Michelle the original one kidnapped is also working on pediatric vaccines, then she is working on other things, then she is a lesbian and has a biracial child. Ultimately the book is about Sara’s kidnapping, Will’s efforts to infiltrate what turns out to be a doomsday cult, pedophilia (right — where did that come from), vaccines, hate, subordination of women and biochemical warfare. Several governmental agencies are involved in releasing Sara and Michelle, which makes The who’s who even more confusing, and with all the themes. Uggh. Just did not come together well, and the ending is not especially uplifting. If you have not purchased this one yet, wait until it’s reduced, or better yet don’t waste your time.
Favorite Quotes:
Money. That was the real obstacle… She would never forget the look on Jeffrey’s face the first time he’d seen the balance in her trading account. Sara had actually heard the squeaking groan of his testicles retracting into his body. It had taken a hell of a lot of suction to get them back out again.
Sara had explained the science behind these mood changes. During the stages of pregnancy and breastfeeding and childhood, a woman’s brain was flooded with hormones that altered the gray matter in the regions involved in social processes, heightening the mother’s empathy and bonding them closely to their child. Which was a damn good thing, because if another human being treated you the way a toddler did—threw food in your face, questioned your every move, unraveled all of the aluminum foil off the roll, yelled at the silverware, made you clean shit off their ass, peed in your bed, peed in your car, peed on you while you were cleaning up their pee, demanded that you repeat everything at least sixteen times and then screeched at you for talking too much—then you would probably kill them.
Tinder was a no-go. The guys who didn’t look married looked like they should be chained to a bench outside of a courtroom. She’d tried Match.com but not one of the losers that she was even remotely attracted to could pass a background check. Which said more about the type of men Faith was attracted to than internet dating sites.
Her parenting skills fell somewhere between Charlotte’s Web and Lord of the Flies. Jeremy still teased her about the note she’d once left in his lunch box: The bread is stale. This is what happens when you don’t close the bag.
Don’t mess with the US Government. They won two wars and can print their own money.
Dash was a stupid man’s idea of how a smart man sounded.
My Review:
This book was gripping and all-consuming yet it took me twice as long to read, as I had to put it down, take deep breaths, and walk away from it now and then. Not because it was bad, but because it was diabolically brilliant and absorbing, I was sucked right into this complex and fiendish vortex and helplessly engrossed in the chaos. The plot was complex and skillfully crafted while the writing was ingeniously textured and scorched my brain matter while it squeezed my heart and lungs.
This contemptible and monstrous scenario could very well happen, which was intensely disturbing to me as it was heinously realistic. The ever-escalating and highly disturbing climate of arrogance, hate, manipulation, and perversion of information being generated from our current national embarrassments at the top does seem to be empowering the most twisted of the vile and disenfranchised. Karin Slaughter is devilishly clever and a masterful wordsmith. She scared me silly.
I had picked up Karin Slaughter’s first book, because she is a local author and the book took place, here in Georgia, as opposed to must books which seem to happen in the NE, Chicago, the West or the West coast. Although these days, I prefer the fantasy HEA of romance, I was hooked from that first book and have been an avid fan ever since.
You can’t understand Will Trent, Sara Linton and their relationship, unless you have read the other books, so if you haven’t read the other books, start at the beginning. This book is very timely as it was released in August 2019 and the action occurs in August 2019. The focus is the main Emory campus, (Emory is in the process of gobbling up almost all of Atlanta’s hospitals and properties that they can get) with part of the CDC right next door and a VA hospital right behind. Very close is an Orthodox Jewish neighbor, (surprisingly, the author did not throw it into the mix), and those of us who live here are worried about exactly what happens in this story. Home grown terrorists kidnap one of the epidemiologists, that works at CDC, and as the FBI and GBI try to find her, it becomes clear that she is being used for some nefarious purpose. When 2 explosions happen at the campus, Sara and Will immediately take off to help, but in helping, Sara gets kidnapped and Will ends up in the hospital. The FBI does not play well with the GBI, but Will is going to find Sara no matter what.
I don’t label very many books as “amazing”, but this is one of them. Captivating characters, and a fast pace, page turning, gripping tale make this a terrific read.
Karin Slaughter can always be counted on to deliver a fast-paced, inventive, and often timely thriller. And her ninth installment in her popular series featuring Will Trent is no exception.
As the story opens, Will and Sara have taken their relationship to the next level. Although they are not officially living together, they spend all of their time at either Sara’s place or Will’s. Much to the consternation of Sara’s mother, Cathy, who has not yet updated her father, Eddie. A muggy August afternoon finds Will mowing the expansive lawn at the home of Sara’s aunt and anticipating lunch with the family. Suddenly, those plans are scuttled when one explosion is followed closely by another. Phone lines are jammed, preventing Will from getting an update from his colleagues so he runs toward the plume of smoke, with Sara close behind in her vehicle.
