Sign in with Facebook
Brian's Reviews > Criminal
Criminal (Will Trent, #6)
by Karin Slaughter (Goodreads Author)
by Karin Slaughter (Goodreads Author)
This was my first book from this author and also my first experience with getting a pre-release book to read.
The author writes a very compelling and interesting narrative. I find that I usually enjoy books in the crime/detective genre and this was no exception. Character development was excellent and complex allowing the reader to really get involved in the book and identify with the protagonists.
The novel starts off darker and more violent than most with the first dozen or more pages dealing with victim and killer with no sign of the protagonist. This threw me off at first, since there wasn't a character that the reader could identify with or 'root' for. Junkie prostitute meets serial killer in the introductory pages might work as a good hook for some people, but I found it a little off-putting as I didn't know where to align my own feelings with the characters initially introduced.
This soon resolves for readers who are willing to stick around past the initial violent few pages. We are then introduced (re-introduced for those who have previously read other books in the series) to the central, complex character, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective, Will Trent. The story also uses the engaging technique of moving through time from the late 70s to the present day. Not to give too much of the plot away, but we get to see some of the major characters as they were then and how it shaped their behavior today. And the flashbacks set up a major twist by the end of the book.
The flashbacks to the Atlanta police department of the 1970s give an interesting perspective on gender and racial discrimination that was off the books, but still actively practiced. We see some back story of Amanda Wagner when she was starting out as a female detective for the APD. Fighting against discrimination internal to the force, and criminal elements outside the law makes for a more compelling story than it would be otherwise.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Enough that I feel interested in looking up the earlier books in the Will Trent series.
The author writes a very compelling and interesting narrative. I find that I usually enjoy books in the crime/detective genre and this was no exception. Character development was excellent and complex allowing the reader to really get involved in the book and identify with the protagonists.
The novel starts off darker and more violent than most with the first dozen or more pages dealing with victim and killer with no sign of the protagonist. This threw me off at first, since there wasn't a character that the reader could identify with or 'root' for. Junkie prostitute meets serial killer in the introductory pages might work as a good hook for some people, but I found it a little off-putting as I didn't know where to align my own feelings with the characters initially introduced.
This soon resolves for readers who are willing to stick around past the initial violent few pages. We are then introduced (re-introduced for those who have previously read other books in the series) to the central, complex character, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective, Will Trent. The story also uses the engaging technique of moving through time from the late 70s to the present day. Not to give too much of the plot away, but we get to see some of the major characters as they were then and how it shaped their behavior today. And the flashbacks set up a major twist by the end of the book.
The flashbacks to the Atlanta police department of the 1970s give an interesting perspective on gender and racial discrimination that was off the books, but still actively practiced. We see some back story of Amanda Wagner when she was starting out as a female detective for the APD. Fighting against discrimination internal to the force, and criminal elements outside the law makes for a more compelling story than it would be otherwise.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Enough that I feel interested in looking up the earlier books in the Will Trent series.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read Criminal.
sign in »