But they encounter a three-car vehicle collision which is highly suspicious. The men in the second and third vehicles are entirely too forthcoming with information, including their first names — Dwight, Hank, Merle, Vince, and Clint. Their pseudonyms are based upon country music legends Dwight Yoakam, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Vince Gill, and Clint Black. In one of the cars is none other than Michelle Spivey, the CDC scientist who was kidnapped two months prior. Michelle has clearly been abused, and appears broken. When the men learn that Sara is a doctor, they abduct her as her horrified mother watches and Will, having been brutally beaten, is unable to stop them.
In Slaughter’s latest tautly-constructed thriller, it soon becomes apparent that those men are part of a much larger, organized network of terrorists with a deadly agenda. transported, along with Michelle, to a remote location, Sara soon realizes that the man called Dwight is the leader — Dash, a mannered but dangerous fanatic devoted to delivering his “Message” — “excruciating, unforgiving death” — to the nation and its citizens. It soon becomes apparent that Dash and his colleagues are part of a paramilitary, white nationalist group known as the Invisible Patriot Army (IPA) whose activities the FBI has been monitoring online and elsewhere. Dash did not found the group but he is the shot-caller, and his leadership has brought focus and organization to the group. Are they somehow connected to Martin Novak, a bank robber who is being held in high-security, protective custody pending sentencing? And if so, how?
Will’s injuries are serious, but there is no time for him to recover. His mentor and boss, Amanda, is leading the investigation and giving direction to Faith, Will’s partner. Amanda and Faith’s mother were partners and best friends. Amanda literally saved Will from a life of crime when he was just eighteen years old. She pushed him to attend college and forced him to join the GBI. Amanda “made it possible for Will to be the kind of man who could be with a woman like Sara.” Indeed, the deep connections between Slaughter’s characters extend to Sara, their colleague and Faith’s best friend. A single parent of a twenty-year-old son and two-year-old daughter, Faith notes that, after her mother, Sara, a former pediatrician, is the person she most trusts to care for her young child.
Sara is held captive at a compound where Dash’s associates are engaging in repetitive drills designed to prepare them to breach a secure facility. The compound is populated by women, including Dash’s wife, Gwen, and young girls, all of whom dress in long white dresses. There are only very young boys there, but no male teenagers. And Dash presses Sara into service, claiming that many in the camp have fallen victim to a measles outbreak. Most of them are children and Sara must, of course, attempt to help them, but is baffled when they don’t respond to treatment. Is it really measles that they are suffering from . . . or something else? And is their mysterious illness somehow related to Dash’s plan?
Slaughter’s novels are always meticulously researched, bringing authenticity and credibility to her stories, and the frightening plot of The Last Widow could be a contemporary headline. Her books are not for the squeamish. The realistic story includes violence and heartbreaking deaths. The book’s pace is relentless, with each new revelation spurring her characters to act quickly as it becomes increasingly clear that Dash will set his plan in motion very soon. The interplay between the various agencies — GBI, FBI, and CDC — demonstrates the territoriality and lack of cooperation that can characterize the relationships between bureaucracies. As always, Slaughter’s dialogue is crisp, believable, and sometimes hilarious, emphasizing the deep bonds her characters share.
At the center of the story is the deepening relationship between Will and Sara. Their pasts have caused them to proceed cautiously and at the outset, Sara is, at times, frustrated by the difficulty Will has opening up and communicating his feelings to her. With Sara in grace danger, and Will feeling guilty that he was unable to prevent her abduction, he fully evaluates his feelings for her just as she does while confined for seemingly endless hours in the cabin at the compound where Dash is holding her. Their relationship, in Slaughter’s capable hands, is endearing, charming, and believable.
The Last Widow is a gripping, contemporary thriller that is likely to cause readers to pay more attention the next time there is a story in the headlines about racist cults. She convincingly demonstrates that we could all be in serious danger, and not realize it until it’s too late. Set aside time to read The Last Widow because once you start reading, you won’t be able to quit until you reach the satisfying conclusion.
Thanks to Harper Collins Publishers for a copy of the book.
I think if you’ve followed the Will Trent series you’ll enjoy this book.
Not your cuppa if you object to salt language, but otherwise, I highly recommend this latest in the Will Trent series.
Always love everything by Karin Slaughter, and this brings back favorite characters with a bang, literally. The story gets increasingly unsettling, showing the depths some will go to in order to force their beliefs on others. Too realistic in this day and age, unfortunately. Many twists and turns, intense in every step. Will and Sara’s backstory is not given short shrift either, their relationship and it’s challenges are integral to the plot.
Shifting perspective between chapters makes each one a cliffhanger, so don’t plan on doing much else till you’re done! This also helps to give the reader a well-drawn overview of everything happening with each character, for a fuller picture of the whole story. A new angle from Karin, but I love it! Well done, Bravo!
Slaughter has done some major research for this book. It could be pulled from todays headlines. Will Trent is helpless as he watches Sara Linton being kidnapped. The group that had kidnapped her has diabolical plans for Georgia. Can Will find her before it’s too late.? Can they stop the groups plans?
If you are not reading the Will Trent Series, you are missing out. Slaughter has continued to develop Will and others throughout the series. She continues to hit it out of the park with the Will Trent Series. Happy Reading